Really liked the Martin Beck series and I’ve a soft spot for Wallander but I’m sucker for Philip Marlowe . Marlowe’s a man with morals , despite his flirty style he only really had one girlfriend . He was a knight in a sea of darkness , world weary but with a conscience and resilient in the face of adversity. Self employed in a results culture but the sort of bloke who’d go out of his way to right a wrong even though there might not be any money in it . The PI culture is by nature individualistic , free from the 9-5 but lacking in collectivity . There is little or no community in Chandlers novels it’s often Marlowe against the world trying to establish some sort of justice based on his morality and his work . You get the feeling that Marlow was far from happy with that world and that in his view the world perhaps should be a better place but he comes across as powerless , cynical to do anything to change it or even find happiness himself . He’s the permanent outsider with a high level of mistrust . In an alternative reality he might have been into Paul Robeson, against the colour bar and a supporter of unions not tainted with the mafia or the CP-USA . Yup my fave
