Philip Marlowe has been out of work for a while when he witnesses the felon Malloy loudly questioning a nightclub manager about the whereabouts of his ex-girlfriend, Velma. When Malloy shoots the manager and goes on the lam, Marlowe is pulled into a dangerous chain of events that will end only when he solves the case. Farewell, My Lovely is the second novel to feature author Raymond Chandler’s hard-boiled detective, Philip Marlowe. Since he first appeared in Chandler’s The Big Sleep in 1939, this famous character has come to define modern ideas of the private investigator. Farewell My Lovely was the first Marlowe story to be adapted for film.