The Doomsters

Rating:
Summary: Both a good puzzler and good though tragic drama
Review: I don't know why the heck it took me so long to discover Ross MacDonald and Lew Archer, but I'm glad I have at last. This is the first Archer novel I recall reading, and it is a good one. The characters are each well fleshed out, and while the story ends with a couple of them facing rough challenges, there remains some hope.

It starts with a man's leaving a mental hospital and hiring Archer to find out who murdered his father. The man appears paranoid, accusing his brother and sister-in-law and a local doctor of railroading him into the mental hospital and being implicated in his father's murder. A somewhat dubious Archer follows up on the case, although he's been assaulted by his client. Murder occurs, apparantly by his client, and Archer pursues a convoluted trail, untangling some of the knots in the stories he's told. The alert reader will spot the true killer, but might miss many of the details. Nevertheless, it's a satisfying read.

Rating:
Summary: Both a good puzzler and good though tragic drama
Review: I don't know why the heck it took me so long to discover Ross MacDonald and Lew Archer, but I'm glad I have at last. This is the first Archer novel I recall reading, and it is a good one. The characters are each well fleshed out, and while the story ends with a couple of them facing rough challenges, there remains some hope.

It starts with a man's leaving a mental hospital and hiring Archer to find out who murdered his father. The man appears paranoid, accusing his brother and sister-in-law and a local doctor of railroading him into the mental hospital and being implicated in his father's murder. A somewhat dubious Archer follows up on the case, although he's been assaulted by his client. Murder occurs, apparantly by his client, and Archer pursues a convoluted trail, untangling some of the knots in the stories he's told. The alert reader will spot the true killer, but might miss many of the details. Nevertheless, it's a satisfying read.

Rating:
Summary: Lew Archer in his prime
Review: In some ways The Doomsters is a typical Lew Archer thriller: it involves a missing suspected murderer, family strife, and mysterious deaths in the distant past. This time, Archer falls in love and self-interest actually hinders him from being the moral center of the novel. What keeps the pace of the novel flowing is the theme of a man condemned by society and Archer's efforts to prove his innocence. There is also plenty of bloodshed, betrayals, and enough plot twists to keep the conclusion a surprise. In spite of the tragic turn the story takes there is the redemption for Archer who makes up for his own dreadful mistake in the past. It explains a great deal about Archer, his motivation and his maturity which grows in later Ross Macdonald novels.