Chandler's last completed novel follows Philip Marlowe as he is asked to trail a young woman travelling by train from Los Angeles to the Pacific Northwest. He follows her to a coastal resort town in Canada, where she is living under a false name and clearly has something to hide. The story grew from an unproduced screenplay, and it has a quieter, more tired tone than the earlier books. It is a late look at a familiar detective, with a touch of loneliness.
Quotes
You can always tell a detective on TV. He never takes his hat off.