The sixth novel featuring Chandler's private investigator Philip Marlowe. Some critics consider it inferior to The Big Sleep or Farewell, My Lovely but others rank it as the best of his work. Chandler himself called the novel "my best book," perhaps because it included social criticism as well as autobiographical elements from Chandler's own life. In 1955, the novel received the Edgar Award for Best Novel. It was later adapted as a 1973 film of the same name, updated to 1970s Los Angeles and starring Elliott Gould.
