The Second Murderer is a Philip Marlowe novel. Yes, that Philip Marlowe, the Raymond Chandler one, continued by the fabulous Denise Mina. It is, unsurprisingly, fabulous. Mina does not put a foot wrong in recreating the mean streets of LA, the Forties repartee, the tone of the original. Tone is the key, because Chandler was a lot more cutting in his moral judgments than most people remember.
I've read at least one other Marlowe continuation, the one where he comes out of retirement, but Mina is wise to stick to the Forties. This is because she is so damn good at establishing period. I thought her Rizzio was superb and am looking to pick up her Savanarola take, Three Fires. It doesn't have to be half a millennium ago for Mina, her Peter Manuel novel, The Long Drop, was equally convincing.
Here, Marlowe is summoned by an evil millionaire to track down his errant daughter and sole heiress. Marlowe finds her dabbling on the art scene - acting as guide for an Abstract Expressionist exhibition for a gallerist who is a brilliant amalgam of Peggy Guggenheim and Big Edie Bouvier in Grey Gardens (and she's just a walk-on character). From there Marlowe is drawn to the Lesbian scene. He is in conflict and unofficial partnership with female detective Anne Riordan whose advances, professional and personal, he has previously spurned, and butts heads with Moochie Ruud, rising star of the LAPD thanks to marrying the boss's unappealling daughter.
Key to the book's success is Mina's ability to pull off Chandler's trick - the murder and who did it is only the device that brings the characters together. It doesn't matter who dies or who did it. I only finished reading yesterday morning and I have already forgotten who did it. Interestingly I do remember who the titular second murderer was, but never guessed whilst reading. Brilliant, I do hope Mina writes more Marlowe.
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