The Doomsters

In The Doomsters, Lew Archer is asked by an escapee from a local mental hospital to look into the earlier deaths of his parents; his investigation uncovers a web of familial secrets. Ross Macdonald discovered a new tone with this book, one of deeper psychological pain and regret, and it features some of his most damaged and sympathetic characters. And Archer is more thoughtful and mature than ever: “We think we have to punish somebody for the human mess we’re in, so we single out the scapegoats and call them evil. And Christian love and virtue go down the drain.”