Lady in the Lake [Hardcover]

Raymond Chandler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1969 | Series: A fingerprint book

Derace Kingsley's wife ran away to Mexico to get a quickie divorce and marry a Casanova-wannabe named Chris Lavery. Or so the note she left her husband insisted. Trouble is, when Philip Marlowe asks Lavery about it he denies everything and sends the private investigator packing with a flea lodged firmly in his ear. But when Marlowe next encounters Lavery, he's denying nothing - on account of the two bullet holes in his heart. Now Marlowe's on the trail of a killer, who leads him out of smoggy LA all the way to a murky mountain lake!

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Anything Chandler writes about grips the mind from the first sentence' Daily Telegraph 'One of the greatest crime writers, who set the standards others still try to attain' Sunday Times 'Chandler wrote like a slumming angel and invested the sun-blinded streets of Los Angeles with a romantic presence' - Ross MacDonald --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Best-known as the creator of the original private eye, Philip Marlowe, Raymond Chandler was born in Chicago in 1888 and died in 1959. Many of his books have been adapted for the screen, and he is widely regarded as one of the very greatest writers of detective fiction. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Hamish Hamilton Ltd; New edition edition (March 1969)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0241016959
• ISBN-13: 978-0241016954
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,267,958 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars The Case of the Runaway Wife, September 8, 2011

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Acute Observer (N. Jersey Shore) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Lady in the Lake (Hardcover)

The Lady in the Lake, Raymond Chandler

Derace Kingsley works for a cosmetics company and wants to locate his missing wife. Philip Marlowe is given the job. Crystal sent a telegram saying she was going for a Mexican divorce. But Chris Lavery doesn't know anything. Across the street Dr. Almore watches Marlowe. So Marlowe drives to Little Fawn Lake to inspect Crystal's last known location. He talks to the caretaker Bill Chess, and learns Chess' wife Muriel left him the same day. They walk around the lake and onto the little pier. There is something below the water, Chess' missing wife is found (Chapter 6)! Sheriff Patton questions Bill Chess (Chapter 8). Birdie Keppel, the part time newspaper reporter, talks to Marlowe. Six weeks earlier a man was looking for a woman whose photograph resembled Muriel (Chapter 9). Sheriff Patton knew his country and where to look. Muriel's car was hidden away in shed (Chapter 11). Marlowe searched the cabin again and found a clue (Chapter 12).

Marlowe returned to talk to Lavery, but he wasn't home. A woman came up the steps, talked to Marlowe, then ran out. Marlowe then found Lavery, but he didn't say anything (Chapter 16). We learn more about Dr. Almore's wife and local politics (Chapter 19). The police arrive at Lavery's house (Chapter 21). Marlowe gets another lead (Chapter 22). The parents of Dr. Almore's dead wife tell Marlowe about their suspicions (Chapter 23). He hears the name "Mildred" as Dr. Almore's missing nurse. We learn more facts about the case (Chapter 28). Marlowe brings money to Crystal and learns what happened (Chapter 31). Then he is knocked out (Chapter 32).Crystal won't talk now. The police arrive but Marlowe left before this. Marlowe tells Lt. Degarmo what he surmised about Mildred and what she did (Chapter 36). There is more about Crystal's fate (Chapter 38)! Marlowe surmises what happened when Crystal and Muriel both disappeared at the same time (Chapter 39). Marlowe guesses what happened when he was sapped and receives confirmation of his guess (Chapter 40). There is an end to the mystery (Chapter 41). It will be kept out of the newspapers.

Having read more than a few mystery novels I picked up on the clue where two women disappeared at the same time, and both looked similar. Mistaken identity was often used by Erle Stanley Gardner in his many novels. This story reminded me of "The Case of the Screaming Woman" as a story about life among the rich and powerful. It also reminded me of the novel "Farewell, My Lovely", and the short story "No Crime in the Mountains". A mistaken identification is part of Dashiell Hammett's "Golden Horseshoe" short story. Note how the villains are not the usual suspects of the poor and lower class of society.