The Big Sleep

Brought to you by Penguin.

'I was neat, clean, shaved and sober, and I didn't care who knew it. I was everything the well-dressed private detective ought to be. I was calling on four million dollars.'

Los Angeles Private Investigator Philip Marlowe is hired by wheelchair-bound General Sternwood to discover who is blackmailing him. A broken, weary old man, Sternwood just wants Marlowe to make the problem go away. However, with Sternwood's two wild, devil-may-care daughters prowling LA's seedy backstreets, Marlowe's got his work cut out. And that's before he stumbles over the first corpse.

The Big Sleep is Raymond Chandler's first novel featuring laconic PI Philip Marlowe.

'One of the greatest crime writers, who set standards others still try to attain' Sunday Times

'Chandler grips the mind from the first sentence' Daily Telegraph

'One of the greatest crime writers, who set standards others still try to attain' Sunday Times

'Chandler is an original stylist, creator of a character as immortal as Sherlock Holmes' Anthony Burgess

©2020 Raymond Chandler (P)2020 Penguin Audio

A razor-sharp noir classic — unforgettable characters and atmosphere

I absolutely loved The Big Sleep. The characters are brilliantly crafted — layered, unpredictable, and morally complex. Philip Marlowe is an outstanding detective: sharp, calm, and a true gentleman, though it’s clear that in the gritty world he moves through, it’s not easy to stay that way.

What really got me was the authentic noir feel — the neon signs, the fog creeping through quiet streets, the smoky interiors, and the way each twist kept raising the stakes. Every scene pulled me deeper into the mood.

It’s stylish, clever, atmospheric — and just incredibly cool. A true classic. I’ll definitely continue the series.