This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt. You may receive a partial or no refund on used, damaged or materially different returns.

Read full return policy

Payment

Secure transaction

Payment

Secure transaction

We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more

Details

Other sellers on Amazon

New & Used (20) from $12.38 + $3.99 shipping

Follow the author

Raymond Chandler

+ Follow

More books from this author

Killer In The Rain Paperback – January 1, 2011

by Raymond Chandler (Author)

4.3 298 ratings

See all formats and editions

{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$13.66","priceAmount":13.66,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"13","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"66","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"aIr3mjmdFQj8b0J8tZ9SQhE7f7SHhve%2FuJWMtaoeTfkyEg2eKhBg%2BcEi9nWR0%2BfiACAuV4DI1A3yRLJpiQe30T4U8wV9gn%2BthlYtdfLQw7GfCjFs0nXxvHteBjGJxy4c%2BPc2xHwcO%2Bch9JS8EbuIbnL4SDbcJkHeCa9fFO2gM5dYj7ZwjOuOag%3D%3D","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

Killer in the Rain collects together eight classic short stories by Raymond Chandler.

It was in the pulp detective magazines of the 1930s that Raymond Chandler's definitive take on the hard-boiled detective story first appeared. Here then, from the well-thumbed pages of 'Black Mask' and 'Dime Detective Magazine', are eight of his finest stories including 'The Man Who Liked Dogs', 'The Lady in the Lake' and 'Bay City Blues'. Sharper than a hoodlum's switchblade, more exciting than an unexpected red-head and stronger than a double shot of whisky, they are packed full of the punchy poetry and laconic wit that makes Chandler the undisputed master of his genre.

'Anything Chandler writes about grips the mind from the first sentence' Daily Telegraph

'One of the greatest crime writers, who set standards others still try to attain' Sunday Times

'Chandler is an original stylist, creator of a character as immortal as Sherlock Holmes' Anthony Burgess

Best-known as the creator of the original private eye, Philip Marlowe, Raymond Chandler was born in Chicago in 1888 and died in 1959. Many of his books have been adapted for the screen, and he is widely regarded as one of the very greatest writers of detective fiction. His books include The Big Sleep, The Little Sister, Farewell, My Lovely, The Long Good-bye, The Lady in the Lake, Playback, Killer in the Rain, The High Window and Trouble is My Business.

Frequently bought together

$13.66

Get it May 28 - Jun 7

In stock

Usually ships within 4 to 5 days.

Ships from and sold by Prime Deals, USA.

+

$14.41

Get it as soon as Thursday, May 16

Only 1 left in stock - order soon.

Sold by WINDGYL and ships from Amazon Fulfillment.

+

$13.30

Get it as soon as Thursday, May 16

In Stock

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.

Total price:

To see our price, add these items to your cart.

Try again!

Details

Added to Cart

Some of these items ship sooner than the others.

Show details Hide details

Choose items to buy together.

Raymond Chandler
1,421
Paperback
52 offers from $2.12
Raymond Chandler
527
Paperback
82 offers from $1.74
Raymond Chandler
2,491
Paperback
78 offers from $3.06
Raymond Chandler
2,832
Paperback
59 offers from $2.92
Raymond Chandler
9,255
Paperback
208 offers from $2.00
Raymond Chandler
165
Hardcover
75 offers from $14.50

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Books (January 1, 2011)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 584 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0241956315
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0241956311
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.08 x 1.38 x 7.8 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,264,744 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #4,957 in Hard-Boiled Mystery
- #22,193 in Short Stories (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.3 298 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Raymond Chandler

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Raymond Thornton Chandler (July 23, 1888 – March 26, 1959) was a British-American novelist and screenwriter. In 1932, at age forty-four, Chandler decided to become a detective fiction writer after losing his job as an oil company executive during the Great Depression. His first short story, "Blackmailers Don't Shoot", was published in 1933 in Black Mask, a popular pulp magazine. His first novel, The Big Sleep, was published in 1939. In addition to his short stories, Chandler published seven novels during his lifetime (an eighth, in progress at the time of his death, was completed by Robert B. Parker). All but Playback have been made into motion pictures, some several times. In the year before he died, he was elected president of the Mystery Writers of America. He died on March 26, 1959, in La Jolla, California.

Chandler had an immense stylistic influence on American popular literature. He 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.

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). The Long Goodbye was praised in an anthology of American crime stories as "arguably the first book since Hammett's The Glass Key, published more than twenty years earlier, to qualify as a serious and significant mainstream novel that just happened to possess elements of mystery".

Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5

298 global ratings

How customer reviews and ratings work

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Jack

Chandler says way more, shows life in its contrasts, strong....

Reviewed in the United States on June 29, 2013

Verified Purchase

Chandler says way more, shows life in its contrasts, strong observations, detailed without being boring, creating an atmosphere who drags you around the same way he got dragged.
Emotional contrasts, like exposing nudity and vulnerability in its beauty and ugliness.
Chandler takes you and shows you all corners of life as it was and still is, secrecy, plots, backstabieng scams
with the ability to reduce all of it in simple actions exposing all who wanted to remain hidden.
His in depth understanding of human nature with its motivations are razor-blade sharp.
The survival of a loner, staying strong in the turmoil of deception, crimes, sex and money hungry egos, going down
when they cross his path.
There is so much more to it...................

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Mike McReynolds

Chandler

Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2019

Verified Purchase

Reads well

One person found this helpful

Helpful

K Connell

Very enjoyable ear loo y Chandler work.

