I won't comment on all of them, but a few short notes on a
few:
"Spanish Blood"
Interesting early use of a an ethnic detective character,
one who is
strong, tough, and assertive, and proud of his heritage (in
apparent
contrast to Charlie Chan, the big wheel in ethnic detectives
at the
time). One of only two Chandler stories I'm aware of in
which the
hero is an official law enforcement officer rather than some
kind of
private citizen. Best non-Marlowe story in the
collection.
"Pick-up on Noon Street"
Undercover narc Pete Anglich is Marlowe's second cop
character.
Interesting depiction of black ghetto (deleted from the pulp
version
of the story, "Noon Street Nemesis" first published in
*Detective
Fiction Weekly* 30 May 1936, and restored by Chandler from
emeory for
the *TSAM* reprint). Chandler didn't seem comfortable
with
cop-heroes. Lt. Delaguerra in "Spanish Blood" is supended
and has to
carry on without official backing. Anglich is presumed by
most cops
to be a crook, because of his undercover status.
Interestingly, he
identifies himself as a private detective at one point. In
both
cases, Chandler's cop-heroes are unable to make use of their
official
positions. Further, since drugs aren't really a focal point
of the
plot, why make Anglich a narc?
"Nevada Gas"
The hero is not a professional detective, but a professional
gambler.
Was this Chandler's tip of the hat to Ned Beaumont,
the
gambler/protagonist of Hammett's *The Glass Key*?
"Guns at Cyrano's"
Another third person PI, but with more of a back-story than
Chandler
usually gives his characters. Because of Carmody's
political
connections, he's able to talk back to cops with a lot less
risk than
Marlowe and the others.
--UNS_gsauns2_3046268384--
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