"I was wearing my cobalt blue suit with a dark blue shirt, tie and pocket handkerchief, black sport shoes and black wool socks with a dark blue pattern. I was freshly shaved, clean and sober – it didn’t matter if anyone noticed. I was the exact image of a well-dressed private detective. I was expected by four million dollars."

These words mark the beginning of Los Angeles private detective Philip Marlowe’s career in the novel The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler.

Philip Marlowe was 33 years old at this time. He has attended college and started working as a private eye after being dismissed for insubordination from his job as an investigator for the district attorney.

The passionate chess player, who enjoys enacting old chess games and solving chess problems, smokes both pipe and cigarettes and lists bourbon as one of his favourite drinks. At about 1.85m, Philip Marlow is of relatively strong build for his time, and has dark brown hair and brown eyes.

The well-dressed private detective was wearing his trademark trench coat and a wide-brimmed hat, which later became known as the Bogarthut after actor Humphrey Bogart, who liked wearing that kind of hat in his films.

His pursuit of financial success is less emphasized than his view of morality and due to his conception of right and wrong the private investigator is rarely able to save money. Usually he is short of cash, because his conception of law allows him to let small crooks, who have gained his sympathy, escape.

The casual and flippant Philip Marlowe is tough, incorruptible and yet a romantic with frequent fits of sentimentality. Marlowe's world is the America of the Great Depression. A world where the sinking morale and rising corruption are commonplace. A world that is populated by politicians, judges, players, beautiful women and all those who are affected by the financial crisis or have something to gain for it.

Today’s commission of  $25, that the private investigator requires for his services, is considered to be a very low wage. There are also, of course, additional charges and he also calculates 8 cents for each mile driven.

After all, he does live in Los Angeles, a city where more than 1.2 million people lived in 1930 and which is now one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world. If one were to extrapolate these $25 to today’s purchasing power, the daily rate would be around $400-500.

He is, however, not to pleased with how his business is going because in the book Farewell, My Lovely it is clear that he has not had a case for more than four weeks and he was bored. For this reason he gets involved in a bar fight that leads to his next case.

Philip Marlowe, perceived as attractive by the ladies, has never had a relationship with a representative of the fair sex. He finally got married in Robert B. Parker’s novel Poodle Springs to the daughter of a multi-millionaire.