# Ross MacDonald's Lew Archer detective stories

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ross-macdonalds-lew-archer-detective-stories/914325>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [July 4, 2020, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ross-macdonalds-lew-archer-detective-stories/914325 "2020-07-04T21:21:22Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\
**Post date:** [July 4, 2020, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ross-macdonalds-lew-archer-detective-stories/914325/1 "2020-07-04T21:21:23Z")

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Since I just got a new Kindle, and since when you highlight text on the Kindle it is uploaded to the Kindle page, and since I am now reading Ross McDonald’s The Complete Lew Archer Detective stories, a few quotes-

Her eyes were green and inconstant like the sea. They said what the hell.

the whiskey which she was absorbing steadily, like an alcohol lamp

My mind was working very fast. I wondered whether it was producing anything.

The girl who appeared in the doorway wore a starched white uniform. Her face had a little starch in it, too.

A thought raced through my mind like a nasty little rodent.

And my favorite - She filled her tailored suit like sand in a sack.

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**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\
**Post date:** [July 4, 2020, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ross-macdonalds-lew-archer-detective-stories/914325/2 "2020-07-04T23:39:23Z")

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Lew had some good lines.

Mostly I found the series to be too inclined to convoluted family plots and characters who needed to be on antidepressants, including Lew Archer.

I wondered whether John D. MacDonald (the better of the two Mac/McDonalds in my opinion) was taking a swipe at Ross’ detective by having multiple characters named Lew who were losers.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\
**Post date:** [July 5, 2020, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ross-macdonalds-lew-archer-detective-stories/914325/3 "2020-07-05T00:07:30Z")

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I have read 5 stories so far, Lew always gets into a fight, and he always gets his ass kicked. So maybe Lew is the anti-hard boiled decetive? In the stories I have read so far, family members are always involved. Maybe Ross had a difficult childhood?

John MacDonald is on my shopping list. But for both of these guys, it’s $12 for a book I can read in 3 hours. I could spend a hundred dollars a week, that is why I got the short story collection of Ross.