Other editions of book The Lady in the Lake

The Lady in the Lake is a 1943 detective novel by Raymond Chandler featuring the Los Angeles private investigator Philip Marlowe. Notable for its removal of Marlowe from his usual Los Angeles environs for much of the book, the novel's complicated plot initially deals with the case of a missing woman in a small mountain town some 80 miles (130 km) from the city. The book was written shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor and makes several references to America's recent involvement in World War II.

The Lady in the Lake is a 1943 detective novel by Raymond Chandler featuring the Los Angeles private investigator Philip Marlowe. Notable for its removal of Marlowe from his usual Los Angeles environs for much of the book, the novel's complicated plot initially deals with the case of a missing woman in a small mountain town some 80 miles (130 km) from the city. The book was written shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor and makes several references to America's recent involvement in World War II.

Derace Kingsley's wife ran away to Mexico to get a quickie divorce and marry a Casanova-wannabe named Chris Lavery. Or so the note she left her husband insisted. Trouble is, when Philip Marlowe asks Lavery about it, he denies everything and sends the private investigator packing with a flea lodged firmly in his ear. But when Marlowe next encounters Lavery, he's denying nothing – on account of the two bullet holes in his heart. Now Marlowe's on the trail of a killer, who leads him out of smoggy LA and all the way to a murky mountain lake.

First published in 1943, The Lady in the Lake is Chandler’s fourth detective novel featuring private detective Philip Marlowe. As usual, the story starts with Marlowe being hired to find a missing person—in this case, the wife of Derace Kingsley— Derace Kingsley had a voice you could have cracked a brazil nut on and a wife he'd not seen for a month. He'd got a telegram that talked about a Mexico divorce and he wanted Marlowe to take it from there, however when Marlowe found the guy she'd gone off with, he denied all knowledge. So it's off to the country cabins near San Bernadino where there's a dead lady underwater...