Poodle Springs

The Poodle Springs Story is a Philip Marlowe novel left unfinished at the time of Chandler's death. It was later completed by Robert B. Parker. See listings under Robert B. Parker, also.

About the Author:

Raymond Chandler

   Raymond Chandler, along with Dashiell Hammett, created the hard-boiled detective genre of detective mysteries. His characters first appeared in short stories in the early pulp magazines, the most well-known pulp magazine being Black Mask. His hard-boiled Los Angeles investigator Philip Marlowe was introduced in    Chandler’s first novel, The Big Sleep. Marlowe a complex rather melancholy loner who when drawn into bad situations, is not afraid to engage in violence. He has come to epitomize the hard-boiled detective in literature. The Big Sleep was followed by Farewell My Lovely, The High Window, The Lady in the Lake, The Little Sister, The Long Goodbye (for which he won the Edgar for Best Novel of 1955), and Playback. His last novel, Poodle Springs, was unfinished at his death in 1959 and was completed by Robert B. Parker.
   All of Chandler’s novels have been made into films. The Big Sleep was filmed twice.  Humphrey Bogart was the personification of Philip Marlowe in the 1946 film.
   Chandler was born in Illinois, lived in England for many of his early years, served in the Canadian Army during WW I, and moved back to the U.S. after the Armistice and settled in Los Angeles.  He worked as a Hollywood screenwriter after the success of his novels. He died of alcoholism and pneumonia and was buried at Mount Hope Cemetery in San Diego in March of 1959.

Other Books By Raymond Chandler: