First published 2018
Philip Marlowe sits in the terrace bar of La Fonda hotel, sipping margaritas and playing cards. At seventy-two, the private investigator has settled into retirement in Baja California. His silver-tipped cane rests beside him in the Mexican heat of 1988. Two men in dark suits arrive with a job. They want Marlowe to look into Donald Zinn, a man who supposedly drowned after falling from his yacht. Zinn left behind a young widow who inherited considerable wealth. Marlowe knows this type of case well. The question becomes whether Zinn actually died or staged his disappearance. The investigation takes Marlowe across the border between Mexico and California, through badlands where the truth hides behind carefully constructed lies. Lawrence Osborne brings Raymond Chandler's detective back to life, placing him in a landscape of deception and greed that tests an aging man's skills against a new generation of criminals.
Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, detective
Vibes: atmospheric, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: aging-protagonist, deception, investigation
Setting: Baja California, Mexico, California
Period: 1988
272 pages · Paperback · Hogarth