Stephen King referred to Banville-as-Black doing Chandler as "perfect pitch." I would agree with that. The author's depiction of Philip Marlowe's observations and patter is remarkable. His black-eyed blonde has all the duplicitous, mysterious allure of any Chandler femme fatale. And the plot chases its tail through all the economic strata of Southern California, just as Chandler's always did. Most of the usual suspects are assembled, Homicide Detective Joe Greene, Sheriff Bernie Ohls, the local hop heads and gin swillers, the understanding bartenders, the inevitable hired muscle. The late Robert B. Parker completed an unfinished Chandler novel called Poodle Springs. But he wasn't nearly as successful as Banville is at capturing Marlowe's world-weary frustration with the glittering emptiness that was Los Angeles as the 1940s came to a close.

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