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Raymond Chandler's novels are famous for 'hardboiled' detective Philip Marlowe and his jaded approach to solving crime.

But it's not just the characters that ooze cynicism and 'noir' style.

Here at Mirror Book Club we loved the unique language, quirky expressions and unusual slang... not least when they come out of the mouth of our world-weary narrator, Marlowe

Check out his Top Ten lines from February's book The Big Sleep...

1. On his pal down at the police station

“He sounded like a man who had slept well and didn't owe too much money.”

2. On the local area

“It seemed like a nice neighborhood to have bad habits in.”

3. On self-improvement

“I don't mind if you don't like my manners. They're pretty bad. I grieve over them during the long winter evenings.”

4. On crime

“Such a lot of guns around town and so few brains.”

5. On his vices

“You can have a hangover from other things than alcohol. I had one from women.”

6. On his approach to work

“I sat there and poisoned myself with cigarette smoke and listened to the rain and thought about it.”

7. On his home life

“This was the room I had to live in. It was all I had in the way of a home. In it was everything that was mine, that had any association for me, anything that took the place of a family. Not much; a few books, pictures, radio, chessmen, old letters, stuff like that. Nothing. Such as they were they had all my memories.”

8. On his appearance

“I was wearing my powder-blue suit, with dark blue shirt, tie and display handkerchief, black brogues, black wool socks with dark little clocks on them. I was neat, clean, shaved and sober, and I didn't care who knew it.”

9. On the weather

“It was a crisp morning, with just enough sap in the air to make life seem simple and sweet, if you didn't have too much on your mind. I had.”

10. On getting a good night's sleep

“I went to bed full of whiskey and frustration and dreamed about a man in a bloody Chinese coat who chased a naked girl with long jade earrings while I ran after them and tried to take a photograph with an empty camera.”