42 pages • 1 hour read
Raymond ChandlerTrouble Is My Business
Fiction | Short Story Collection | Adult | Published in 1934A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Character Analysis
Philip Marlowe
Marlowe is a detective in 1930s Los Angeles. He’s in his mid-thirties, six-feet tall, weighs 195 pounds, and has dark hair and brown eyes. Marlowe is attractive to women despite the downtrodden attitude he likes to project. Although he’s confronted with the seamier side of humanity on a daily basis, Marlowe retains a personal code of ethics.
The P.I. narrates all the stories in this collection with a wry sense of humor that displays both cynicism and hope. He’s suspicious of the motives of clients and criminals but still has the capacity to recognize innocence and decency in others when he sees it. Above all else, Marlowe is determined to find the truth. His task is frequently impeded by malefactors who come from the upper ranks of society and are used to getting away with murder. Against impossible odds, Marlowe always manages to solve his cases.
“Trouble Is My Business” Characters
- Mr. Jeeter—Jeeter is an elderly millionaire who hires Marlowe to prevent his stepson from dating a fortune hunter. In reality, Jeeter is so greedy that he tries to murder his own adopted child, collect the boy’s inheritance, and blame the crime on the fortune hunter. He suffers a stroke at the end of the story but is never prosecuted.
- Gerald Jeeter—Gerald is Jeeter’s spoiled playboy of a stepson. He stands to inherit several million dollars from his mother’s estate when he turns 28. Gerald is unconcerned with his girlfriend’s reputation as a gold digger and plans to marry her anyway. He is shot by Jeeter’s chauffeur with a gun belonging to Harriet.
- Harriet Huntress—Harriet is Gerald’s girlfriend and is also romantically linked to gambler Marty Estel. She comes from old money, but her father’s business was ruined by Jeeter, and she seeks to marry his stepson for revenge. In the end, she assists Marlowe in capturing the real killer.
- George the Chauffeur—George is Jeeter’s devoted henchman. He kills three men at Jeeter’s behest so that his employer can become even richer than he already is. After being apprehended by the police, George confesses to killing Gerald rather than letting his employer take the blame.
- Marty Estel—Estel is a well-known local gambler. Although Marlowe briefly suspects him of Gerald’s murder, Estel becomes the detective’s ally. He is also fond of Harriet and doesn’t want Marlowe to date her.
“Finger Man” Characters
- Lou Harger—Lou is a former casino owner and friend of Marlowe’s. He’s been put out of business by a competitor names Canales and wants payback. After winning $22,000 using a rigged roulette wheel, Lou is murdered, and Marlowe is framed for the crime. By the end of the story, we learn that Lou was a secret witness in a murder investigation and needed to be silenced by Dorr for political reasons.
- Miss Glenn—Miss Glenn is Lou’s girlfriend and gambling accomplice. She secretly conspires with Dorr to set up Marlowe for Lou’s murder. After the plot is discovered, she slips away and is never seen again.
- Canales—Canales runs a successful gambling establishment. He is implicated in Lou’s murder when Dorr fears that the charges against Marlowe won’t stick. Canales kills Dorr and is shot by one of the fixer’s henchmen.
- Tom Sneyd—Tom is a hapless cabbie who gets pulled into Lou’s murder investigation when he agrees to let the gambler borrow his cab to escape Canales’ men. His family is later threatened by Dorr’s thugs.
- Frank Dorr—Dorr is a local fixer with massive influence in Los Angeles politics. To avoid being implicated in a murder, he orchestrates Lou’s killing and fingers Marlowe for the crime. He is shot by Canales before his scheme succeeds.
- Bernie Ohls—Bernie is an investigator attached to the district attorney’s office. A friend of Marlowe’s, he provides vital information and helps the P.I. solve the mystery of who really shot Lou and why.
“Goldfish” Characters
- Kathy Horne—Kathy is a down-at-the-heels former policewoman with a heart of gold. She’s a friend of Marlowe’s and hires him to help her recover the Leander pearls and collect a finder’s fee. By the end of the story, both she and Marlowe are rewarded for their efforts.
- Peeler Mardo—Peeler is an ex-con and a cocaine addict who knows Sype’s current whereabouts. He’s tortured by Carol and Madder to extract that information but dies of a heart attack before telling them what they want to know.
- Rush Madder—Madder is an ambulance-chasing crooked attorney who teams up with Carol to find the Leander pearls. He lacks his partner’s ruthlessness and follows her lead. At the end of the story, he’s shot in the leg by Marlowe and will face prison time.
- Carol Donovan—Carol is a sociopath with a sadistic streak. She doesn’t hesitate to torture Peeler and kills Sunset in her quest for the pearls. She’s shot dead by Sype’s wife before she can reach her goal.
- Sunset—Sunset is Peeler’s partner and friend. He’s been waiting for Peeler’s return to grab the pearls from Sype. After Peeler’s death, Sunset briefly throws in his lot with Marlowe until he’s shot by Carol.
- Wally Sype—Sype stole the Leander pearls from a train mail car two decades earlier than the events in the story. Even though he denies having the pearls, he’s cleverly sewn them inside two fish in his exotic collection. Sype is shot by Madder but tells his wife the location of the pearls before he dies.
- Hattie Sype—Hattie is Sype’s wife. She kills Carol in the story’s final shootout. A cool actress, she almost convinces Marlowe that the pearls he found inside the fish are fakes. When he sees through her act, she shows that she is just as greedy as her dead husband.
“Red Wind” Characters
- Al Tessilore—Al is an ex-con who served time after being betrayed by Waldo and avenges himself by shooting Waldo at the beginning of the story. When Al tries to kill Marlowe because he witnessed the murder, the ex-con is apprehended and taken into custody by the police.
- Waldo Ratigan—Waldo is a petty thief and swindler. He simultaneously blackmails both the Barsalys: Lola for her pearls and Frank for some incriminating receipts. He also kills the emissary Frank sent to retrieve his papers. Waldo’s visit to the bar in search of Lola results in his death when Al sees an opportunity to take revenge by shooting Waldo in the chest.
- Copernik—Copernik is a racist detective who is unhappy being saddled with a Mexican partner. He’s perfectly willing to cut Ybarra out of receiving credit for apprehending Al. Copernik is also corrupt enough to consider killing Marlowe to maintain his cover story. By the end of the tale, Ybarra convinces Copernik to back down and give Marlowe whatever he wants because the P.I. solved two murders that the detectives couldn’t.
- Ybarra—Ybarra is a Mexican detective who resents his partner’s racial slurs. He’s quiet and maintains his composure in the face of Copernik’s insults and impulsiveness. Ybarra becomes an ally to Marlowe by the end of the story.
- Lola Barsaly—Lola is an attractive, wealthy woman being blackmailed by Waldo. She carries a torch for a dead pilot, believing he gave her a valuable string of pearls. After saving Marlowe’s life, Lola receives his protection and avoids being implicated in Waldo’s murder.
- Frank Barsaly—Frank is Lola’s two-timing husband. He’s carrying on an affair with Eugénie for which Waldo is blackmailing him. By the end of the story, Frank asks Lola for a divorce but never tells her why. He cuts a deal with Marlowe for $500 to keep his name out of the Waldo Ratigan murder investigation.
- Eugénie Kolchenko—Eugénie is Frank’s mistress. Marlowe is able to find her because of the Packard that Frank bought for her. She has charged expenses to Frank’s account that leave an incriminating paper trail that Waldo later uses to his advantage.
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By Raymond Chandler
