Why a Booktrail?
1988: Private Investigator Philip Marlowe, 77, is not in retirement for long..
Only to Sleep (Philip Marlowe)
What you need to know before your trail
The year is 1988. The place, Baja California. Private Investigator Philip Marlowe – now in his seventy-second year – has been living out his retirement in the terrace bar of the La Fonda hotel. Sipping margaritas, playing cards, his silver-tipped cane at the ready. When in saunter two men dressed like undertakers. With a case that has his name written all over it.
At last Marlowe is back where he belongs. His mission is to investigate Donald Zinn – supposedly drowned off his yacht, leaving a much younger and now very rich wife. Marlowe’s speciality. But is Zinn actually alive? Are the pair living off the spoils?
Travel Guide
Baja California
Commissioned by the Raymond Chandler estate, this novel offers a study of one of literature’s very famous detectives.
It’s set in the coastal areas of California and Mexico, (many on the map but there are SO many and some give the plot away so they’re not on there!)
It’s in these remote, dusty areas that there are many a con man, shady character and down right undesirables which Marlowe must second guess and get one over on.
These places are far from any tourist spot, with roads Chris Rea would sing about and tracks you really would not want to go down if you weren’t a fictional detective. The overall sense of place, dusty air, rusty cars and the high heat of the landscape is evoked with style.
There’s plenty of bars, roadside shacks and random clubs in the book too.One bar even has a generator that invites customers to experience electric shocks for a free Mescal.
The historical backdrop of the time is also evoked to help steady the story and characters in time. In 1988, Reagan’s presidential term is over when Marlowe gets the call.
Mexico
Feel the heat and see the lawlessness of the places Marlowe visits. Guadelajara, Tuxcan. El Centro, Caleta de Campos and Mazatlan to name but a few. There is a trail dotted around Mexico which Marlowe must go on to find the truth and it’s a trail which leads him to some very interesting places! There is one nice spot or at least one spot recommended in the novel however and that is Faro de Bucerias where the divers like to go. That’s not to say the other places aren’t nice, but not so in this story!
Booktrail Boarding Pass: Only to Sleep (Philip Marlowe)
Destination : Baja California, Mexico. California Author/Guide: Lawrence Osborne Departure Time: 1980s
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