This attempt to capture the essence of the world's best-known 'gumshoe' through the minds of 'some of the world's leading mystery authors' allows them to explore their own preoccupations, with sometimes little more than a nod to Chandler. The plots of the stories may work quite nicely as individual entities but constant 'reinterpretation' means Marlowe himself comes across as a fractured and incomprehensible individual. Enjoyable hokum but a reminder of how great the original was.
(Clive Yelf - bwl 27 December 2004 ) |
