The Chill

Moody, creepy, complex, and sad, this is MacDonald's best book. I think its as good as Chandler (and that is very good indeed). This was written in the early 60s when RM was at his peak, and manages probably his best surprise as well as his most memorably creepy denouement. All the Archers from this time are excellent, but this one stands out.

For those of us who keep going back again and again to read the novels of Ross Macdonald, Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, Ernest Hemingway and Peter Matthiessen, this is without question one of the greatest works of that group. Once Ross Macdonald (Ken Millar) broke through with the Galton Case, every novel from then on formed one of the great canons of American literature. The N.Y. Times Book Review had The Underground Man as its front page review in 1970. Well-deserved recongnition for a writer at his zenith. What Conan Doyle was to London in its era, so is Ross Macdonald to California in its era. A great writer on the edge of a culture. The Chill stands with the Zebra-Striped Hearse and The Underground Man alongside The Long Goodbye and The Big Sleep as American writing at its very best. To be an American (and a Californian) is to read these books. So subtle, so psychological, so empathetic, so hard. Modern noir --- the epitome of great craftsmanship. At the top of 5 stars. The very top. One of the proud novels on the Knopf list.

Ross Macdonald could flat out write. His style is at times very 'Chandleresque', (he really enjoyed Chandler's books)but he brings something else to this story that even the master Raymond Chandler wouldn't have.The word is 'dimension'. Where Chander and Hammett were known for there 'hardboiled' approach, Macdonald's Lew Archer is obviously a man of keen intelligence. He is also one cool customer, a flawed man in a flawed world. The story concerns a murder that could be connected toanother murder that happened many years before. And, maybe another. The plot reveals itself slowly, I wasn't quite sure where it was going, but the writing is so crisp and poetic, that i just read, and let it all happen.This is a wonderful book, written by a man who deserves all the praise in the world for bringing something else to the mystery novel. Just read it, and enjoy.

MacDonald is rightfully considered one of the three great hardboiled detective novelists (along with Hammett and Chandler). Rereading this novel confirmed what I thought the first time I read it: this is the best detective novel that I have ever read. It is also the most appropriately titled novel that I have ever encountered. The first time I read this I was lying in the sun beside the Adler Planetarium in Chicago. When I reached the moment when the mystery was solved, a chill literally ran up my spine. One of the truly creepy moments of my life. Hyperbole rules among reviewers here, but this one would get a higher rating if I were allowed. I have read most of MacDonald novels, despite the fact that I really don't spend much time reading mystery or detective fiction. His earliest books are good, but not great. But about four or five novels into the Lew Archer series MacDonald (in real life Professor Kenneth Millar, and husband of fellow mystery writer Margaret Millar)found his voice and his theme. In all his best books the theme is: the sins of the father shall be visited upon the second and third generations (I didn't check my OT for a more precise quotation). A typical plot from his best novels is as follows: Archer is asked to look into this or that problem (a person has disappeared, has left, is being plagued by someone, etc., etc.). Gradually upon conducting his investigation his role shifts from detective to archaeologist, until he eventually discovers the troubles that he has been asked to look into have causes reaching back ten, twenty, or even fifty years. The seed planted by an act decades earlier has sprouted in the present, destroying those who are otherwise innocent. (MacDonald always reminds me of Yeats's "Leda and the Swan," where Zeus's rape of Leda will eventually result in the birth of Helen and all the tragedy of Troy: "A shudder in the loins engenders there/The broken wall, the burning roof and tower/And Agamemnon dead.") All of MacDonald is more than readable, but someone wanting to proceed from THE CHILL (which really is his finest work) should look at THE DROWNING POOL or THE INSTANT ENEMY.

I just reread this book (after first reading it in 1982) to see if my recollection of it being one of the best detective novels I have ever read holds up. I still think it's great. Lew Archer discovers how three murders reaching from the present into the past tie together. The book illustrates Ross Macdonald's fascination with the idea that the past is never past and that guilt from the past stains the present in unexpected and insidious ways. Chapter 12 has a great extended scene of Archer questioning a suspect and examining the room where years ago a murder was witnessed. Every detail belongs: even the deep pink carpeting, the hidden copy of TRUE ROMANCE, and the trite mottos embroidered the the framed needlepoint reveal the personality of the house's owner who prefers to avoid the present and its many complexities. A sensitive, intelligent book