SOURCE: "Looking for a Knight: The Short Stories," in Raymond Chandler, Twayne Publishers, 1986, pp. 51-72.

In the following essay, Marling surveys Chandler's short stories, addressing issues of plot, character, and style in each.

Before he invented Philip Marlowe in The Big Sleep, Chandler created prototypes in gambler Johnny De Ruse, policeman Sam Delaguerra, vice detective Pete Anglich, hotel dick Steve Grayce, and man-about-town Ted Malvern. His best effort was a private detective named Mallory, after the author of Le Morte d'Arthur. Later Chandler changed his name to Carmady, and finally to John Dalmas.

Mallory appears in Chandler's first story, "Blackmailers Don't Shoot" (Black Mask, December 1933). While the story is primitive compared to his later efforts, and flawed by clichéd dialogue, motiveless actions, and pointless turns of plot, it was relatively polished by Black Mask standards.

Private detective Mallory comes to Los Angeles from Chicago, Chandler's birthplace, at...