The Second Murderer
A Philip Marlowe Novel
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3.7 • 23 Ratings
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Philip Marlowe is on the hunt for a missing heiress—and up against a rival PI—in this smart and atmospheric authorized mystery from acclaimed crime writer and "one-of-a-kind storyteller" Denise Mina (James Patterson), the first woman to recreate Raymond Chandler’s infamous detective.
Has Philip Marlowe finally met his match?
It’s early fall when a heatwave descends on Los Angeles. Private Detective Philip Marlowe is called to the Montgomery estate, an almost mythic place sitting high on top of Beverly Hills. Wealthy socialite Chrissie Montgomery is missing. Young, naïve, and set to inherit an enormous fortune, she’s a walking target, ripe for someone to get their claws into. Her dying father and his sultry bottle-blonde girlfriend want her found before that happens. To make sure, they’ve got Anne Riordan—now head of her own all-female detective agency—on the case, too.
The search for Chrissie takes the two investigators from the Montgomery mansion to the roughest neighborhoods of LA, through dive bars and boarding houses and out to Skid Row. And that’s all before they find the body at The Brody Hotel. Who will get to Chrissie first? And what happens when a woman doesn’t want to be found?
In The Second Murderer, Denise Mina becomes the first woman to recreate Raymond Chandler’s infamous detective, delivering a clever and timely new take on Philip Marlowe, as well as a propulsive, dark, and witty mystery all its own.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Mina (The Less Dead) successfully emulates the language and tone of Raymond Chandler's hard-boiled novels featuring California P.I. Marlowe in this terrific pastiche. Though Marlowe has been instrumental in solving the murder of cowboy actor Pasco Pete, the gumshoe is unsettled by a sense he missed something. There's no time to reopen the investigation, however, as he's summoned to help the überwealthy Chadwick Montgomery track down his missing 22-year-old daughter, Chrissie, who vanished from the family estate the morning after her engagement party. Despite his distaste for Montgomery and uncertainty about whether Chrissie wants to be found, Marlowe accepts the case, which quickly leads to the discovery of multiple bodies, the revelation of Montgomery family secrets, and possible links to Pasco Pete's death. The search is further complicated by the presence of Marlowe's professional rival, detective Anne Riordan, whom Montgomery has also retained to find Chrissie. On top of nailing Chandler's atmospherics ("Out on Santa Monica the heat was oiling up from the ground. Dust whipped past us on a spiteful breeze"), Mina delivers a truly surprising plot. Noir fans will hope Mina returns to the mean streets of L.A. again soon.
