Best Raymond Chandler Books

The best books by Raymond Chandler — 7 titles spanning Mystery, averaging 4.11 BLT stars.

Read more

Raymond Chandler invented the hard-boiled detective novel as literature. Philip Marlowe — the wisecracking, morally exhausted private eye at the center of The Big Sleep and The Long Goodbye — isn't just a character; he's an archetype that shaped every cynical investigator who came after him. Chandler's prose is the main event: laconic, image-saturated sentences that make Los Angeles feel like a city permanently on the wrong side of something. His similes alone are worth the price of admission. The plots are famously labyrinthine — Chandler himself once couldn't explain who killed one of the characters in The Big Sleep — but that almost doesn't matter, because the pleasure is in the atmosphere and the voice. Farewell, My Lovely is the place to start if you want Chandler at his most intoxicating. For readers who want crime fiction that reads like poetry, he's essential.

Raymond Chandler's highest-rated book in our collection is The Lady in the Lake (4.21 BLT stars). Browse the full list below.

Where to Start with Raymond Chandler

  1. 1
    The Lady in the Lake cover

    The Lady in the Lake

    Philip Marlowe • Book 4

    by Raymond Chandler

    ★ 4.21 BLT Score (28.5K ratings)
    ★ 4.06 Goodreads (28.5K)
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
  2. 2
    The Long Goodbye cover

    The Long Goodbye

    Philip Marlowe • Book 6

    by Raymond Chandler

    ★ 4.21 BLT Score (47.3K ratings)
    ★ 4.19 Goodreads (47.3K)
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
  3. 3
    Farewell, My Lovely cover

    Farewell, My Lovely

    Philip Marlowe • Book 2

    by Raymond Chandler

    ★ 4.19 BLT Score (43.3K ratings)
    ★ 4.09 Goodreads (43.3K)
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
  4. 4
    The High Window cover

    The High Window

    Philip Marlowe • Book 3

    by Raymond Chandler

    ★ 4.12 BLT Score (25.8K ratings)
    ★ 4.04 Goodreads (25.8K)
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
  5. 5
    The Big Sleep cover

    The Big Sleep

    Philip Marlowe • Book 1

    by Raymond Chandler

    ★ 4.10 BLT Score (169.7K ratings)
    ★ 3.94 Goodreads (169.7K)
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
  6. 6
    The Little Sister: Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe cover

    The Little Sister: Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe

    Philip Marlowe • Book 5

    by Raymond Chandler

    ★ 4.05 BLT Score (19.1K ratings)
    ★ 3.98 Goodreads (19.1K)
    Get the Book → Start Listening →
  7. 7
    Playback: Raymond Chandler cover

    Playback: Raymond Chandler

    Philip Marlowe • Book 7

    by Raymond Chandler

    ★ 3.86 BLT Score (11.2K ratings)
    ★ 3.79 Goodreads (11.2K)
    Get the Book → Start Listening →

Browse Related Lists

Best Raymond Chandler Audiobooks Raymond Chandler — Author Profile James Patterson Jonathan Maberry Nora Achrati J.D. Robb Anne Perry Agatha Christie Ed McBain Stephen King Terry Pratchett Nora Roberts Michael Connelly Daniel Schinhofen Kevin J. Anderson Clive Cussler Brandon Sanderson Unknown Author Lee Child Craig Alanson Lois McMaster Bujold Terence Aselford Best Fantasy Best Sci-Fi Best Thriller Best Mystery Best Horror Best Literature & Fiction

How We Rank Audiobooks

Rankings are driven by listener ratings and review counts from Audible and Goodreads. Books with high ratings across a large number of listeners rank higher — a 4.5 with 50,000 ratings says more than a 4.8 with 200.

Unlike most book lists, we weight audiobook-specific factors: narrator performance, production quality, and how well a story translates to audio. A great book with a poor narration isn't a great audiobook.

We don't accept paid placements or prioritize new releases. These rankings reflect what listeners actually enjoy, not what's being promoted.

Rankings update periodically as new ratings come in and new titles are added to the collection.

Read our full ranking methodology →