Phillip Marlowe's second cousin - twice removed

I have been reading thrillers about the LAPD. Elvis Cole is the Robert Crais. These are thrillers written in the first person and feature a wise-cracking private eye. He seems to live in the same house as Harry Bosch, Michael Connelly's detective. These characters all seem to be based on Phillip Marlowe. They are easy to read with entertaining plots, but without Chandeler's sense of style and verbal dexterity.

When I was at school my best friend was a member of the National Youth Orchestra, and he has had a career as a professional violinist. In the music exam he was marked down for composition with the comment, "Don't try and write like Mozart. You won't be able to do it as well as Wolfgang."

Seeing the state of modern music I think too may have taken this advice. the striving for something different hurts the ear. Still I would rather read sub-Chandler than have my brain ache from some modern writing.