This a collection of eight stories published in 1930's pulp magazines by Chandler.
These eight stories, actually they are all novella's, were the basis for his famous books. That's why this collection was never published while he was alive.
These stories sometimes have a few paragraphs, sometines entire chapters that went into his novels. Chandler himself called the process , cannibalization.
All of the stories are genuinely exciting and true Raymond Chandler. My favourite being "No Crime in the Mountains".
There is an excellent introduction to this edition by Peter Robinson. In this introduction he says that Chandler's was first edited by Cap Shaw in the pulp magazines and he was the man who could pare-to-the -bone anything written and still make it exciting.
There is no Philip Marlowe in any of these stories but it can be seen how the detectives here morphed into Marlowe. I just felt sorry for their livers, my god, do they put the booze away.
This collections gives you 583 pages of really ,really excellent detective yarns and its worth every cent you pay.
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