Ross Macdonald. The Way Some People Die (1951) This seems to be the first, or one of the first, Lew Archer novels. The author’s name is shown as John Ross Macdonald. Archer is hired to find a missing girl, and runs into mobsters, drug-runners, prostitutes, and other lowlife. The crooks double-cross each other muchly, and Archer almost gets done in the crossfire. The solution is OK (the missing girl is the murderer), but Macdonald hasn’t yet learned to place legitimate clues among the red herrings. Not up to his later work in quality of writing or plotting, but the character of Lew Archer is firmly established in this story, and his mix of virtue and vice gets more complicated (and interesting) later on. ** (2004)
Mostly book reviews, plus whatever else I feel like posting. I welcome comments and conversation. Comments are moderated, so it may take a day or two for your comment to appear. Or send a mail to wolfmac@sympatico.ca If you quote, please also link to this blog. If you like this blog, please follow it. Highest review rating is four stars ****
Turncoat (Gutteridge 2003)
Don Gutteridge. Turncoat (2003) First in a series. Upper Canada, 1837. A government sympathiser and informer may have been murdered. Lt Go...
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Josephine Tey Miss Pym Disposes (1947) Miss Lucy Pym, suddenly famous for her book on psychology, has been invited to her friend Henr... -
John Cunningham. The Tin Star (Collier’s, December 4, 1947) The short story adapted for High Noon . As often happens, the movie retains v... -
I heard the phrase recently. Can’t recall exactly when. It was uttered on a radio program, but I can’t recall what the program was about. Pr...
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