The German novelist on the Chandler classic he wishes was his...
The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler
"I read it first when I was in high school. I would like to have written it because it's about big issues: loyalty, friendship, morality, power and redemption - but it's done with suspense and wit and ease. It's something wonderful.
Down-and-out drunk Terry Lennox has a problem: his millionaire wife is dead and he needs to get out of LA fast. So he turns to his only friend in the world: Philip Marlowe, Private Investigator. He's willing to help a man down on his luck, but later, Lennox commits suicide in Mexico and things start to turn nasty. Marlowe finds himself drawn into a sordid crowd of adulterers and alcoholics in LA's Idle Valley, where the rich are suffering one big suntanned hangover. Marlowe is sure Lennox didn't kill his wife, but how many more stiffs will turn up before he gets to the truth?