The Simple Art of Murder
First published 1944 · English · 377 pages
- Novels
- Historical fiction
- Mystery and crime
This collection brings together Chandler's crime stories with the title essay, in which he argues for realism in detective fiction and describes the ideal hero as an honourable man in a dirty world. The stories, first printed in pulp magazines, feature hardboiled investigators, crooked officials and tense, atmospheric plots. Together they show how Chandler developed his style and set out the principles that shaped modern crime writing.
Quotes
Nor is it any part of my thesis to maintain that it [the detective story] is a vital and significant form of art. There are no vital and significant forms of art; there is only art, and precious little of that.
The boys with their feet on the desks know that the easiest murder case in the world to break is the one somebody tried to get very cute with.