When a millionaire matriarch is found floating face-down in the family pool, the prime suspects are her good-for-nothing son and his seductive teen...
read full description
reviews
Sep 17, 2011
Mike
rated it: 
More Ross Macdonald. More Lew Archer. More great American crime/detective writing.
I've read three novels and a collection of short fiction my Mr. Macdonald (nee' Kenneth Millar) now and I remain impressed. I'm still shocked that I had been unaware of this author (except for one excellent short story) for so long - thank you Goodreads! Whether he is writing in s style that reminds one of Dashiell Hammet (some of the early short fiction) or in his fully-developed style of later years, More...
I've read three novels and a collection of short fiction my Mr. Macdonald (nee' Kenneth Millar) now and I remain impressed. I'm still shocked that I had been unaware of this author (except for one excellent short story) for so long - thank you Goodreads! Whether he is writing in s style that reminds one of Dashiell Hammet (some of the early short fiction) or in his fully-developed style of later years, More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jan 18, 2011
Tim
rated it:
The other Macdonald--John Ross Macdonald, later shortened to Ross Macdonald (presumably to avoid the confusion) and actually named Kenneth Millar--is a terrific old-school suspense writer, and a great chronicler of southern California in the 1950s through the 1970s. This novel, probably more famous as the 1975 movie starring Paul Newman and an impossibly young Melanie Griffith. (Good movie, bizarrely set in New Orleans instead of Los Angeles.)
He is a wonderful writer, so good that it m More...
He is a wonderful writer, so good that it m More...
Sep 28, 2010
Victoria
rated it: 
Mystery writer Ross Macdonald was the husband of mystery writer Margaret Millar, which automatically makes their household my dream household. And I've read and liked Macdonald's The Undeground Man.
But I'm afraid The Drowning Pool doesn't measure up. For all the great potential tension in unexplained secret relationships, the father-who's-not-a-father (that "secret" isn't really a secret), not to mention that wonderful ancient hacienda, there's too many weaknesses in this one More...
But I'm afraid The Drowning Pool doesn't measure up. For all the great potential tension in unexplained secret relationships, the father-who's-not-a-father (that "secret" isn't really a secret), not to mention that wonderful ancient hacienda, there's too many weaknesses in this one More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Aug 24, 2009
Kristopher
rated it:
If, like me, you had hardly given mystery a second glance while you were forming your literary taste, you should read this book (or any of MacDonald's Lew Archer novels - this is actually the second). There are so many incredible books out there to be digested, I didn't feel I had the time or mental space to waste on detective fiction. But if you know me, you'll know I've changed my tune in recent years. And if you want to change your tune, too, you could do a lot worse than start with Ross MacD
More...
Apr 16, 2010
Oddmonster
rated it: 
#39: The Drowning Pool by Ross MacDonald:
Synopsis: Lew Archer's hired by the middle generation of a really dysfunctional family, two gene More...
She closed her eyes. From the places where it was pinned to the durable bone, the flesh of her face fell in thin slack folds. The folds made dark lines slanting downward from the corners of her closed eyes, the wings of her nose, the edges of her jaw, deep charcoal shadows cartooning dissolution.
I said goodnight and left her.
Synopsis: Lew Archer's hired by the middle generation of a really dysfunctional family, two gene More...
May 19, 2010
Trixie
rated it: 
Definitely entertaining and there were things I appreciated a lot that I didn't anticipate, but those things (an environmentalist sensibility) set me up for disappointment with the save-a-ho agenda ("get a DECENT job"???) which I would have accepted without batting an eyelash given the genre and age of the book if it hadn't been for the relatively progressive thoughts in other arenas.
Still, I may give Ross MacDonald another shot because a) I vaguely recall reading a short o More...
Still, I may give Ross MacDonald another shot because a) I vaguely recall reading a short o More...
Dec 05, 2011
M.L.
rated it:
1950. Maude Slocum opens this tale at the doorway to Lew Archer's office. "Thirty-five and still in the running," the detective surmises. Maude is scared. She's intercepted a letter to her husband calling him a cuckold. Who would send such a letter and why? She hires Archer to find out.
Archer drives north of LA to the fictitious community of Quinto, next to the oil town of Nopal, where the Slocums live on property awash in oil. Slocum's mother-in-law refuses to let the b More...
Archer drives north of LA to the fictitious community of Quinto, next to the oil town of Nopal, where the Slocums live on property awash in oil. Slocum's mother-in-law refuses to let the b More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Apr 20, 2010
Jake
rated it:
This is the earliest Ross MacDonald I've read- it was written in 1950, and was only the second novel in the 18-book Lew Archer series. His style here is still immature- the plot reminded me of Chandler's lesser works- a old woman bumped off, a twisted family with a lot of suspects, and a detective who keeps getting knocked unconscious and seduced by leggy blonds. That said, there are some touches that foreshadow MacDonald's later skill- his ability to paint atmosphere and characters in short, d
More...
Aug 09, 2009
Gabriel
rated it:
Better than some of the later Archer books, actually. Still not out from under Chandler's thumb though, with a number of echoes of Farewell, My Lovely (among others).
Macdonald believed in the efficacy of psychoanalysis, was even an enthusiast, but knew enough not to try to import it wholesale into his fiction. Instead, what he gives us is autobiography with the embellishment of dream and analysis, turned like clay on a potter's wheel until it achieves a distinct shape.
