Summary of "The Big Sleep"

This is a captivating story about a detective, Philip Marlowe, who is basically a quintessential knight errant. The reader is first introduced to him as he is entering the Sternwood mansion and is about to be hired by General Sternwood. The introduction is mesmeric, "The main hallway of the Sternwood place was two stories high. Over the entrance doors, which would have let in a troop of Indian elephants, there was a broad stained-glass panel showing a knight in dark armor rescuing a lady who was tied to a tree and didn't have any clothes on but some very long and convenient hair. The k…