I do think the movie industry is a big part of why LA has
been so prominent in HB fiction. I can't think that it's
really mentioned all that much in Chandler, but it's implicit
- it's why the city is there. Also the mob was pretty much
tied up in the industry from the beginning, wasn't it? It
does seem there's been a resurgence of the dark side of L.A.
particularly in the last decade or so - understandably, with
the riots, fires, earthquakes, OJ, etc.
Robert Crais's Elvis Cole series stands out as the only L.A.
fiction I've ever read that makes it seem like an appealing
place to live. Of course, only an appealing place to live if
you're wealthy and connected and have money, but still, for
all the gunplay in the books, I always end up wanting to pack
up and move there.
Every other L.A. crime book I've ever read makes me wonder
why anyone would stay there for more than a week. "The
Cracked Earth" by John Shannon - lots of earthquake stuff in
there - was the latest (actually I wonder why anyone would
live there)
Carrie
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