Investigating the mystery of Samuel Marlowe

I spent more than a year reporting the story of Samuel Marlowe, the man who may have been Los Angeles' first licensed black private detective. Family members and a dogged screenwriter believe he also knew noir writers Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett, and corresponded with them regularly. If Marlowe's connection to the authors could be verified, he'd belong in history books. But like so many characters out of L.A. noir, he remains cloaked in mystery, his exploits partly unverifiable...



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