Raymond Thornton Chandler (1888–1959) was an American novelist and screenwriter. In 1932, at age forty-four, Chandler decided to become a detective fiction writer after losing his job as an oil company executive during the Great Depression. His first short story, Blackmailers Don't Shoot, was published in 1933 in Black Mask, a popular pulp magazine. His first novel, The Big Sleep, was published in 1939. Some of Chandler's novels are considered important literary works, and several are often considered masterpieces, including: Farewell, My Lovely (1940) and The Long Goodbye (1953), both included in this volume. All told, 13 stories and one essay on the art of mystery writing are included in this volume.

Included are:

SMART-ALECK KILL (1934)

NEVADA GAS (1935)

SPANISH BLOOD (1935)

GUNS AT CYRANO'S (1936)

NOON STREET NEMESIS (1936)

THE KING IN YELLOW (1938)

THE BIG SLEEP (1939)

PEARLS ARE A NUISANCE (1939)

FAREWELL, MY LOVELY (1940)

THE HIGH WINDOW (1942)

THE LADY IN THE LAKE (1943)

THE LONG GOODBYE (1953)

PLAYBACK (1958)

THE SIMPLE ART OF MURDER (1944)

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