ONLY TO SLEEP

Narrator Ray Porter resurrects quintessential noir detective Philip Marlowe with the expected hard-boiled unflappability. But Porter also reveals the unprecedented insecurities of this Marlowe, who is now 72, and careful to hide his physical limitations and accompanying feelings of vulnerability. This new story, which takes place in 1988, places Marlowe in Mexico and California, where he is chasing a likely insurance fraud. A body that washes up on a beach is identified by Mexican police as that of a rich gringo. After he is quickly cremated, his bewitching widow responds with a suspicious journey to a series of quaint Mexican hotels. Like the original novels by Raymond Chandler, this tale is woven with finely crafted phrases rich with nuance, and Porter's staccato delivery does justice to their provenance. N.M.C. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine [Published: OCTOBER 2018]