Farewell, My Lovely recap

Private detective Philip Marlowe witnesses recently released giant Moose Malloy kill a man while searching for his former girlfriend, nightclub singer Velma Valento. Marlowe's inquiries lead to alcoholic Jessie Florian, then to Lindsay Marriott, who hires him to guard a ransom payment for a stolen jade necklace. Marriott is murdered, and Anne Riordan identifies the necklace as belonging to the young wife of wealthy Lewin Grayle. The two cases merge through psychic consultant Jules Amthor, a corrupt private clinic, and gambling-ship owner Laird Brunette. Marlowe eventually brings Moose to Mrs Grayle and exposes her as Velma, who reinvented herself after Moose's imprisonment. She killed Marriott and Jessie to protect the life she built and the secrets used to blackmail her. Velma shoots Moose when he reaches her and flees. He dies still devoted to her; she and a detective later die when police locate her. Marlowe solves the murders but cannot save the man whose destructive loyalty began the investigation.

Previously in the Philip Marlowe novels: Marlowe works as a private detective in Los Angeles, maintaining an independent code while dealing with police, wealthy clients, and criminal networks. His earlier case is not required to follow this one; Farewell, My Lovely begins with a new investigation and no unresolved plot that must be carried forward.

Private detective Philip Marlowe encounters Moose Malloy, a huge man newly released from prison, outside a nightclub that once employed Moose's girlfriend Velma Valento. Moose forces his way inside, demands to know where Velma has gone, and kills a man during the confrontation before disappearing. The assigned detective, Lieutenant Nulty, shows little energy for the investigation. Marlowe follows the club's history to Jessie Florian, the alcoholic widow of its former owner. Jessie insists that Velma is dead or unreachable, but her evasions and an old photograph suggest that she knows more than she says. Marlowe has no client and little official encouragement, yet Moose's search and Jessie's fear give him reasons to keep asking questions.

A new client, Lindsay Marriott, asks Marlowe to accompany him to a secluded nighttime exchange. Marriott says robbers took a valuable jade necklace and are offering to return it for cash. At the meeting site Marlowe is struck unconscious. He wakes to find Marriott beaten to death and the money gone. Anne Riordan, daughter of a former police chief, discovers Marlowe and helps him after the attack. The police, now represented by the more determined Lieutenant Randall, treat Marriott's death as a major case. Anne traces the distinctive jade to Mrs Grayle, the young wife of a wealthy older man, giving Marlowe a path into the social world behind Marriott. The missing Velma and the necklace still appear unrelated, but both inquiries involve frightened intermediaries and carefully hidden identities.

Marlowe meets the Grayles. Mrs Grayle confirms that the necklace was hers and says Marriott acted in connection with its return. She openly flirts with Marlowe, while her husband seems detached from both the loss and her behavior. Randall warns Marlowe against interfering, but evidence around Marriott suggests that the ransom account was incomplete. Marlowe continues visiting Jessie Florian and examining the links among old nightclub figures, the stolen jade, and people who profit from private secrets. Anne remains an intelligent ally, though Marlowe does not tell her everything. The investigation increasingly points toward Jules Amthor, a psychic adviser with wealthy clients and access to information that could be used for blackmail.

Marlowe confronts Jules Amthor about his connection to Marriott and the necklace scheme. Amthor's influence reaches beyond his consulting rooms: Marlowe is seized, turned over to corrupt Bay City officers, and confined at a private clinic run by Dr Sonderborg. He is drugged and questioned, confirming that the people behind the case are more concerned with silencing inquiry than recovering jewelry. Marlowe survives the drugs, escapes the clinic, and finds limited help from Red Norgaard, an honest officer operating within the corrupt department. Sonderborg abandons the facility before authorities can act. The abduction establishes that Amthor's business depends on coercion and concealed personal information, while the people who could connect him to Marriott are being removed or frightened into silence.

After recovering, Marlowe learns that Jessie Florian has been killed, cutting off the most direct surviving link to Velma's old life. Amthor's operation begins to collapse, but the central identity behind the blackmail remains protected. Marlowe follows underworld connections toward Laird Brunette, whose gambling ship operates beyond the shoreline and whose influence may reach Moose Malloy. With Red Norgaard's assistance, Marlowe gets aboard and confronts Brunette. Rather than solving the case through the police, he uses Brunette's network to send word that he can lead Moose to Velma. The two investigations are now plainly converging: Marriott, Jessie, Amthor, the Grayle necklace, and Moose's missing girlfriend all circle the same concealed past.

Brunette's message reaches Moose, and Marlowe brings him to Mrs Grayle. She is Velma Valento, who abandoned her former identity after Moose went to prison and secured a wealthy new life. Marriott and Amthor had been involved in exploiting knowledge of that past. Velma killed Marriott and Jessie Florian to keep the truth from reaching her husband and the police. When Moose confronts the woman he has idealized for years, she shoots him repeatedly and escapes. He dies as a consequence of the loyalty that drove his search. Authorities later locate Velma on the East Coast; she and a detective die in the armed confrontation that follows. Randall can close the murders, but the resolution offers no restoration: the blackmail network has destroyed itself, the Grayle marriage was founded on concealment, and Marlowe is left with the knowledge that uncovering Velma could not rescue Moose from her.

Marlowe uses Laird Brunette's underworld connections to get a message to Moose Malloy, then arranges a meeting that brings Moose to Mrs Grayle. She is revealed as Velma Valento: she changed her identity after Moose went to prison and married into wealth. Marriott and Jules Amthor had been exploiting secrets connected to her past, and the supposed necklace ransom was part of the criminal web surrounding that leverage. Velma killed Marriott and eliminated Jessie Florian when Jessie became dangerous to her. When Moose finally sees the woman he has spent the novel seeking, Velma shoots him and escapes; his loyalty to the memory of her survives long enough to cost him his life. Police later trace Velma to the East Coast, where she dies in a final armed confrontation that also costs a detective his life. The case is formally resolved, but Marlowe receives little satisfaction from it: Moose's violent search, Marriott's schemes, police corruption, and the Grayles' money have all shielded the truth until nearly everyone directly tied to it is dead.