Poodle Springs

By: Robert B. Parker, Raymond Chandler

Narrated by: Elliott Gould

Marlowe is back...and he's married to a rich, beautiful society lady who wants him to settle down in the posh desert community of Poodle Springs. Marlowe may have married rich, but old habits die hard: he's hired to recover a gambling debt and soon finds himself in a case involving bigamy, pornography, and murder.

The first four chapters of this final Marlowe mystery were written by noir master Raymond Chandler at the end of his life. Robert B. Parker was chosen by Chandler's estate to complete his last work, and the result is a true classic for Chandler aficionados and mystery fans alike.

©1991 Robert B. Parker (P)2009 Phoenix

Authors can be "family" too, bu completing another

POODLE SPRINGS is a joint effort by Raymond Chandler, who died after only completing the first four chapters of this book, and Robert B Parker who was chosen to complete this book. I find this particularly interesting when one considers the "family" of authors. Now that Parker has died, author Ace Atkins has been chosen to continue Parker's stories.

In this book, private eye, Philip Marlowe, and his new rich wife, have just returned home following their honeymoon. His wife wants to continue the fun, supporting them both, but Marlowe feels the need to continue "being who he is". He's been hired by a local gambler to find a man owing him $100,000. Marlowe goes on the hunt, finding more then he'd bargained for, with a dead body, bigamy, blackmail, and pornography. Of course, he solves his case, but how does that affect his marriage?

Parker did a great job of convincing this reader that he could continue in someone else's writing style. Snappy comebacks, realistic dialogue, and the Marlowe character were done superbly. Definitely an enjoyable classic mystery.

Still good

To cleanly plotted to be Chandler but still wonderful. So many times I could tell it wasn’t the same author, but that’s okay. Raymond is one of a kind. I still enjoyed getting one more Phillip Marlowe.

Poodle Springs

Raymond Chandler and Robert B Parker wrote this book together, and the only book they both published. this was posthumously published after Raymond Chandler's death in 1959.

The writing and Elliot Gould’s performance

The writing was excellent and Elliot Gould’s performance the best. I have listened to this book four time over the years, never gets old

My Favorite of Chandler/Parker's Works

Any additional comments?

Poodle Springs was co-authored by both Raymond Chandler AND Robert B. Parker because Chandler died while the book was still yet unfinished. Despite this fact, this book somehow ended up being one of the most memorable in the entire Philip Marlowe series of novels. Parker did SUCH an amazing job of re-creating Chandler's voice that it is impossible to tell where he might have possibly picked up writing the story. If you are a fan of ANY form of detective fiction, this book will leave you hanging on to every word.


9.6 / 10

best story

this story is one of my favorites. as a kid we would drive every year for vacation to Virginia and Disney and this is one of the stories we would listen to in the car. listening to it brings back so many fun memories

Reviews are helpful

A review of another Parker novel recommended Poodle Springs. I’m glad I took the recommendation.

I love Chandler

This is not one of my favourites, I do not like Elliott Gould as much as Ray Porter, but I am completely biased I just love Marlow and the whole world that he in habits. If you have not read any then please do not start with this one, as his earlier ones are better. I could not tell the difference between Robert B Parker and Chandler.