text: Private eye Philip Marlowe is asked for help to get to Mexico by Terry Lennox. Marlowe likes Lennox and agrees to help him, but later Lennox commits suicide in the small Mexican town of Otatoclan. But why was Lennox driven to such extremes?
  
  Later on, Marlowe is asked for his assistance in keeping the alcoholic writer Roger Wade on the staight-and-narrow. This is not really Marlowe's line of work, but he becomes entangled in the case especially as connections with Lennox begin slowly to emerge.
  
  This is a longer, more ambitious novel by Chandler albeit displaying the same cynical, tough edge as the other Marlowe novels I've read. The greater length allows Chandler more space for character development and reflection. The danger of this is that the novel could have felt over-extended, but for me it didn't. The ending did not come as a total surprise, but as with every other Chandler novel I've read, enjoyment of the journey rather than satisfaction at the quality of the destination is the important thing.
  
  G Rodger
  