The Long Good-bye

"The first time I laid eyes on Terry Lennox he was drunk in a Rolls Royce Silver Wraith outside the terrace of The Dancers... He had a young-looking face but his hair was bone white."
His ex-wife, rich, beautiful and as hard as they come, had just dumped him. Marlowe liked Lennox, he didn't know why - maybe it was his scarred face, his weak charm, or his peculiar brand of pride. Whatever it was, Terry Lennox brought him plenty of trouble. But that's Marlowe's line of business.
'Chandler is the most brilliant author now writing this kind of story.'
Somerset Maugham

'Chandler is a serious writer, an original stylist, creator of a character, Philip Marlowe, as immortal as Sherlock Holmes.'
Anthony Burgess