Trouble Is My Business

The boozy detective is a cliché of hard-boiled mysteries, but Raymond Chandler uses liquor to further the plot of the stories in this collection and to symbolize various qualities of his characters. “Trouble Is My Business” repeatedly makes mention of the expensive Scotch that Harriet keeps in her apartment. This specific choice of beverage implies that she is a woman of taste who can afford good liquor, and that she is as hard-boiled as the men. By the end of the story, Marlowe has developed a taste for Harriet’s liquor as well as for her company. He realizes that in order to play the game, he must participate—he cannot be wholly morally superior those he investigates.

In “Goldfish,” Madder shares a glass of whiskey with Marlowe as a sign of their agreement to cooperate in finding the pearls but demonstrates his duplicity when he spikes Marlowe’s drink to knock him out. Marlowe’s partnership with Sunset has a better outcome. After the two men warily agree to become allies in finding the Leander pearls, they share glasses of Scotch in Marlowe’s hotel room. Alcohol in this way forms bridges and relationships that allow Marlowe to participate in his investigations.