Raymond Chandler’s Trouble Is My Business

When it comes to mysteries, I’m much more interested in the cozies (from the English tradition, Agatha Christie and the like, puzzles in artificial yet attractive settings) than the American hard-boileds, which brought their own mannered “realism” into the genre.

I’m interested, though, in understanding the appeal, particularly when it comes to some of the classic authors, such as the one who created this story. Raymond Chandler’s Trouble Is My Business is adapted by Arvind Ethan David and illustrated by Ilias Kyriazis.

The excellent foreword, which moves from justifying adaptation to explaining Chandler’s focus on scene-setting, is by Ben H. Winters. That helped me understand why I enjoyed this graphic novel version more than the actual Philip Marlowe stories — it’s a big help to me to see the atmosphere and the characters. Particularly since woven into the essential fabric of these tough-guy tales is the post-war atmosphere, a 1946 “we’ve lost our innocence” nihilism, and the pictures remind me of that. I appreciate Chandler’s brilliant language, but for these kinds of stories, I need the visuals.

Marlowe’s job here is to smear a beautiful redhead so the rich man’s son she’s running around with drops her. The graphic novel expands a bit of the characters’ histories, giving, for example, the Black chauffeur (and bodyguard, sort of) a background that makes him a character, not just a plot device.

The pages are beautifully laid out, with plenty of room for the crackling back-and-forth dialogue or the Marlowe narration while still giving us things to look at and ideas of the participants’ attitudes. I like the use of silhouettes and negative space, too, which remind us to think about what’s missing and what’s not being said.

The mystery is twisty, with revelations I doubt anyone can see coming. Raymond Chandler’s Trouble Is My Business is a satisfying, gorgeous read. (The publisher provided a review copy.)