The results are Chandleresque, sure, but you can see Banville’s sense of fun.

“It’s vintage L.A., toots: The hot summer, rain on the asphalt, the woman with the lipstick, cigarette ash and alienation, V8 coupes, tough guys, snub-nosed pistols, the ice melting in the bourbon. Soon he is tangling with one of Bay City's richest and most ruthless families-and developing a singular appreciation for how far they will go to protect their fortune. Then a new client is shown in: blond, beautiful, and expensively dressed, she wants Marlowe to find her former lover.Īlmost immediately, Marlowe discovers that the man's disappearance is merely the first in a series of bewildering events. It was like having an old friend, one you assumed was dead, walk into the room. Somewhere Raymond Chandler is smiling I loved this book. Marlowe is as restless and lonely as ever, and the private eye business is a little slow. Preview The Black-Eyed Blondeby Benjamin Black The Black-Eyed Blonde: A Philip Marlowe Novel by Benjamin Black 3. Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe returns in The Black-Eyed Blonde - also published as Marlowe as by John Banville - the basis for the major motion picture starring Liam Neeson as the iconic detective. The streets of Bay City, California, in the early 1950s are as mean as they get. 'It was one of those summer Tuesday afternoons when you begin to wonder if the earth has stopped revolving.'

It was like having an old friend, one you assumed was dead, walk into the room.' THE BLACK-EYED BLONDE by Benjamin Black RELEASE DATE: MaMan Booker Prizewinning novelist John Banville, already disguised as mystery writer Black ( Holy Orders, 2013, etc.), goes under even deeper cover to imitate Raymond Chandler in this flavorsome pastiche. Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe returns in The Black-Eyed Blonde-also published as Marlowe as by John Banville-the basis for the major motion picture starring Liam Neeson as the iconic detective.

The black eyed blonde