I last read The High Window about 30 years ago. It’s not quite as good as I remembered and not Chandler at the absolute peak of his form, but it’s still far better than most of the rest in this genre.
Marlowe is hired by an unpleasant but wealthy widow to recover a rare stolen coin without publicity or scandal. He discovers a complex but comprehensible plot involving blackmail, murder and some very dark dealings, which unfolds in a very satisfactory way. The chief pleasure, of course, is Chandler’s writing; his acute observation which illustrates his characters so well, the laconic voice, the mastery of simile and so on. Especially memorable for me is Eddie Prue, the crime boss’s enforcer with the frozen eye and unnatural height, who is “as thin as an honest alibi.” He is chillingly menacing and a masterclass in how to create a powerful presence with quiet, almost understated but brilliant prose. As always, his minor characters are excellently painted, especially Lieutenant Jesse Breeze.
There are some slightly jarring notes; the casual sexism and racism of the time is jarring now but reflects the then prevailing attitudes, there is a bit of pretty dated-sounding psychoanalysis and the whole thing isn’t quite as involving as some of his absolute classics (like The Lady In The Lake, for example). Nonetheless, I’m very glad to have read this again and may have to re-read some others again soon.
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