Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
66th out of 581 books
—
508 voters
Black Money (Lew Archer #13)
When Lew Archer is hired to get the goods on the suspiciously suave Frenchman who's run off with his client's girlfriend, it looks like a simple case of alienated affections. Things look different when the mysterious foreigner turns out to be connected to a seven-year-old suicide and a mountain of gambling debts. Black Money is Ross Macdonald at his finest.
Paperback, 256 pages
Published
June 3rd 1996
by Vintage
(first published 1966)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
846)
Aug 05, 2011
Jared Shipley
added it
My first Ross Macdonald book. A top-notch detective story with an elaborate plot, hard-boiled protagonist, and all the elements of great crime fiction. In Lew Archer, Macdonald creates a funnel for the audience to peer into the lives of the inhabitants of high-class, 1960's Southern California with an objective eye, while Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe is more subjective, loading the prose up with his own viewpoints and opinions of the other characters. Archer views everything just the way th...more
After reading three Lew Archer novels in a row and in order of writing, I can honestly say that I hope to do it again. It was a very interesting exercise as I wrote in one of my last two reviews. Kenneth Millar (pen name Ross Macdonald) was a virtuoso. "The Chill", "The Far Side of the Dollar" and "Black Money" are all intricate, character-driven, detective stories, but except for the constancy of Archer, each couldn't be more different. Sure the author re-used themes, but he did so with great c...more
Lew Archer is a detective of the hard-boiled, Californian-type. He's hired by Peter Jamieson, a fat but rich young man of the Montevista set, to investigate Francis Martel. Martel claims to be a French aristocrat who in addition, has run off with Peter's girlfriend, Ginny Fablon.
The resulting story is fast and dense, with characters and lies piled high. There are the complications of Harry Hendrick, used-car salesman turned PI, his wife Kitty and the 7-year old suicide of Roy Fablon. There's al...more
The resulting story is fast and dense, with characters and lies piled high. There are the complications of Harry Hendrick, used-car salesman turned PI, his wife Kitty and the 7-year old suicide of Roy Fablon. There's al...more
1965. Archer is called in to investigate the background of a newcomer to the exclusive beachside community of Montevista. A tough guy Frenchie has stolen the fiance of a rich local boy who wants his beauty back.
Archer's investigation takes a detour from the start when he bumps shoulders with another snoop whom he witnesses getting muscled by their target, getting his expensive camera trampled to bits, then getting threatened by a handgun through the window of the Bentley. Frenchie obviously val...more
Archer's investigation takes a detour from the start when he bumps shoulders with another snoop whom he witnesses getting muscled by their target, getting his expensive camera trampled to bits, then getting threatened by a handgun through the window of the Bentley. Frenchie obviously val...more
I’ve recently read a Lew Archer short story which I thought was excellent; so I wanted to read one of the novels. What I’ve found is Ross Macdonald is trying to be like Dashiell Hammitt or Raymond Chandler but his is missing key elements that made their stories interesting. There was no witty banter, wise cracks and no unexpected plot twists. Archer was decent protagonist and I think the book was jammed packed with sex and violence but without the twists and wit it just doesn’t seem the same; ma...more
Jan 05, 2013
Jessica
rated it
1 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
crime-and-punishment,
california-über-alles
I feel like I have read a bunch of Ross Macdonald and never like his books but for some stupid reason I keep forcing myself to try. I bought this book because it had a hip, silly, massively appealing cover, but I find the characters extremely boring and the writing style kind of terrible and I'm just going to quit on it right now and that's that.
Yeah I know tons of people think Ross MacDonald is the greatest thing since hard boiled eggs. It seems like I might be one of them, but I tried and I'm...more
Yeah I know tons of people think Ross MacDonald is the greatest thing since hard boiled eggs. It seems like I might be one of them, but I tried and I'm...more
Solid archetypal noir from the mid-1960s. Ross MacDonald might not have invented anything new when it came to mysteries, but he took what Chandler created and compressed it down to beautiful, minimalist art. Here he's playing in his usual stomping ground: among the unhappy rich in Southern California, uncovering their intricate secrets. Unlike "The Galton Case" or "The Chill", this one doesn't have a real blockbuster surprise ending, but the case is wound up in a way which feels satisfying nonet...more
I read this because Ross Macdonald's name keeps popping up. This is, my friend Dave informs me, called the "Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon", when something you've never heard of before suddenly keeps popping up.
I was not that impressed with "Black Money". I think the protagonist Lew Archer is a little too moral to be a good detective. At least for my taste. Archer mostly plays by the rules and pulls his punches. I prefer Philip Marlowe: someone who drinks a little too hard, who's not afraid to kick a...more
I was not that impressed with "Black Money". I think the protagonist Lew Archer is a little too moral to be a good detective. At least for my taste. Archer mostly plays by the rules and pulls his punches. I prefer Philip Marlowe: someone who drinks a little too hard, who's not afraid to kick a...more
Mid-March: Stupid nook, giving a star rating when i just started.