Reviewed in the United States on August 30, 2020

Verified Purchase

I have been a fan of Raymond Chandler's writing since I read THE HIGH WINDOW in college. THis work does not feature Chandler's great detective character, Philip Marlowe, but does contain many other elements from Chandler's later novels. The story is brief engaging and clips along at a fast pace.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Ralph E. Vaughan

Almost Marlowe...

Reviewed in the United States on August 13, 2014

When you're a struggling writer just starting out, it can be hell getting anything published, even if your stories are better than anything else on the market. When you become a "famous writer," editors are not only eager to publish your new stories but are willing to take a look at past efforts, even to publish novels based on what you previously wrote, but you still have control over what is and is not published. However, when you're a "great writer" who is now sleeping the big sleep, you lose all control over your own fiction and anyone can publish anything, whether you like it or not. And that is how "Killer in the Rain" came into being, a collection of eight short stories that Chandler had previously published in pulp magazines but which he did not include in collections of his short stories or, knowingly, in anthologies because he had "cannibalized" them to create three of the novels for which is most well known -- "The Big Sleep," "Farewell, My Lovely," and "The Lady in the Lake."

As you read through these stories you will be assaulted by a heavy sense of deja vu, even though many of the name and situations are different. And though the detective at the hearts of these stories is either unnamed or called Carmady or something, you could easily change it to Marlowe without changing anything about the story or the established character of Philip Marlowe. Of course, the reason, officially, for bringing out these stories against Chandler's long-standing opposition is to give fans and critics a look at the source stories that create three classic detective novels; the real reason -- it's just business.

Reading these stories will not change your opinion about Raymond Chandler, to the good or the bad. They are good stories, fine examples of the genre, well written and worth reading by anyone's standards. But I don't think you'll learn anything about Chandler that you didn't know before, or appreciate the resultant novels any more or less. But it is a chance to read something from Chandler's typewriter that will seem...almost new.

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

Paul E. Lewin

Great Story, Rotten Editing

Reviewed in the United States on August 1, 2021

Verified Purchase

It’s basically the start of The Big Sleep, but with different names. Still, it’s a good story. The problem is the editing. Whenever you have to guess what certain words are going to be, it doesn’t make for a good experience.

Helpful

John H. Osterholm

The basis for Chandler's novels.

Reviewed in the United States on July 20, 2018

A fine collection of Chandler's early tales, all of which found future lives in Chandler's later novels. I have this first edition that I have carried around all these years - a book that I can read and then return to with equal zeal.

Reviewed in the United States on September 14, 2014

great early Chandler but the cover came off the book almost immediately

Reviewed in the United States on December 15, 2012

Verified Purchase

Haven't finished this book yet - have lots of others to read at the mo - but so far I have enjoyed reading Chandler again - last read him many years ago. I like his style of writing - nothing flowery, no over-writing. Good.

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English

JP

La qualité du papier dans ces éditions est absolument terrible.

Reviewed in France on November 30, 2021

Verified Purchase

La qualité du papier dans ces éditions est absolument terrible. Les éditeurs se plaignent de Kindle mais produisent ensuite des livres sur un papier à peine meilleur que du papier toilette. C'est tellement décevant. Les auteurs méritent mieux - les lecteurs aussi.

Translate review to English

M.A.Srinivasa Ravi Raman

Good book

Reviewed in India on September 10, 2020

Verified Purchase

It is a good book, well packed and delivered on time

Keith Thirgood

Five Stars

Reviewed in Canada on December 11, 2016

Verified Purchase

Good book. Good condition.

David Phillips

This is brilliant material from a legend

Reviewed in Australia on September 10, 2020

Verified Purchase

Each of the stories in this collection has a great plot and hard-boiled characters. Chandler was one of the greats in the crime genre.

トモ蔵りん

英語が難しいので、テンポ良く読み進めるのが難しいです。

Reviewed in Japan on November 24, 2019

Verified Purchase

レイモンド・チャンドラーは、20年以上前の大学生時代にハヤカワ文庫で愛読し、その後も時々、読み返している作家です。英語版にチャレンジしたいと思い、まずは読み易そうな短編集から、ということで購入しました。読んでみると、英語がかなり難易度が高いと思います。スラングのような表現や、洒落た比喩のような表現なのでしょうか、単語をそのまま訳しても、今一つ、意味がピンと来ませんし、お洒落にも読めないので、テンポ良く読み進められません。清水俊二氏や村上春樹氏の翻訳の凄さが分かります。
救いは、チャンドラーは短編で使ったネタを、長編でも繰り返し使っていますので、読んでいて、「あの長編の、あの部分だな。」と分かると、そのストーリーを思い出して英語を読めることでしょう。もし、その長編を読んだときの記憶無しで、英文だけで読もうとすると、私の英語のレベルではかなり厳しいです。ストーリーは面白いには面白いので、もっとテンポ良く読めれば、もっと楽しめるはずで、残念です。
もう1点、通勤時間中の電車で読みたいと思って購入したのですが、本が分厚過ぎて、持ち歩きができません。そのことも、なかなか読み進めることができない理由になっています。

Translate review to English

See more reviews

Follow the author

Image Unavailable

Killer In The Rain Paperback – January 1, 2011

Purchase options and add-ons

Frequently bought together

Similar items that may ship from close to you

Product details

Videos

About the author

Raymond Chandler

Customer reviews

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top reviews from other countries