Good Reads / Community Library Notes
The High Window
Raymond Chandler
Review by Priscilla Comen
The High Window
Raymond Chandler
Review by Priscilla Comen
The High Window, by Raymond Chandler is the story of Philip Marlow, a private eye with wit. He calls on Mrs. Elizabeth Murdock who wants to hire a “clean” detective. He is shown into a fusty, dusty room, then to another where a young woman sits behind a typewriter. She asks for Marlow’s references. He gives her names of bank managers, attorneys, and cops. Author Chandler describes the young blond whose face has an “off-key neurotic charm.” Before she leaves, she closes a desk drawer in which Marlow sees a Colt automatic. He is walked into another room where he sees Mrs. Murdock, a tough–looking woman sipping a glass of port.
Told in the first person by the main character, Marlow, we get a feeling for his sense of humor. Mrs. Murdock explains the case to him: her daughter-in-law has stolen a rare coin from her, a Brasher Doubloon. It’s worth over $10,000. A coin dealer, Elisha Morningstar, had called and asked if the coin was for sale. Mrs. Murdock said it never was and never would be. When she went to look for it, it was gone. Her daughter-in-law has left the house and Mrs. Murdock is certain she has taken it. Marlow asks for a photo of the woman, Linda, and for the license number and model of her car. The secretary has been crying, wipes her eyes with a hankie monogrammed with LM.
When Marlow leaves, a tan coupe follows his car. The driver wears a pork-pie hat and dark glasses. Marlow loses the follower in a swift U turn. At Marlow’s office, a man comes in dressed in stylish clothes, smoking from a long cigarette holder. Leslie Murdock wants to meet the man his mother hired. Leslie admits he owes $12,000 dollars to a man named Alex Morny. After Leslie leaves, Marlow calls Morningstar and makes an appointment to see him at his office. Then he calls a reporter he knows to find out about Alex Morny who has a bodyguard named Eddie Prue. Marlow learns that Morny is married to Lois Magic, a former room-mate of Murdock’s wife when both were entertainers. Marlow drives to Morny’s new house in Bel Air and asks for Mrs. Morny. Outside, a man is washing a Cadillac when a hummingbird flies nearby. Author Chandler adds another character to muddy the plot when a spaniel runs out of the house and a friend of the family, Mr. Vannier, runs after it. Marlow follows him to a rear garden where a blond show-girl lies in a chaise next to the pool with a bottle of Scotch near her. Author Chandler says, “her hair was as artificial as a nightclub lobby.” Marlow and Vannier talk, but Marlow leaves without any information.
At Marlow's office, the tan coupe is parked there with no sign of the driver. Later, Marlow finds the man in the pork-pie hat at the Metropol Hotel. The man named Anson tells Marlow they’re in the “same racket” and gives him the key to his apartment in a seedy part of Los Angeles. When Marlow arrives at Morningstar’s office, he is told the history of the Brasher Doubloon. He is an expert collector of old coins and a shrewd old man. Morningside phones Mr. Anson at his Florence apartment, room 204.
Marlow goes to the apartments and enters room 204 with the key Anson has given him. A body lies on the floor in the bathroom. It is cold, dead. Marlow goes to find the manager. They call Detective Jesse Breeze who analyzes the kind of gun that killed the man. Across the hall, Breeze's attention is drawn to screaming and fighting after the the resident, Hench and his wife have been drinking. Hench had a gun under his pillow but swears the murder gun isn’t his. Hench is driven to the police station.
A small package is delivered to Marlow’s office. Inside is a shiny gold coin, stamped Brasher and 1787. Marlow puts it into a tobacco pouch. He phones Mrs. Murdock who tells him she is dropping the case because the coin has been returned to her. Marlow is shocked. He hocks the coin for fifteen dollars and mails the ticket to himself. When he returns to his office, Detective Breeze and his sidekick, Spangler, come in to discuss murder cases.
Breeze doesn’t think Hench shot Anson. His girlfriend would have known. Marlow gets a call telling him to come to the club house of Idle Valley to see Eddie Prue. There are a thousand white houses and a white club house with no windows, only rows of cars and white-suited attendants. Author Chandler sets the scene with tension. After Marlow orders a dry martini, he’s taken in to see Morny who gives him $500 dollars to get rid of Vannier.
Linda Conquest comes to see Marlow. She says she doesn’t have the Doubloon. She says that for $25,000 dollars she’ll give Mrs. Murdock’s son a divorce. The following day, Marlow tells Mrs. Murdock the police want answers and the name of his client. She says that’s a breach of confidence and calls in her son, Leslie with her secretary, Merle. Leslie invents a story about the theft and says he returned it.
When Marlow returns to the seedy apartment where Philips, known as Anson, was shot, he talks with the old elevator man who remembers everyone. He tells Marlow about the fire escape stairs to the alley and about the office of a dental technician, Taeger, who makes teeth that don’t fit. When Marlow returns home, the secretary, Merle, is there. She has a dazed expression on her face. She says she has shot Vannier. He gets a nurse to stay the night with her. Her gun has not been fired. At Vannier’s house, he finds Vannier dead in an easy chair. On the floor is a framed photo that has fallen off the wall, of a man leaning out of a high window. It’s an old photo. Mrs. Murdock’s first husband had fallen to his death years ago. The man seems to be falling, not leaning. A woman is on the edge of the photo.
