Ross Macdonald Books

It's 1945. Ensign Sam Drake attends a party on his last night stationed in Hawaii and meets the woman of his dreams. But before the night is out, her best friend is dead in an upstairs room at the party. It appears to be suicide.The next day Sam starts his leave before receiving a new post. He returns to his home town of Detroit, and decides to check into a connection there between the dead woman and a radical group of black activists. Another death quickly follows and Sam finds himself on a cross-country adventure, haunted by dangerous characters everywhere he turns.

No matter what cases private eye Lew Archer takes on—a burglary, a runaway, or a disappeared person—the trail always leads to tangled family secrets and murder. Widely considered the heir to Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe, Archer dug up secrets and bodies in and around Los Angeles. Here, The Archer Files collects all the Lew Archer short stories ever published, along with thirteen unpublished “case notes” and a fascinating biographical profile of Archer by Edgar Award finalist Tom Nolan. Ross Macdonald’s signature staccato prose is the real star throughout this collection, which is both a perfect introduction for the newcomer and a must-have for the Macdonald aficionado.

When rich boy Peter Jamieson's fiancee suddenly breaks their engagement, Peter hires private detective Lew Archer to investigate the woman's mysterious French lover

In Sleeping Beauty, Lew Archer finds himself the confidant of a wealthy, violent family with a load of trouble on their hands--including an oil spill, a missing girl, a lethal dose of Nembutal, a six-figure ransom, and a stranger afloat, face down, off a private beach. Here is Ross Macdonald's masterful tale of buried memories, the consequences of arrogance, and the anguished relations between parents and their children. Riveting, gritty, tautly written, Sleeping Beauty is crime fiction at its best. If any writer can be said to have inherited the mantle of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, it is Ross Macdonald. Between the late 1940s and his death in 1983, he gave the American crime novel a psychological depth and moral complexity that his pre-decessors had only hinted at. And in the character of Lew Archer, Macdonald redefined the private eye as a roving conscience who walks the treacherous frontier between criminal guilt and human sin.

Access is the most complex and intimidating application in Microsoft Office. This book helps you learn how to design complete databases, maintain them, search for valuable nuggets of information, and build attractive forms for quick-and-easy data entry. It lets you discover the pre-built databases which can be customized to fit your needs.

When Lew Archer is hired to find Phoebe Wycherly, he uncovers plenty of suspects, from a blackmailing realtor to Phoebe's mother, an eerily unmaternal blonde who keeps too many residences, has too many secrets, and leaves too many corpses in her wake. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

In The Chill a distraught young man hires Archer to track down his runaway bride. But no sooner has he found Dolly Kincaid than Archer finds himself entangled in two murders, one twenty years old, the other so recent that the blood is still wet. What ensues is a detective novel of nerve-racking suspense, desperately believable characters, and one of the most intricate plots ever spun by an American crime writer. "From the Trade Paperback edition."

The plot follows private investigator Lew Archer as he searches for Galatea, the daughter of Mrs. Samuel Lawrence, who has disappeared with a violent gangster. As Archer navigates through the gritty underbelly of California, from San Francisco to Palm Springs, he uncovers a world filled with drugs, crime, and deception. The story explores themes of hidden darkness behind seemingly innocent facades, revealing that appearances can be deceiving. This gripping tale is a standout entry in the Lew Archer series, showcasing classic noir elements.

Lawrence Block offers a comprehensive exploration of the craft of writing fiction through a collection of insightful essays. Drawing from his extensive experience as a four-time Edgar Award winner, he delves into various aspects of storytelling, character development, and the writing process. This collection serves as both a guide for aspiring writers and a reflection on the nuances of creating compelling narratives, making it an essential read for anyone interested in the art of fiction.