1945 deals First Edition, Five Sinister Characters by Raymond Chandler

deals Raymond Thornton Chandler (1888 –1959) was an American novelist and screenwriter. In 1932, at age forty-four, Raymond Chandler decided to become a detective fiction writer after losing his job as an oil company executive during the Depression. His first novel, The Big Sleep, was published in 1939. Chandler published seven full novels during his lifetime. Some of Chandler's novels are considered important literary works, and three are often considered masterpieces: Farewell, My Lovely (1940), The Little Sister (1949), and The Long Goodbye (1953).

Chandler had an immense stylistic influence on American popular literature, and is considered by many to be a founder, along with Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain and other Black Mask writers, of the hard-boiled school of detective fiction. His protagonist, Philip Marlowe, along with Hammett's Sam Spade, is considered by some to be synonymous with "private detective," both having been played on screen by Humphrey Bogart, whom many considered to be the quintessential Marlowe.

Five Sinister Characters contains five short stories . "Trouble Is My Business," in which Jerry Jester who was considered "upper crust" to the tabloids was nothing but toruble to his millionaire father and to the gambler on whom he welshed; "Pearls Are A Nuisance," in which old Mrs. Penruddock's pearls are stolen; "I'll Be Waiting," A story where a hard-boiled hotel PI turns out to have a heart of gold; "The King In Yellow," where the master of swing gets involved in murder; and "Red Wing," involving murder in a bar.

Here is first edition in good condition, particularly considering that it was only published as a paperback. This copy has some fading along the page edges and some creasing and scuffing on the cover and spine. On the back cover, there is a piece that appears to have been ripped off, perhaps by some tape (see photo #2). The pages are darkened (as is usual for a book of this nature) and the binding is a little loose, but intact. As a paperback, it is rare for a book of this age to have survived as a readable copy, as is the case here.

Special Note: This book is from the personal collection of Charles "Charlie" Brown. Charles Nikki Brown (1937 – 2009) was the co-founder and editor of Locus, the long-running news and reviews magazine covering the genres of science fiction and fantasy literature. This book was one of several lots purchased at auction.