"Wake up, Henry," I said. "The sunset hour is night. The robins are calling and the squirrels are scolding and the morning glories furl themselves in sleep."
Like all men of action Henry Eichelberger came away with his fist doubled. "What was that crack?" he snarled. "Oh, yeah. Hi, Walter. How you feel?" ( )

The Simple Art of Murder contains Chandler's essay on the art of detective stories and a collection of eight classic Chandler mysteries. This is the best of Chandler's pulp stories—plus his notorious attack on Britain's "Golden Age" eminences.

Chandler's in my top 3 or 4 crime fiction authors. Who the other 2 or 3 are will become obvious as I continue thru the mysteries that I've read (not that I expect anyone to care!). This is a collection of short stories & I prefer novels - hence the "3". Chandler's one of the few mystery writers to really impress me w/ his prose, w/ his turns of phrase. Sometimes the writing jogs my mind much more than pulp usually does. The writing gets outside of clichés w/ stunning placement of slang & a deep feeling for character. My only criticism of Chandler is that he praised himself over Hammett. Hammett, for me, will probably always be the 'best' writer in this genre (although Ellroy is a recent prime contender). ( )

This book takes its title from the first of five entries. Rather than a short story, it is an essay by Raymond Chandler giving his defining opinion on the art of the myster. Chandler critiques some well k own mysteries and characters: “The Red House Mystery: by A.A. Milne (Milne’s only mystery), Dorothy Sayer’s “Busman’s Holiday,” authors Agatha Christie, Dashiell Hammett and others of the genre. It is an interesting read with the comparisons and his perspective of the subject of mystery writers and their books.

The next three stories are along the usual lines that Chandler is known for: a cop who is set up in a frame and finds he has to be the one to untangle the net around him. Two stories take place in hotels, involving the hotel detectives and some questionable guests.

The fourth one is more along the lines of P.G. Wodehouse. Walter, the main character, speaks in in a very educated manner, seems to have pots of money and time to spare. He receives a call, one morning, from Ellen Macintosh, his fianceé. She is nurse to Mrs. Penruddock, a very wealthy widow.

It seems Mrs. Penruddock’s pearl necklace has been stolen and the suspect is a chauffeur who worked for Mrs. Penruddock for a few months and suddenly left. Ellen feels that Walter should be able to find the suspect and get the pearls back and not involve the police. It seems the pearls are fake and Ellen doesn’t want it known and embarrass Mrs. Penruddock.

Walter manages to locate the chauffeur, one Mr. Henry Eichelberger. His excuse for looking Eichelberger up is that Eichelberger tried to kiss Ellen and Walter plans to make sure it doesn’t happen again. This meeting is the start of a madcap series of events as the two men work together to recover the stolen pearls. Shades of Bertie and Jeeves! ( )

Excellent collection. Each story is a terrific example of the hard-boiled mystery that made Chandler a master. ( )