On This Day 26th July 1888 - Raymond Chandler was born

Raymond Chandler began his career as an oil executive but when the Great Depression meant he was laid of at the age of 45 he turned his hand to writing detective fiction. His first, of seven novels, was 'The Big Sleep' which was published in 1939.

This was followed by 'Farewell, My Lovely', 'Lady In The Lake', 'The Long Goodbye' and other novels and short stories which cemented his place as one of the founders of the hard-boiled school of detective fiction.

His success with his writing led to all but one of his novels been adapted numerous times for the big screen and the year before he died he was elected president of the Mystery Writers of America.