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Recommendations based on Playbackby Raymond Chandler
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The Little Sister
by Raymond Chandler
Private detective Philip Marlowe is hired to find a missing girl, but the case quickly becomes more complicated and dangerous than he anticipated.
Mousy Orfamay Quest from Manhattan, Kansas asks Philip Marlowe to search for her older brother Orrin, who had recently come out to work in nearby Bay City (a fictional town modelled on Santa Monica ... (Wikipedia)
Trouble Is My Business
by Raymond Chandler
Private detective Philip Marlowe takes on a series of cases that lead him into the dark underworld of Los Angeles.
In the four long stories in this collection, Marlowe is hired to protect a rich old guy from a gold digger, runs afoul of crooked politicos, gets a line on some stolen jewels with a reward attached, ... (Goodreads)
The Lady in the Lake
by Raymond Chandler
Private investigator Phillip Marlowe investigates the disappearance of a young woman, uncovering a sinister plot.
Derace Kingsley, a wealthy businessman, hires Marlowe to find his estranged wife, Crystal. Kingsley had received a telegram from Crystal about two weeks before stating that she was divorcing him and ... (Wikipedia)
The Thin Man
by Dashiell Hammett
A retired detective called to investigate a mysterious murder.
The story is set in New York City in December 1932, in the last days of Prohibition. The main characters are a former private detective , Nick Charles and Nora, his clever young wife. Nick, son of a ... (Wikipedia)
The Maltese Falcon
by Dashiell Hammett
Detective Sam Spade must solve a mysterious case involving a precious artifact and a deadly trio of criminals.
‘Sam’ Spade is a private detective in San Francisco , in partnership with Miles Archer. The beautiful "Miss Wonderley" hires them to follow Floyd Thursby, who has run off with her sister. Archer ... (Wikipedia)
The Glass Key
by Dashiell Hammett
A noir crime thriller of political corruption and a tangled web of loyalty and betrayal.
The story revolves around Ned Beaumont, a gambler and best friend of the criminal political boss Paul Madvig. Ned finds the body of a senator's son on the street, and Madvig asks him to thwart the ... (Wikipedia)
Portnoy's Complaint
by Philip Roth
A young Jewish man's exploration of his own identity and the nature of his relationships.
The famous confession of Alexander Portnoy, who is thrust through life by his unappeasable sexuality, yet held back at the same time by the iron grip of his unforgettable childhood. Hilariously ... (Goodreads)
L.A. Confidential
by James Ellroy
An epic crime noir set in 1950s Los Angeles, exploring the dark underbelly of the city.
The story is about several Los Angeles Police Department officers in the early 1950s who become embroiled in a mix of sex, corruption and murder following a massacre at the Nite Owl coffee shop. The ... (Wikipedia)
A Handful of Dust
by Evelyn Waugh
A satirical novel about the decline of British aristocracy and the emptiness of modern life.
Tony Last is a country gentleman, living with his wife Brenda and his eight-year-old son John Andrew in his ancestral home, Hetton Abbey. The house is a Victorian pseudo-Gothic pastiche described as ... (Wikipedia)
A Study in Scarlet
by Arthur Conan Doyle
A masterful detective unravels a mysterious crime and its hidden motives.
In 1881, Doctor John Watson has returned to London after serving in the Second Anglo-Afghan War . He visits the Criterion Restaurant and runs into an old friend named Stamford, who had been a dresser ... (Wikipedia)
They Do It with Mirrors
by Agatha Christie
Miss Marple investigates a web of deceit involving a sinister family and a mysterious murder in the countryside.
While visiting her American school friend Ruth Van Rydock in London, Miss Marple learns that Ruth is seriously concerned for her sister Carrie Louise. She asks Miss Marple to visit Carrie Louise at ... (Wikipedia)
B is for Burglar
by Sue Grafton
Private investigator Kinsey Millhone is hired to find a missing sister, but the case takes a dangerous turn.
Private investigator Kinsey Millhone is hired by Beverly Danziger to locate her missing sister, Elaine Boldt, whose name is needed on some paperwork regarding an inheritance. Elaine was last seen ... (Wikipedia)
Elephants Can Remember
by Agatha Christie
A mother and daughter investigate a double suicide that happened years ago, uncovering secrets and lies along the way.
At a literary luncheon Ariadne Oliver is approached by a woman named Mrs Burton-Cox, whose son Desmond is engaged to Oliver's goddaughter Celia Ravenscroft. Mrs Burton-Cox questions the truth ... (Wikipedia)
Have His Carcase
by Dorothy L. Sayers
Detective investigates a mysterious death on the beach, uncovering a sinister criminal plot.
During a hiking holiday on the South West coast of England, the detective novelist Harriet Vane discovers the body of a man lying on an isolated rock on the shore, not far from the resort of ... (Wikipedia)
Nausea
by Jean-Paul Sartre
A philosophical exploration of the nature of existence and human freedom.
