Chandler makes Marlowe human in ‘Farewell, My Lovely’ (1940)
Sleuthing Sunday (Book review): In the second Marlowe novel, the detective is more grounded than he is superhero-ish.
Books
‘Breakfast of Champions’ (1973) is easily digestible American satire
Book club book report: To the benefit of the novel’s shelf life, but not to the benefit of humanity, Vonnegut’s classic remains relevant.
It’s easy to stay alert for Chandler’s ‘The Big Sleep’ (1939)
Sleuthing Sunday (Book review): The author smoothly takes the baton from Dashiell Hammett in the first of his seven Marlowe novels.
‘Oxford Inheritance’ (2016) is cozy but too generic
Book club book report: Ann A. McDonald creates an invitingly mysterious campus, but does nothing remarkable with plot or characters.
‘Nightmare Town’ (1999) an essential cross-section of Hammett’s work
Sleuthing Sunday (Book review): This landmark collection gives us more of the Op, all three Spade shorts and fascinating one-offs.
‘Spellbound by Beauty’ (2008) goes deeper into Hitchcock’s dark side
On a Hitchcock kick (Book review): If you want to keep your Hitchcock journey fun, avoid this cold (but important) exploration of the director’s troubled nature.
‘Hunter and Other Stories’ (2013) cleans out Hammett’s files
Sleuthing Sunday (Book review): Unpublished and under-published tales are rounded up from the author’s archives, but this is for serious fans only.
Wood’s ‘Man Who Knew Too Much’ (2015) a pleasant analysis
On a Hitchcock kick (Book review): This monograph is not a core bio, but it’s a nice garnish for people who know the Hitchcock basics.
Add ‘The List’ (2023) to your list of contemporary culture dramas
Book club book report: Debut novelist Yomi Adegoke takes an engrossing dive into the good and very bad of cancel culture.
Hardboiled fiction that goes over easy: ‘Big Book of the Continental Op’ (2017)
Sleuthing Sunday (Book review): Nearly a century after Hammett invented him, all of the Continental Op’s world-spanning adventures are cozily combined into one book.