''Poodle Springs'' is the eighth

Philip Marlowe Philip Marlowe ( ) is a fictional character created by Raymond Chandler who was characteristic of the hardboiled crime fiction genre. The genre originated in the 1920s, notably in '' Black Mask'' magazine, in which Dashiell Hammett's The Cont ...

novel. It was started in 1958 by

Raymond Chandler Raymond Thornton Chandler (July 23, 1888 – March 26, 1959) was an American-British novelist and screenwriter. In 1932, at the age of forty-four, Chandler became a detective fiction writer after losing his job as an oil company executive durin ...

, who left it unfinished at his death in 1959. The four chapters he had completed, which bore the working title ''The Poodle Springs Story'', were subsequently published in '' Raymond Chandler Speaking'' (1962), a collection of excerpts from letters and unpublished writings. In 1988, on the occasion of the

centenary A centennial, or centenary in British English, is a 100th anniversary or otherwise relates to a century. Notable events Notable centennial events at a national or world-level include: * Centennial Exhibition, 1876, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ...

of Chandler's birth, the crime writer Robert B. Parker was asked by the estate of Raymond Chandler to complete the novel.

Plot summary

Marlowe has married Linda Loring, the rich daughter of local tycoon Harlan Potter. Linda and Marlowe first met in '' The Long Goodbye'' and their romance is resumed at the end of '' Playback''. Marlowe resists financial dependence on his willing wife and, after the couple relocate to a grand mansion in Poodle Springs (a mocking reference to Palm Springs), opens a detective agency in the resort. Tension between them rises when, as a result, Marlowe absents himself from the cocktail parties and other social events organised by Linda’s set. Marlowe’s first case comes when he is forced by hoodlums to visit a local criminal named Lipschultz, who operates an illegal gambling house in Riverside, just outside the jurisdiction of Poodle Springs. He has taken an

IOU An IOU (Abbreviation, abbreviated from the phrase "I owe you") is usually an informal document acknowledging debt. An IOU differs from a promissory note in that an IOU is not a negotiable instrument and does not specify repayment terms such as th ...

for $100,000 from one of his customers, a Poodle Springs

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who uses a camera to make photographs. Duties and types of photograp ...

called Les Valentine. Lipshultz's boss, an unrevealed local tycoon, has found out that the sum is missing from the books and has issued a 30-day ultimatum to retrieve the money. Asked to find Valentine, Marlowe accepts on condition that he does not have to shake Valentine down. When Marlowe questions Valentine's wife, Muffy Blackstone, a spoiled socialite and acquaintance of his own wife, she tells him that Valentine is out on a photo shoot. Instead he eventually discovers that Valentine is an alias for a sleazy individual living in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

with a second wife. When Marlowe calls on Lipshultz again, he finds him killed in his casino office and assists Valentine to escape after he is suspected, not just for this crime but for an earlier slaying in his own office. The melodramatic pay-off exposes the corruption of the

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

n rich and confirms Marlowe in his decision to return to Los Angeles. His marriage is wrecked, but he and Linda remain as lovers.

Contributions

Chandler's first four chapters of the story are used complete and unabridged in this edition. These opening chapters describe the Marlowes' arrival in Poodle Springs fresh from their

honeymoon A honeymoon is a vacation taken by newlyweds after their wedding to celebrate their marriage. Today, honeymoons are often celebrated in destinations considered exotic or romantic. In a similar context, it may also refer to the phase in a couple ...

, the large

bungalow A bungalow is a small house or cottage that is typically single or one and a half storey, if a smaller upper storey exists it is frequently set in the roof and Roof window, windows that come out from the roof, and may be surrounded by wide ve ...

they live in and Marlowe's insistence on independence, and they introduce the principal characters (Philip Marlowe, Linda Loring and Manny Lipshultz) and several supporting characters. Parker wrote the other chapters. In 1991 Parker followed this novel with a new novel featuring Marlowe, '' Perchance to Dream'', a sequel to Chandler's '' The Big Sleep''.

In other media

The novel was adapted for a film of the same title by the cable channel

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

in 1998, starring James Caan as Marlowe. An adaptation for

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

was broadcast in October 2011, starring Toby Stephens as Marlowe.

References

Bibliography

* {{Robert Parker 1989 American novels Novels by Raymond Chandler Novels by Robert B. Parker Unfinished novels Unfinished literature completed by others American detective novels Hardboiled crime novels Novels set in Palm Springs, California American novels adapted into films American novels adapted into television shows Novels published posthumously Philip Marlowe novels