Nausea is the story of Antoine Roquentin, a French writer who is horrified at his own existence. In impressionistic, diary form he ruthlessly catalogues his every feeling and sensation about the ... (Goodreads)
Excellent Women
by Barbara Pym
A shy spinster's journey of self-discovery, exploring the limitations of life as a single woman in 1950s England.
The book details the everyday life of its narrator, Mildred Lathbury, , a spinster in her thirties in 1950s Britain. Perpetually self-deprecating, but with the sharpest wit, Mildred is a part-time ... (Wikipedia)
Double Indemnity
by James M. Cain
Insurance salesman and femme fatale plot to murder her husband for the insurance money. Things go awry.
Walter Huff, an insurance agent, falls for the married Phyllis Nirdlinger, who consults him about accident insurance for her unsuspecting husband. In spite of his instinctual decency, and intrigued ... (Wikipedia)
The Force
by Don Winslow
An ex-cop's mission to take down the most powerful drug cartel in the world.
Instant New York Times Bestseller Best of 2017 - included on best-of lists by the, New York Times,, NPR, Barnes & Noble,, Publisher's Weekly,, LitHub, BookPage, Booklist, TheRealBookSpy.com, the, ... (Barnes & Noble)
Cards on the Table
by Agatha Christie
A detective tale of murder and mystery, as a renowned detective investigates a case of four suspects with cards in their hands.
The mysterious Mr Shaitana hosts an unusual dinner party. His guests include four sleuths – Hercule Poirot, secret agent Colonel Race, mystery writer Mrs Ariadne Oliver, and Superintendent Battle of ... (Wikipedia)
Ulysses
by James Joyce
Epic narrative following a day in the life of an Irishman living in Dublin.
It is 8 a.m. Buck Mulligan , a boisterous medical student, calls Stephen Dedalus (a young writer encountered as the principal subject of, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, ) up to the roof of ... (Wikipedia)
The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling
by Henry Fielding
A story of a young man's adventures and misadventures in pursuit of love and fortune.
The novel's events occupy eighteen books. The book opens with the narrator stating that the purpose of the novel will be to explore "human nature". The kindly and wealthy Squire Allworthy and his ... (Wikipedia)
The Black Dahlia
by James Ellroy
A 1940s Los Angeles detective story, exploring the depths of a gruesome unsolved murder.
On January 15, 1947, the torture-ravished body of a beautiful young woman is found in a vacant lot. The victim makes headlines as the Black Dahlia—and so begins the greatest manhunt in California ... (Goodreads)
The Inimitable Jeeves
by P.G. Wodehouse
Hilarious escapades of a wealthy aristocrat and his talented valet.
When Bingo Little falls in love at a Camberwell subscription dance and Bertie Wooster drops into the mulligatawny, there is work for a wet-nurse. Who better than Jeeves? ... (Goodreads)
The Killer Inside Me
by Jim Thompson
A suspenseful psychological thriller about a small-town sheriff with a dark, violent side.
The story is told through the eyes of its protagonist, Lou Ford, a 29-year-old deputy sheriff in a small Texas town. Ford appears to be a regular, small-town cop leading an unremarkable existence; ... (Wikipedia)
A Kiss Before Dying
by Ira Levin
A young man's quest to uncover the truth behind the death of his lover.
Bud Corliss is a young man with a ruthless drive to rise above his working-class origins to a life of wealth and importance. He serves in the Pacific in World War II, and upon his honorable discharge ... (Wikipedia)
Angels Flight
by Michael Connelly
A high-profile lawyer is murdered on the Angels Flight funicular railway in LA, and detective Harry Bosch must navigate political corruption to solve the case.
Los Angeles Police Department Detective Harry Bosch is assigned to investigate the murder of prominent African-American attorney Howard Elias late on a Friday night on Angels Flight , a funicular ... (Wikipedia)
Wait Until Spring, Bandini
by John Fante
An Italian-American family struggles to make ends meet in a small farming community in the 1930s.
The film follows the Bandini family as they struggle through hard times in 1920s Colorado . Unemployed and broke, Svevo Bandini ( Joe Mantegna ) tries to come up with the money his family needs to ... (Wikipedia)
Lost Light
by Michael Connelly
Detective Harry Bosch investigates a cold case that could unearth dark secrets from his past.
Lost Light is the first novel set after Bosch retires from the LAPD at the end of the prior story. Having received his private investigator 's license, Bosch investigates an old case concerning the ... (Wikipedia)
My Man Jeeves
by P.G. Wodehouse
A series of humorous adventures featuring a bumbling English gentleman and his ever-resourceful valet.
Who can forget our beloved gentleman's personal gentleman, Jeeves, who ever comes to the rescue when the hapless Bertie Wooster falls into trouble. My Man Jeeves is sure to please anyone with a taste ... (Goodreads)
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
by Susanna Clarke
A whimsical tale of two magicians mastering the mysteries of English magic.
The novel opens in 1806 in northern England with The Learned Society of York Magicians, whose members are "theoretical magicians" who believe that magic died out several hundred years earlier. The ... (Wikipedia)
