My second classic private detective story. I really enjoyed Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon more than The Big Sleep. This one moved away from the feel of noir and more into a classic private detective, reading it was like watching a black and white movie. But it is fast-paced and action-packed. I found that this lacked grittiness but made it up with more complex mysteries. But while I enjoyed this, what really took me out of the story was the disdain for women. This was not just sexist in a way a lot of 20/30's stories are (I can get over that and still enjoy the story as a product of its time.) But the writing really expresses a dislike for all women, their thoughts, feelings, and actions "women make me sick". I don't know if this is a habit of Raymond Chandler, the style of writing to characterize Philip Marlowe, or just in this one book. So I think I will read another before making my mind up, as the descriptions are beautifully vivid and the plot interesting complex. (But be warned this is sexist, homophobic, racist all the ists.) For me, at the moment Hammett just writes this genre better and his writing lands better to a modern audience.