There are many questions here. Did Vannier commit suicide as Marlow thinks? Why did Merle say she shot him? Does Marlow have the original coin? Why was Mrs. Murdock sending $500 dollars a month to Vannier who was a photographer? Chandler was an icon of mystery writers in the 1930s and is still revered today. Find out how Marlow solves this murder along with other clever Raymond Chandler mystery books at your Mendocino Community Library.
Told in the first person by the main character, Marlow, we get a feeling for his sense of humor. Mrs. Murdock explains the case to him: her daughter-in-law has stolen a rare coin from her, a Brasher Doubloon. It’s worth over $10,000. A coin dealer, Elisha Morningstar, had called and asked if the coin was for sale. Mrs. Murdock said it never was and never would be. When she went to look for it, it was gone. Her daughter-in-law has left the house and Mrs. Murdock is certain she has taken it. Marlow asks for a photo of the woman, Linda, and for the license number and model of her car. The secretary has been crying, wipes her eyes with a hankie monogrammed with LM.
When Marlow leaves, a tan coupe follows his car. The driver wears a pork-pie hat and dark glasses. Marlow loses the follower in a swift U turn. At Marlow’s office, a man comes in dressed in stylish clothes, smoking from a long cigarette holder. Leslie Murdock wants to meet the man his mother hired. Leslie admits he owes $12,000 dollars to a man named Alex Morny. After Leslie leaves, Marlow calls Morningstar and makes an appointment to see him at his office. Then he calls a reporter he knows to find out about Alex Morny who has a bodyguard named Eddie Prue. Marlow learns that Morny is married to Lois Magic, a former room-mate of Murdock’s wife when both were entertainers. Marlow drives to Morny’s new house in Bel Air and asks for Mrs. Morny. Outside, a man is washing a Cadillac when a hummingbird flies nearby. Author Chandler adds another character to muddy the plot when a spaniel runs out of the house and a friend of the family, Mr. Vannier, runs after it. Marlow follows him to a rear garden where a blond show-girl lies in a chaise next to the pool with a bottle of Scotch near her. Author Chandler says, “her hair was as artificial as a nightclub lobby.” Marlow and Vannier talk, but Marlow leaves without any information.
At Marlow's office, the tan coupe is parked there with no sign of the driver. Later, Marlow finds the man in the pork-pie hat at the Metropol Hotel. The man named Anson tells Marlow they’re in the “same racket” and gives him the key to his apartment in a seedy part of Los Angeles. When Marlow arrives at Morningstar’s office, he is told the history of the Brasher Doubloon. He is an expert collector of old coins and a shrewd old man. Morningside phones Mr. Anson at his Florence apartment, room 204.
Marlow goes to the apartments and enters room 204 with the key Anson has given him. A body lies on the floor in the bathroom. It is cold, dead. Marlow goes to find the manager. They call Detective Jesse Breeze who analyzes the kind of gun that killed the man. Across the hall, Breeze's attention is drawn to screaming and fighting after the the resident, Hench and his wife have been drinking. Hench had a gun under his pillow but swears the murder gun isn’t his. Hench is driven to the police station.
A small package is delivered to Marlow’s office. Inside is a shiny gold coin, stamped Brasher and 1787. Marlow puts it into a tobacco pouch. He phones Mrs. Murdock who tells him she is dropping the case because the coin has been returned to her. Marlow is shocked. He hocks the coin for fifteen dollars and mails the ticket to himself. When he returns to his office, Detective Breeze and his sidekick, Spangler, come in to discuss murder cases.
Breeze doesn’t think Hench shot Anson. His girlfriend would have known. Marlow gets a call telling him to come to the club house of Idle Valley to see Eddie Prue. There are a thousand white houses and a white club house with no windows, only rows of cars and white-suited attendants. Author Chandler sets the scene with tension. After Marlow orders a dry martini, he’s taken in to see Morny who gives him $500 dollars to get rid of Vannier.
Linda Conquest comes to see Marlow. She says she doesn’t have the Doubloon. She says that for $25,000 dollars she’ll give Mrs. Murdock’s son a divorce. The following day, Marlow tells Mrs. Murdock the police want answers and the name of his client. She says that’s a breach of confidence and calls in her son, Leslie with her secretary, Merle. Leslie invents a story about the theft and says he returned it.
When Marlow returns to the seedy apartment where Philips, known as Anson, was shot, he talks with the old elevator man who remembers everyone. He tells Marlow about the fire escape stairs to the alley and about the office of a dental technician, Taeger, who makes teeth that don’t fit. When Marlow returns home, the secretary, Merle, is there. She has a dazed expression on her face. She says she has shot Vannier. He gets a nurse to stay the night with her. Her gun has not been fired. At Vannier’s house, he finds Vannier dead in an easy chair. On the floor is a framed photo that has fallen off the wall, of a man leaning out of a high window. It’s an old photo. Mrs. Murdock’s first husband had fallen to his death years ago. The man seems to be falling, not leaning. A woman is on the edge of the photo.
There are many questions here. Did Vannier commit suicide as Marlow thinks? Why did Merle say she shot him? Does Marlow have the original coin? Why was Mrs. Murdock sending $500 dollars a month to Vannier who was a photographer? Chandler was an icon of mystery writers in the 1930s and is still revered today. Find out how Marlow solves this murder along with other clever Raymond Chandler mystery books at your Mendocino Community Library.