Only to Sleep: A Philip Marlowe Novel

Set in 1988, this successful attempt to channel the spirit of Raymond Chandler from Osborne (Beautiful Animals) finds 72-year-old Philip Marlowe living a quiet life in Baja California “after a low near-decade of sloth and decay and Ronald Reagan.” One day, two representatives of the Pacific Mutual insurance company call on Marlowe. Donald Zinn, a developer and a Pacific Mutual client, has drowned, apparently accidentally, off the coast of the Mexican state of Michoacán. The company is hoping that it can reduce its financial exposure if Marlowe finds evidence that Zinn, who was heavily in debt, took his own life or was involved in criminal activities. The PI agrees to look into the matter, starting with a visit to the resort that Zinn and his widow had been running. While the plot follows familiar paths, Osborne has mastered Chandler’s gift for metaphor (the Pacific Life reps “bared the teeth of friendly hyenas who have done their killing for the day”) and deepens Marlowe’s psyche as he responds to “a sad summons from the depths of [his] own wasted past.” This is the perfect companion volume to The Annotated Big Sleep (reviewed on p. 46). [em]Agent: Adam Eaglin, Cheney Agency. (July) [/em]