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"Lawrence Osborne brings one of literature's most enduring detectives back to life - as Private Investigator Philip Marlowe returns for one last adventure. The year is 1988. The place, Baja California. And Philip Marlowe - now in his seventy-second year - is living out his retirement in the terrace bar of the La Fonda hotel. Sipping margaritas, playing cards, his silver-tipped cane at the ready. When in saunter two men dressed like undertakers, with a case that has his name written all over it. For Marlowe, this is his last roll of the dice, his swan song. His mission is to investigate the death of Donald Zinn - supposedly drowned off his yacht, and leaving behind a much younger and now very rich wife. But is Zinn actually alive? Are the pair living off the spoils? Set between the border and badlands of Mexico and California, Lawrence Osborne's resurrection of the iconic Marlowe is an unforgettable addition to the Raymond Chandler canon"--… (more)
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Who doesn’t know and love Philip Marlowe? What a perfect delight to have an author such as Lawrence Osborne bring him to life once again. The Robert Chandler Estate asked Mr. Osborne to write this book and they couldn’t have picked a better author to do the job. Osborne has done a wonderful job of creating an older Marlowe. And he has done an excellent job of depicting a man who has led an adventurous life but now is headed to a more sedentary life and all of the conflicting emotions that go along with that. So enjoyable to once again join Marlowe as he takes on his last investigation.
This is a bit different from Mr. Osborne’s other books in that he adapts the Chandler style of telling this story. But his particular talents still shine through. He’s lived in many countries and has quite a knack for detailing each location that he brings his characters to. Most of this book takes place in different locations in Mexico and the author brings his readers right there with him. With all the sights and smells and colors, you’ll completely forget that you’re not actually there. I do hope that one day Mr. Osborne will once again bring Mr. Marlowe out of retirement for another adventure.
Recommended.
This book was given to me by the publisher in return for an honest review.
Lawrence Osborne, who could already win me as a loyal reader with his former novels “Beautiful Animals” and “The Forgiven”, has done a great job in his Philip Marlowe novel. I liked Raymond Chandler’s hard boiled crime novels about the investigator and it is a risk to copy such a great writer. Yet, Osborne succeeded in creating exactly the mood that one finds in the old Marlowe novels and he placed the novel convincingly in the late 1980s. The title already is an homage to Chandler’s greatest novel and you can feel that Osborne has a lot of respect for his idol.
The novel itself has everything it needs: a femme fatale who seems to shift easily from one role into the other, a treacherous couple, a fierce environment where bribery reigns and money easily floats between the informant and the investigator. Some unexpected twists and turns made the plot move at a high pace, but most of all, it is the atmosphere that made it a great enjoyment to read. Even though it set in 1988, you can still feel the old Marlowe who acts as if nothing had changed since the 1930s and actually much that happens in Mexico could have happened decades before in exactly the same way. For me, Osborne did a great job and his Marlowe is in no way inferior to Chandler’s.
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823.914 |