Trouble Is My Business: A Novel

By Raymond Chandler

The renowned novel from crime fiction master Raymond Chandler, with the "quintessential urban private eye" (Los Angeles Times), Philip Marlowe • Featuring the iconic character that inspired the film Marlowe, starring Liam Neeson.

This collection by crime fiction master Raymond Chandler features four long stories in which private eye Philip Marlowe is hired to protect a rich old guy from a gold digger, runs afoul of crooked politicos, gets a line on some stolen jewels with a reward attached, and stumbles across a murder victim who may have been an extortionist.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Jun 11, 2002
• ISBN: 9781400030231

Raymond Chandler

Raymond Chandler (1888-1959) was best known as the creator of fictional detective Philip Marlowe. One of the most influential American authors of crime novels and stories, his books were considered classics of the genre, and many of them were turned into enormously popular Hollywood films, including The Big Sleep and The Long Goodbye.

Reviews for Trouble Is My Business

[phillipfrey · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Raymond Chandler wrote the introduction to his book of four Philip Marlowe crime stories. I'll just steal from The New York Times' review: "Raymond Chandler is a master." If you liked his novels and haven't read these stories, don't miss out.

[bobholt-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

All the flavor of Raymond Chandler, but the short story format keeps everything from getting overly convoluted Big Sleep-style.

[ozzie65-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Sometimes you just need to get back to basics. Broads, bourbon, gats and gams. And so, in quick need of a good read to keep the roll going, I jumped into this series of short stories with Chandler’s favorite private eye, Phillip Marlowe.As usual, he has a series of cunning and crazy clients; run ins with the local cops who all like to slap him around and drink his booze and bad guys who want to know what he knows but also want him dead.Marlowe always survives. The book is divided into for novellas. In the first, he is hired to protect a young wealthy heir from a potential gold digger. This job takes Marlowe into the world of Los Angeles gaming dens. As usual, Marlowe is completely irreverent with his employer but ultimately successful-ish.The second novella is all about the world of crooked politics. As usual, Marlowe finds himself in a mess of trouble and running afoul of the wrong people while trying to put together the pieces so he can explain what is happening.The third story is a great chase looking for two incredibly valuable pearls and Marlowe’s attempts to get them and make a profit on the insurance money. In this story, he travels north to Seattle, Olympia and Westport. It was nice to see Marlowe out of his element.Finally, there is a story about a man murdered in front of Marlowe in a bar who may be an extortionist. As usual, a dame, and Marlowe’s knight complex in saving dames, comes into play and gets him overly involved in something he should have left well enough alone.With Chandler, you know what you’re getting and it doesn’t matter how many times you read him, it just keeps getting better. This was a very good book for a compendium of novellas. Each one as good as the last. Pour me a rye and bring me a gat.

[unclebob53703 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The ones with Marlowe are better. This collection also includes the stories from The Simple Art of Murder, but unfortunately not the title essay. Lovely illustrated volume in slipcase.

[stahl2ricco · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

What's not to love? Four short stories with Philip Marlowe written by Raymond Chandler! Awesome!

[paul_s-289480 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Interesting to read short stories which later got incorporated into novels. A glimpse into the sausage factory but not too gruesome. When I was reading Farewell my lovely the whole fortune teller segment seemed out of place, now I know it's because it was yanked out of a short story where it was more developed.

[jeffome · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Thoroughly enjoyed this! The gumshoe, constantly smoking and drinking, surprisingly moral private detective Philip Marlowe plies his trade in crime-ridden post-prohibition southern California. Trouble seems to follow him, no....it practically knocks on his door on a daily basis! How California survived all the gun-toting, corrupt villains and politicians of this era is hard to fathom, assuming there is any semblance of truth to the lay of the land portrayed in this set of short stories. Marlowe is a completely likable guy that you have no trouble rooting for. He usually tries to do the right thing, but never seems to have his gun handy when most necessary, and occasionally reveals a little more truth than is necessary to the wrong people and then pays the price with a knock on the head or a surreptitiously medicated highball. At the risk of being a spoiler, he always figures a way out - by being the smartest one in the room.....which is a good thing......i eagerly look forward to reading more of his adventures!! Highly recommended!

[antiquary_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

To me, some of the best of the hardboiled school, the opening description of John Delmas, one of Chandler's interchangable detectives "handsome enough to pick up a dame with a sense of class, but he's got to be tough enough to swap punches with a power shovel" etc. says it all.

[stevealdous · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Collection of five of Chandler's early short stories and you can see his style developing. "Red Wind" is the highlight of the set for me with John Dalmas the closest of Chandler's early PIs to his Philip Marlowe.

[willymammoth · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I can see that, when these short stories were written, Chandler was still trying to get his Marlowe character down pat. Little details—like the kind of sidearm he wears—changes from story to story. But overall it’s a minor gripe. The stories are all quite good (4 in all). I enjoyed “Gold Fish” the most. I won’t try to do any regurgitation of plot, but all the stories involve murders, money, and gun-wielding dames that may or may not have a heart of gold. And of course, all of them are narrated by the quintessential private eye, Philip Marlowe.I shouldn't have to tell you what I thought of this book (given my other Chandler reviews). Of course I thought I was the bomb-diggity. It's not his best work, nor should a Chandler newbie pick this one up right off the bat, but it's still a good read.

[helices_2 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Trots det tidvis mycket underhållande språket håller detta inte riktigt. Kanske har det inte åldrats tillräckligt bra. Novellerna är alltför lika varandra, de respektive privatdeckarna dricker alltför mycket för att det skall vara realistiskt, och tjejerna är alltför ofta våp i utkanten av historierna (men inte alltid).Men det var kul att läsa och somligt var verkligen hårdkokt... så att man småler. Som inledningsmeningen "I was breaking a new pair of shoes in on my desk when Violets M'Gee called me up." (The Lady in the Lake) eller "The car outside let out a roar and when I got onto the sidewalk it was flicking a red smear of taillight around the nearby corner. I got its license number the way I got my first million." (Red Wind).

[marek2009_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Went back to Chandler for the 1st time since school. As I remembered the dry humour is unmatched and the drive relentless, with the dicks slugging out solutions more than detecting them, but at times the slang is now so obscure that the plot is difficult to follow.