Late March: Holy fuck, I read this book a few years ago! I think it was part of a three volume set I snagged from the library. Then I re-bought this book (only three bucks, at least) at a used bookstore, started reading, and realized I already read it. After maybe ten pages I hoped I was mistaken but, fuck, I wasn't. Ross Macdonald has so many books I can't fucking keep track. I wish there was a website that helped me, you know, ke...more
Late March: Holy fuck, I read this book a few years ago! I think it was part of a three volume set I snagged from the library. Then I re-bought this book (only three bucks, at least) at a used bookstore, started reading, and realized I already read it. After maybe ten pages I hoped I was mistaken but, fuck, I wasn't. Ross Macdonald has so many books I can't fucking keep track. I wish there was a website that helped me, you know, ke...more
I read several of the Lew Archer stories back in the late 1970s so I was pleased to find this one in the library. I don't remember reading this one before and it was a compelling read. The plot is convoluted but Lew Archer is a great character and this made me want to look for other books in this series and also think about re-reading Raymond Chandler's books too.
This was my first Ross Macdonald novel -- enjoyed the Lew Archer character, & the plot kept me engaged throughout. Only thing knocking this down from four stars to three was the ending, when a seemingly outlandish series of events was revealed to have been the cause of the novel's central mystery. This detracted from what was otherwise a compelling work. Definitely looking forward to reading more from Macdonald.
America might be the perfect place to re-invent yourself and win the hand of that princess on the hill, but sooner or later your past will inevitably return and claim its due. Mid-60's Lew Archer investigates a phony Frenchman, a suicide, murder, a possible kidnapping and blackmail among the country-club set in Southern California.
Ross McDonald's prose reads like a parody of Chandler's. Every line is chock full of allusion and metaphor from the hard boiled catalog. After a while, it gets tiresome.
On the other hand, he plots better than Chandler and creates more three-dimensional characters, but we don't read these books for those things, do we?
On the other hand, he plots better than Chandler and creates more three-dimensional characters, but we don't read these books for those things, do we?
This is the best Ross Macdonald book I've read so far. He's a stronger writer than Hammett, as strong a writer as Chandler, but less literary. Somewhere between the grace of Chandler and the pulp brutish force of Spillane. Very dark depiction of filial relations. Highly recommended.
Part of my quick but thorough immersion in the hard-boiled detective genre. Hammett, Chandler, Ross Macdonald . . . read nine books by them and EC Bentley in nine days. This is one of the best (well, almost all Ross Macdonald's Lew Archer books are the best.
A Strict private detective procedural.
No personal problems for the detective.
But great stories of wounded people.
Particularly of daughters who disdain their parents and run off with the worst kind of trash.
No personal problems for the detective.
But great stories of wounded people.
Particularly of daughters who disdain their parents and run off with the worst kind of trash.
this is a detective novel set in Raymond Chandler territory in California .
Unfortaunately this is all the writer has in common with Raymond Chandler .
If the point of a detective novel is to be a page turner this failed . the only time i was turning pages was at the end when the absurd plot unfolded and i wanted to get it all over with . the characters are moved around like chess pieces and are as wooden .
The author seems to think that by mentioning Sartre a few times he gain some kind of litera...more
Unfortaunately this is all the writer has in common with Raymond Chandler .
If the point of a detective novel is to be a page turner this failed . the only time i was turning pages was at the end when the absurd plot unfolded and i wanted to get it all over with . the characters are moved around like chess pieces and are as wooden .
The author seems to think that by mentioning Sartre a few times he gain some kind of litera...more
Another great Lew Archer story. In typical Ross Macdonald style, the plot is clever and complex, so you will never figure out "whodunit" until it is revealed at the end.
Macdonald writes a many-layered plot better than anyone since Wodehouse, and his detective, Lew Archer, is the perfect combination of tough guy and philosopher.
This is an excellent entry in Ross Macdonald's series of novels about private eye Lew Archer. This one has elements of Macdonald's recurrent theme of dark family secrets, but it spreads its concerns a little broader than that. Archer is hired to find out the truth about a man who has swept a wealthy young woman off her feet. As always with Macdonald, guilt and the fear of shame play a heavy role in matters. Macdonald isn't as colorful a writer, generally, as his two colleagues atop the heap of p...more
first ross mcd book. great read. none of the gimmicks of typical hard-boiled so.cal detective books.
Ross MacDonald's favorite among his works and certainly among my favorites from among his works!
Ok mystery, but kind of generic and boring. I prefer books with a bit more spice.
My first and Ross MacDonald novel. He has few rivals for the use of the
language.
language.
Some pretty good noir-voice moments but unfortunately a bit racist in points. Not offensive in 1965?
Jul 09, 2011
Ruth
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
vintage-pi,
vintage-crime
Good. A bit not PC in places but good solid vintage detective.
Well plotted, but not one of my faves.
Crime noir? Or crime snore?
:-)
A young girl from a good background becomes involved with a mysterious Frenchman at the country club, and her ex-fiancee hires Lew Archer to discover whether or not the Frenchman is an impostor. Soon the situation seems to be connected to an earlier death labeled a suicide, the bodies begin to pile up, and Archer must discover what happened in the past in order to understand the evil that continues to ruin lives here and now. Not the best Lew Archer, but still very good.
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Ross Macdonald is the pseudonym of the American-Canadian writer of crime fiction Kenneth Millar. He is best known for his series of hardboiled novels set in southern California and featuring private detective Lew Archer.
Millar was born in Los Gatos, California, and raised in his parents' native Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, where he started college. When his father abandoned his family unexpectedly,...more
More about Ross Macdonald...
Millar was born in Los Gatos, California, and raised in his parents' native Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, where he started college. When his father abandoned his family unexpectedly,...more
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
Feb 15, 2011 08:38pm