Who wrote The Big Sleep?

Raymond Chandler wrote The Big Sleep, first published in 1939. It is a work of mystery & thriller and is rated 'Essential Read' in our catalogue.

Is there a book club guide for The Big Sleep?

Yes — Book Verdict has a free reading guide for The Big Sleep with key themes and five original discussion questions at https://247bookverdict.com/reading-guides/raymond-chandler-the-big-sleep/.

Essential Read

The Big Sleep

Name: The Big Sleep
Author: Raymond Chandler

by Raymond Chandler · 1939

Mystery & Thriller · ranked #8 in category

Reviewed by the Book Verdict editorial team

Private detective Philip Marlowe is hired by an elderly General to handle a blackmailer — and finds himself in a Los Angeles of corruption, murder and double-crossing that extends far beyond the original case. Chandler's first novel introduced one of fiction's iconic protagonists and established the hardboiled detective as an American archetype.

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The verdict

Category: Mystery & Thriller
First published: 1939 · 1930s
Author: Raymond Chandler
Standing: Essential Read

About Mystery & Thriller

The mystery and thriller is powered by one of the most elemental human drives: the need to know what happened. The best crime writing is morally serious, tightly plotted and impossible to put down.