The Big Sleep (1939) is Raymond Chandler's first novel featuring private detective Philip Marlowe. Hired by the wealthy, ailing General Sternwood to handle a blackmail attempt against his daughter, Marlowe becomes entangled in a dark web of pornography, murder, gambling, and corruption in 1930s Los Angeles. As bodies pile up, he navigates the decadent Sternwood family, particularly the General's wild daughters, Vivian and Carmen. With its hard-boiled prose, cynical tone, and atmospheric portrayal of California's seedy underbelly, the novel established Chandler as a master of noir fiction and made Marlowe one of detective literature's most iconic figures.
