John Banville to resurrect Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe

Former Man Booker Prize winner John Banville is set to revive Raymond Chandler's iconic detective Philip Marlowe in a new novel.

Though the book will have an original plot, Banville has promised to retain the location and time period of Chandler's novels, so Marlowe will be exposing the underside of Bay City – his fictional version of Santa Monica, California – during the 1940s.

Banville said he will create a 'slightly surreal or hyper-real' atmosphere for the novel and be faithful to the hard-boiled literary style of the early 20th century that was pioneered by Carroll John Daly, popularised by Dashiell Hammett, author of The Maltese Falcon, and arguably refined by Chandler himself.

As with Banville's other forays into crime fiction, the novel, which has yet to receive a title, will be published under his pseudonym Benjamin Black.

The Irish author told the Independent that he is relishing the challenge of following in the 'very large footsteps' of Chandler and revealed that he has been a lifelong fan of the Marlowe books.

'This idea has been germinating for several years and I relish the prospect of setting a book in Marlowe's California, which I always think of in terms of Edward Hopper's paintings. Bay City will have a slightly surreal, or hyper-real, atmosphere that I look forward to creating,' he added.

The new Philip Marlowe novel is due to be published in 2013.