"Little Sister is one of the lesser known Philip Marlowe novels. A young mousey woman from Kansas hires Marlowe to find her brother who has gone missing. In the process of searching, Marlowe discovers a blackmail racket, finds that the brother has been killed and runs into a fake Mexican actress with more than sex on her mind."
Jack Goodstein, Resident Scholar
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Review Analysis of The Little Sister
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Book descript. of violence and chases - 30% Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 30% Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20% How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20%
Tone of story
- Dry-cynical
How difficult to spot villain?
- Difficult, but some clues given
Time/era of story:
- 1930's-1950's
What % of story relates directly
to the mystery, not the subplot?
- 70%
Kind of investigator
- hard boiled/private eye
Kid or adult book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Any non-mystery subplot?
- theft/fraud investigation
Crime Thriller
Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown)
Yes
Main Character
Gender
- Male
Profession/status:
- private investigator
Age:
- 20's-30's
How much violence does he/she use?
- just the right amount
Ethnicity/Race
- White/American
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence
- Very much smarter than other characters
Physique
- very athletic
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Female
Age:
- 20's-30's
Profession/status:
- homemaker
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- a little/some
Motive of antagonist
- money/treasure
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- California
Style
Part of a series?
Yes
Person
- mostly 1st
Accounts of torture and death?
- moderately detailed references to deaths
How many deaths?
- 3-4
Amount of dialog
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog