"The High Window" by Raymond Chandler

I read this book as an abridged BBC radio-drama that fits on two audio cassettes, which not only doesn't do justice to Chandler, but also denigrates the entire story, lowering it to the plot-only variety of the previous British detectives. I have a strong distaste for BBC dramas in general, as I believe they never catch the right feeling of the original novels, and cheat the reader/listener of the enjoyment of the original.

The plot is intricate enough, a rare dubloon stolen from a rich, old miserette's house, implying her son and daughter and law. A private secretary who seems to be tied to the family with something stronger than a salaried job, and a string of murders within the circle of the people that got into contact with the stolen doubloon.

Marlowe discovers the truth, which implicates the old lady and her son, but the detective does not surrender them to the cops, his private dick's ethics having a higher priority, but only deals his own sort of justice by giving freedom to the enslaved secretary living a lie.

The novel was filmed as a movie called 'Brasher Doubloon' which was the only movie with Philip Marlowe which I could not find available on any P2P network, which speaks volumes about its quality and by transference, the quality of the book, which seems to be considered among the lower quality Marlowe stories.