Raymond Chandler (1888 - 1959)

Raymond Chandler created the most memorable detective stories of the 1930s and 1940s, with novels including The Big Sleep (1939) Farewell, My Lovely (1940), The High Window (1942), The Lady In The Lake (1943), The Little Sister (1949) and The Long Goodbye (1954) and screenplays for Double Indemnity and Strangers on a Train.

He took inspiration from pulp magazines, newspaper stories and his own experiences of life in southern California, but his signature private detective, Phillip Marlowe, retained a romantic, lyrical notion of the detective as a chivalric hero. In his essay The Simple Art of Murder, Chandler defined the modern detective genre, coined the phrase "hard-boiled," and wrote: "But down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid."

Marlowe was played on screen with varying success by Dick Powell, Humphrey Bogart and Robert Mitchum.

Gifts for mystery lovers

Otto Penzler, proprietor of New York City's Mysterious Book Shop, commissioned short pieces from crime writers in this most readable treat for mystery lovers: The Lineup: The World's Greatest Crime Writers Tell the Inside Story of Their Greatest Detectives (2009)

P.D. James writes about writing mysteries in Talking About Detective Fiction

Watch online:
Alfred Hitchcock Presents [Hulu]
Hawaii Five-O [Hulu]

Mysteries on TV
Set your TiVo to collect the best British mysteries on TV from PBS Masterpiece Mystery, including Wallender, Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, and Inspector Lewis. While you're at it, check out the other Masterpiece selections: Classic for literary dramas, and Contemporary for modern dramas.

Best Mystery Movies
American Film Institute's Top 10

Recent winners of the Edgar Allan Poe Award® for Best Motion Picture Screenplay:
   In Bruges by Martin McDonagh (2009)
   Michael Clayton by Tony Gilroy (2008)
   The Departed by William Monahan (2007)
   Syriana by Stephen Gaghan (based on the novel by Robert Baer) (2006)
   A Very Long Engagement by Jean-Pierre Jeunet (based on the novel by Sebastien Japrisot) (2005)

Coming soon:
The Cause of Death Quiz
A playful test of your mystery novel knowledge.