Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Mystery Book Review

1001 BOOKS YOU MUST READ BEFORE YOU DIE
American detective stories, part 2.

Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett is the first and best hard-boiled detective novel. The Continental Op, has no identity beyond his function as a detective, who battles violence by being a tough guy himself.
Maltese Falcon, features Sam Spade, who tries to find the killer of his partner, Lew Archer while holding off a bunch of killers searching for the Maltese Falcon.
The Thin Man: Nick and Nora Charles, rich, charming, and witty; they solved crime while having a busy social life.

The Big Sleep and the Long Good-bye by Raymond Chandler are Philip Marlowe stories. We only see him in action when there is a crime to solve. A cynical world view seeps into the atmosphere surrounding the crimes to be solved.

Black Dahlia by James Ellroy. Police detective Bleichert must track down the killer of Elizabeth Short, a woman who arrives in Hollywood to be a star and instead becomes a prostitute. An adaptation of the book will be out in movie theaters in September.

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