The Little Sister

May 2, 2025 10:21 AM

Author:Raymond Chandler,Scott Brick,Val McDermid

The Little Sister

Brought to you by Penguin.

'So you need help. What's your name and trouble?'

Private Investigator Philip Marlowe's latest client is Orfamay Quest. She's come all the way from Manhattan, Kansas, to find her missing brother Orrin. Or at least that's what she tells Marlowe, offering him just twenty dollars for his trouble. Feeling charitable, Marlowe accepts - though it's not long before he wishes he hadn't. Soon the trail leads to a succession of Hollywood starlets, uppity gangsters, suspicious cops and corpses with ice picks jammed into their necks . . .

The Little Sister is Raymond Chandler's fifth novel featuring laconic PI Philip Marlowe.

'Marlowe remains the quintessential urban private eye' Los Angeles Times

'Chandler grips the mind from the first sentence' Daily Telegraph

'One of the greatest crime writers, who set standards others still try to attain' Sunday Times

'Chandler is an original stylist, creator of a character as immortal as Sherlock Holmes' Anthony Burgess

Reviews

Beautifully written and very moving, this is an assured debut.

—— Laura Wilson, GUARDIAN

A nuanced thriller that will haunt you long after you race through its pages.

—— GRAZIA

One of the most exciting debuts of the year.

—— SUNDAY EXPRESS

Spellbinding and darkly beautiful.... intricately plotted and exquisitely written, Tall Bones is a stunning debut.

—— WOMEN & HOME

Fast paced and moving.

—— LITERARY REVIEW

With Tall Bones, Anna Bailey bursts onto the scene with a wonderfully haunting debut. Small-town intrigue, exquisitely drawn.

—— JANE HARPER, author of The Dry and The Lost Man

The best kind of small-town crime novel... one that drips with atmosphere... an intricately weaved and haunting story that will stay with you for days after.

—— Culturefly

Both menacing and haunting, a compelling and atmospheric debut.

—— DAILY MAIL

Anna Bailey writes like a dream about teenage love and lust, the terror of knowledge and the claustrophobia of families and of small towns.

—— EMMA FLINT, author of Little Deaths

Bailey writes with perfect poise. She is destined for great things - I feel it in my bones.

—— SAGA magazine

Cleverly written, Anna Bailey's debut shines a light on the darker and more oppressive side of small-town society.

—— INDEPENDENT

Tall Bones is as atmospheric as it gets... a stunning debut that delivers on every level. Reminded me of Jane Harper's The Dry.

—— RENEE KNIGHT, author of Disclaimer

'A clever, twisting debut about the dark side of small town America. It is packed with secrets like firecrackers ready to ignite.'

—— FRANCINE TOON, author of Pine

Anna Bailey's debut is irresistible, a compelling and nuanced psychological thriller suffused with small town prejudice and dark family secrets.

—— PAULA HAWKINS, author of The Girl on the Train

An intricate and compelling thriller, beautifully nuanced. Brilliant.

—— SJ WATSON, author of Before I Go to Sleep

I felt so strongly about some of the characters that I had to check the ending to make sure they were ok! Extremely well written... fantastic.

—— HARRIET TYCE, author of Blood Orange

Its portrait of small-town intrigue is scarily credible. Bailey understands that the dynamics that drive small-town relationships are the same the world over.

—— VAL McDERMID

A terrific debut about guilt, secrets and complex family dynamics - the writing is vivid & assured: Anna Bailey is definitely one to watch.

—— LUCY ATKINS, author of Magpie Lane

Gripping and so beautifully written Tall Bones is spellbinding; dark and menacing, but also so full of love and hope. I loved it. I cried.

—— CRESSIDA McLAUGHLIN, author of The Cornish Cream Tea Christmas

Haunting... Emma's path to where the truth lies will carry the reader's soul along in both moving and compassionate ways.

—— Maxim Jakubowski, CRIME TIME

Brilliant! Could not put it down. It's utterly gripping and beautifully written.

—— KATIE FFORDE

Smart and compassionate, full of poetry and rage and shy hopes and shredded dreams and missing girls and family secrets.

—— TAMMY COHEN, author of Stop At Nothing

This is a striking first novel, a chilling insight into an oppressive world, where bad thoughts and bad deeds ripple just below the surface, out of sight.

—— Alison Flood, OBSERVER

Chilling and compulsive... a dazzling debut.

—— KATE HAMER, author of The Girl in the Red Coat

Simmering resentments and long-held prejudices boil over in this beautifully realised evocation of small-town America. I I loved it.

—— Kate Riordan, author of The Heatwave

An elegant, mesmerizing debut-Anna Bailey explores festering secrets with a with a sharp, yet tender gaze. This book reads like a whisper in the dark.

—— DANYA KUKAFKA, author of Girl in Snow

Cleverly written , Anna Bailey's debut shines a light on the darker and more oppressive side of small-town society.

—— Independent

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