The High Window

The High Window is a 1942 novel written by Raymond Chandler. It is his third novel to feature Los Angeles private detective Philip Marlowe. The story begins when Mrs. Elizabeth Bright Murdock hires Marlowe to find an old rare coin, the Brasher Doubloon, that belonged in her deceased husband's collection. Mrs. Murdock insists that her son's wife has stolen the coin. Marlowe begins investigating, but quickly finds himself entangled in a series of u... more

The High Window is a 1942 novel written by Raymond Chandler. It is his third novel to feature Los Angeles private detective Philip Marlowe. The story begins when Mrs. Elizabeth Bright Murdock hires Marlowe to find an old rare coin, the Brasher Doubloon, that belonged in her deceased husband's collection. Mrs. Murdock insists that her son's wife has stolen the coin. Marlowe begins investigating, but quickly finds himself entangled in a series of unexplained murders. He also must play psychoanalyst, to solve the riddle of Mrs. Murdock's troubled assistant, and the assistant's relationship to both Mrs. Murdock and her son. This is necessary to put together the big picture; Marlowe is never satisfied with only solving one piece of the puzzle. A film adaptation, The Brasher Doubloon, directed by John Brahm, was released in 1947. less