The Galton Case

Fairly new to Ross MacDonald, I am finding his books superb dramatic novels told as mysteries...the pieces of the poignant story are given to you jigsaw style, but you still experience the power of the story as they are pieced together. Lew Archer's role is that of the puzzle solver, and you are not as involved with him and his character development as you are with the characters. This is possibly his most satisfying story... Read Full Review

This novel was also anthologized in the "Archer At Large" omnibus, which contains a revealing, fascinating foreward by MacDonald, who stated that The Galton Case was his "break-through book." And then he diclosed the numerous--and poignant--autobiographical parallels he had with the novel.The Galton Case has a realistic, painful and angry intensity not present in any other Archer novels I've read--perhaps because MacDonald... Read Full Review

Just about all of Mr. McDonald's novels deal with long lost family members,who may be dead and buried,living a new life hiding their past, or some similar predicament.The relatives want to somehow find the whereabouts of this clansman, and turn to Lew Archer,PI. The author knows how to turn all the corners at high speeds,leaving the reader baffled when the first definite victim appears. It's always a high flying ride as Archer,... Read Full Review

Ross MacDonald's Lew Archer series is the pinnacle of the private eye novel. In many ways, it is the greatest series of American novels, period. In The Galton Case, Archer is hired to look for Anthony Galton, who disappeared twenty years earlier. Now Galton's dying mother wants to be reconciled with him & bequeath him her considerable fortune. Archer's suspicions are raised when all the pieces of the mystery fall into... Read Full Review

This was the third book I have read by Ross MacDonald and I think they are all excellent. This book is simply a great classic mystery, complete with well-developed characters, sharp dialogue, and a realistic plot that twists and turns and keeps you guessing until the last chapter. It seems like hundreds of writers have been compared to Hammett and Chandler, but Ross MacDonald is, in my opinion, one of the very few who... Read Full Review