The Long Goodbye, by Raymond Chandler

As I said recently about noir, it's not the mystery, it's the journey. That's very true of The Long Goodbye. Philip Marlowe is at his most Marlowe-y as he cuts his way through cops, thugs, and any number of dames. Although there are a couple points where Marlowe is pretty smart and puts two and two together better than us feeble readers. I like the first 95%, but I can't abide the novel's crap ending.