H More...
Macdonald believed in the efficacy of psychoanalysis, was even an enthusiast, but knew enough not to try to import it wholesale into his fiction. Instead, what he gives us is autobiography with the embellishment of dream and analysis, turned like clay on a potter's wheel until it achieves a distinct shape.
H More...
Mar 23, 2011
Nick
rated it:
The plot of this early Ross Macdonald novel isn't too different from many other 1950s private eye stories. What lifts it above the pack is Macdonald's voice - clearsighted, snappy, and somehow ethical at the same time... not that private eye Lew Archer considers himself better than others, but that he holds everybody to the same standard and comes out often worse. A kind of humanist noir.
You get "LITERARY" lines like: "her cheeks faintly hollowed as if she had been feedi More...
You get "LITERARY" lines like: "her cheeks faintly hollowed as if she had been feedi More...
Nov 11, 2011
"Tom Parker's narration perfectly captures Archer's world-weary persona and is by turns crisp, sardonic, and wry. He shows us the feeling behind Archer's mask of disengagement and capably handles the female characters with softer tones. The well-drawn characters involve the listener, and only references to prices and technology remind us that the story features a different time." - AudioFile
Listen to The Drowning Pool on your smartphone.
More...
Listen to The Drowning Pool on your smartphone.
More...
Dec 18, 2009
F.R.
rated it:
I’m still fairly new to the world of Ross Macdonald and Lew Archer, but I’ve greatly enjoyed what I’ve read so far. This one starts with poison-pen letters and speeds quickly to dead bodies, femme fatales and gangsters. Of course, this being Macdonald, there’s a lot more psychological insight than one would normally find in this type of thriller. Pacy, well plotted with great descriptions and synonyms, this book is up there with Chandler – and, in my world, there’s no higher praise than that.
More...
5 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Nov 09, 2011
Jennifer
rated it:
MacDonald borrows heavily from Chandler - most obviously The Big Sleep, but with a dash of The High Window for flavor and a pinch of The Lady in the Lake for piquancy - and to good effect. Archer could easily be Marlowe's bastard son - less poetry and polish, but with a certain similarity about the jaw. Even smacking of the derivative, it's good noir, with a nearly nonsensical story that's subordinate to the parade of dames and toughs.
Aug 05, 2011
WeaselBox
rated it:
This the second Lew Archer novel published, and the fourth Macdonald that I've read. It's also the weakest Macdonald I've read. It feels strange to rate this lower than Blue City, (the only one of the early non-Archer books I've read so far), because in many ways it's better. The style is more mature, not trying so hard, the messed up family relationships are here, and many of the characters more interesting. But I feel like Macdonald didn't make good use of the family he created for this bo
More...
Jun 02, 2011
Elizabeth
rated it:
This is the second in the Lew Archer series. I liked it quite a bit and I am seeing some parallels in MacDonald's works. There are some recurrent themes such as lost innocence of youth, escalating violence, and broken adults with twisted lives.
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Feb 19, 2010
Robin
rated it:
Mothers feature strongly in MacDonald's psychologically gripping stories. In this one, the millionaire mother ends up in the pool. Was it her pampered son? Her enemy daughter-in-law? Or the oil company reps? Lew Archer is up to neck in this one.
Sep 23, 2011
Dean
rated it:
Ross Macdonald proved detective stories could be literature. Vintage post-WWII Southern California - a smart, tough detective who enjoys the chase and catching his man. If you like some psychology in your crime fiction...
Nov 27, 2011
Stephen King recommended author as noted in Chapter 9 of Berkley's 1983 paperback edition of Danse Macabre.
Jan 26, 2011
Erik
rated it:
This is just one of a series of detective novels by Ross Macdonald, all of them very evocative of a certain time in Los Angeles. His Lew Archer is Sam Spade with a heart.
Jul 22, 2011
Tonya
rated it:
I LOVE Ross Macdonald. Fantastic noir fiction. The really neat thing is that Eudora Welty thought he was one of the best.
Oct 05, 2011
Steve
rated it:
I love this book. The plot is cool, calm yet with that sense of danger always lurking.
Dec 21, 2010
Barb
rated it:
A really good original story. At least one other author has plagarized this one!
Oct 29, 2010
Astraia
rated it:
MacDonald's takes a fast trip through the many mysteries that lead to murder in this enjoyable 1940's private eye novel. Much like a Raymond Chandler story, Southern California possibilities and darkness are the back drop. This is no knock-off though. Lew Archer, the private eye, is less of a torn character and is smarter and funnier than those he investigates. By the way, this was made into a movie with Paul Newman (which was excellent.)
Feb 06, 2012
Steve
rated it:
MacDonald, in my book (and many others), is the heir–or at least the first heir–to the Raymond Chandler legacy. His guy, Lew Archer, is more interesting, to me, than Phillip Marlowe (though not as funny). But this is the worst MacDonald book I’ve read. I struggled to get through the last 100 pages, and came close to just quitting. It never, for a minute, grabbed my interest. But that won’t stop me from reading more MacDonald books, because he’s normally reliable.
Mar 26, 2011
Judi
rated it:
LA Noir for sure. A bit convoluted for my taste. Perhaps it is just in my mind.
