John Banville (Benjamin Black): Black-Eyed Blonde

Irish author

John Banville has written a new novel under his crime-fiction pseudonym,

Benjamin Black, and in the guise of Raymond Chandler. The book's title,

The Black-Eyed Blonde

(Henry Holt) comes from Chandler's notebooks. Banville heralds Chandler's innovations as a writer: his (crime) fiction is governed by style. Banville, too, favors metaphor, character, and dialogue over gun-slinging action. His black-eyed blonde is an aristocratic beauty, a chimera to the lonely, noble Marlowe.

Read an excerpt from The Black-Eyed Blonde.