description The High Window Overview
The High Window is a 1942 detective novel by Raymond Chandler featuring Los Angeles private investigator Philip Marlowe. Marlowe is hired by a wealthy widow to recover a rare coin, the Brasher Doubloon, which she believes was stolen by her daughter-in-law. The missing coin draws him into a network of deception, blackmail, exploitation, and murder characteristic of Chandler's hardboiled portrayal of Southern California.
insights Ranking position
The High Window ranks #50 of 183 in the Detective Novel ranking, behind The Dead of Jericho, ahead of The Way Through the Woods.
help The High Window FAQ
What is the Brasher Doubloon in The High Window?
It is a rare gold coin dated 1787 and associated with New York goldsmith Ephraim Brasher. Philip Marlowe is hired after the coin disappears from the wealthy Murdock family's collection.
Who hires Philip Marlowe in The High Window?
Elizabeth Bright Murdock, a domineering Los Angeles widow, hires him to recover the missing coin. She suspects her estranged daughter-in-law, but Marlowe soon encounters blackmail and deaths beyond a simple theft.
Is The High Window connected to The Big Sleep or Farewell, My Lovely?
It features the same private detective, Philip Marlowe, but presents a separate case. Published in 1942, it followed The Big Sleep and Farewell, My Lovely in Raymond Chandler's Marlowe sequence.
Was The High Window adapted as a movie?
Yes, it was adapted as The Brasher Doubloon, with George Montgomery playing Philip Marlowe. An earlier film, Time to Kill, reworked the story around a different fictional detective.
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