Chandler is the master of hardboiled crime fiction, and his protagonist Philip Marlowe is a fully realized character that both defines and defies the hardboiled detective caricature. Marlowe is cynical and jaded, but also morally upright (often to a fault). He's also a tad more sophisticated than you might imagine (he likes chess! and poetry!) Plot-wise, Chandler is notorious for not always tying up every loose end, but that's not really the point in reading his novels. You read a Marlowe novel for its atmosphere; for the depictions of the dark, seedy underbelly of Los Angeles and for the shadowy interiors inhabited by femme fatales or rich, bitter old men (or both). And of course, for the dialogue. All four novels are excellent, but the best plot wise is probably The Lady in the Lake, which is also notable for taking Marlowe out of L.A. for a good chunk of the story. I checked this book out of the library intending only to read one novel in order to familiarize myself with the genre, but ended up reading all four novels back to back (and subsequently the later three Marlowe novels). Highly recommended if you enjoy (or think you might enjoy) this type of crime fiction.