The High Window

The High Window
The High Window features private detective Philip Marlowe drawn into another tangled web of greed, deception, and murder. Hired by the wealthy and domineering widow Mrs. Murdock, Marlowe is asked to recover a stolen rare coin—the valuable Brasher Doubloon—which she claims was taken by her estranged daughter-in-law, Linda Conquest. What begins as a simple theft quickly unravels into a series of murders, double-crosses, and hidden pasts. As Marlowe navigates Los Angeles’s bars, boarding houses, and crime-ridden corners, he encounters frightened witnesses, corrupt opportunists, and a vulnerable young woman trapped by circumstance. Marlowe’s moral clarity contrasts with the hypocrisy and decadence of the Murdock household, where old sins refuse to stay buried. Chandler’s sharp dialogue, noir atmosphere, and intricate plotting reveal a world where wealth and respectability mask corruption. Through Marlowe’s weary integrity, the novel explores justice’s fragile place in a city ruled by greed.