With its roots in the American private detective fiction of the 1920s but traceable back as far as Sherlock Holmes, the private eye story remains as popular as ever. Here are 24 of the finest short novels and stories from the hardboiled world of the private eye. The characters in this collection range from the tough, cynical, hard-drinking loner Philip Marlowe to don't-mess-with-me female private eyes and the one-armed intellectual Dan Fortune - from masters of the genre past and present.