Publication date: 1959
All of Ross Macdonald's Lew Archer mysteries are worth reading, but this one represents a peak in his middle period, just as
The Way Some People Die
is his peak early novel.
There is definitely a formula which every Lew Archer novel follows- a unsolved crime in the past, a troubled young man in the present. This time, it is a young man who may be the heir to a fortune:
"What was the name of the orphanage?"
"Crystal Springs. It's near Cleveland. They didn't call it an orphanage. They called it a Home. Which didn't make it any more homelike."
"You say your mother put you there?" I said.
"When I was four."
"Do you remember your mother?"
"Of course. I remember her face, especially. She was very pale and thin, with blue eyes. I think she must have been sick. She had a bad cough. Her voice was husky, very low and soft. I remember the last thing she ever said to me: Your daddy's name was John Brown, too, and you were born in California.' I didn't know what or where California was, but I held on to the word. You can see why I had to come here, finally." His voice seemed to have the resonance of his life behind it.
It is bracing to read 'critical,' even derogatory reviews of a book you really like. Ross Macdonald is not John Macdonald, but that doesn't mean his stories are less realistic. Is the following hard-boiled, or not?
He held his brother's head possessively against his shoulder. In the light of the stars they seemed like twins, mirror images of each other. Roy looked at Tommy in a puzzled way, as if he couldn't tell which was the real man and which was the reflection. Or which was the possessor and which was the possessed.
Footfalls thudded in the dust behind me. It was Mrs. Fredericks, wearing a bathrobe and carrying a pan of water. "Here," was all she said. She handed me the pan and went back into the house. She wanted no part of the trouble in the street. Her house was well supplied with trouble.
I had a fond recollection of this book from several years ago, but found the details fresh and compelling, and the story almost heart-breaking, once again. A superb book.
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Top reviews from other countries
Ambrose (Derbyshire)
Really enjoyed it. What a find this author is for ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 28, 2017
J. H. Bretts
Classic private eye fiction that hasn't dated
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 24, 2012