The Lady in the Lake

It wouldn’t be an LA book list without Raymond Chandler, but I’m perhaps getting a little controversial by opting for one of his lesser-known titles (and one that’s half set in a fictionalized version of Big Bear, to boot). Let me defend myself. This book deserves a place in the annals of Hollywood noir because it is simply irresistible, as nauseatingly unsettling as the undertow in a quick flowing Angeles National Forest stream. As for the setting, it’s half in LA, and what would this city be without our day trips? Los Angeles is a place that’s so much defined… show more.

What is more fun than reading a gritty noir detective story set in Los Angeles in the mid-twentieth century? Chandler’s book takes the reader in and around the City of Angels in 1942, as the film industry booms, the suburbs expand, the air grows polluted, and nearby mountains beckon. Yet the titular lake sits behind a federal dam, protected by US Army patrols, as World War II encroaches. While following Chandler’s characters as they enacted their tale of murders, sordid affairs, and dirty money, I was struck by the environmental story unfolding. Urban sprawl, networked infrastructure, reconstructed waterways, and diminishing… show more.