"Just who the hell are you?" he growled.
"A shamus. The name doesn't matter." (pp42-43)

Raymond Chandler can't fool us. He might name his detective Dalmas in the eight stories included in Killer in the Rain, or Carmady, or leave him unnamed, but the reader immediately recognises him as Marlowe. The same voice is there, the same style and groove, the same dialogue that can get to the core of a character in a single line.

It didn't bother me that I was already familiar with the content; that Chandler later cannibalised these eight pulp-magazine stories into his novels The Big Sleep, Farewell, My Lovely and The Lady in the Lake. Sure, there was an uncanny element to reading this collection, but it's been years since I read those books and, besides, Chandler's a delight at all times. The way his proto-Marlowe detective navigates his cases, which is such a comfort to a regular reader. The delicious settings, whether that's the sleaze of Bay City or the ominous cut-glass danger of the mountain lakes in the final two stories. The tinderbox gunfight scene in 'The Man Who Liked Dogs' (pg. 103), and the vividness of supporting characters like De Spain in 'Bay City Blues', "a big, dark, dead-pan copper who didn't seem to have any more nerves than a cement-mixer" (pg. 390).

Safe to say, if you have any taste for great dialogue and a classy, smoky mood painted by a master, you're already a Raymond Chandler fan, and if you've not read the novels in a while this is a great way to return to them. ( )

Killer in the Rain är en samling noveller, inklusive titelberättelsen med samma namn, skriven av den hårdkokta deckarförfattaren Raymond Chandler. Samlingen innehåller åtta noveller som ursprungligen publicerades i papperstidningar mellan 1935 och 1941.

Los relatos incluidos en ASESINO BAJO LA LLUVIA constituyen por sí mismospiezas llenas de nervio y vigor narrativo, así como del peculiar sentido del humor de Raymond Chandler (1888-1959). La pieza que da título al volumen y «Blues de Bay City» ­el lector de«El sueño eterno» (BA 0700) o «La dama del lago» (BA 0703) reconocerá en ellas elementos comunes con estas novelas­ presentan el valor añadido de permitir apreciar parte del procesode creación del autor, quien, según su propia expresión, ³canibalizaba² a menudo sus propios relatos integrándolos en obras mayores. Completan el libro «Peces de colores» y «El lápiz».

This is one of those hard boiled private eye stories that made Raymond Chandler famous, and though the book was published in 1964, after Chandler's death, the story was written in the 30s and published in a magazine, Black Mask.

As a literary work, read today, it is really nothing special. The silent, strong, violent hero (or anti-hero) is quite common nowadays but being a long time reader of Child's Reacher novels, I can clearly see the line from Chandler to Child.

This story is short, and can easily be read in one sitting. There will be stereotypical bad guys, there will be women whose main characteristic will be being women and there will be guns and cars. Read it if you want a peek back 80-90 years, but otherwise there are better hard boiled books. ( )

Although these stories have many of the characteristics that mark his full length fiction and make him such a compelling narrator, they are not so sharp focused. They are certainly good enough to merit reading but the real interest is in tracing the development of Philip Marlowe as a character. 21 February 2018 ( )