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The Drowning Pool Paperback – June 3, 1996

by Ross Macdonald (Author)
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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 teenage daughter. In The Drowning Pool, Lew Archer takes this case in the L.A. suburbs and encounters a moral wasteland of corporate greed and family hatred—and sufficient motive for a dozen murders.
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Previous page
  1. Book 2 of 18
    Lew Archer Series
  2. Print length
    256 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Vintage Crime/Black Lizard
  5. Publication date
    June 3, 1996
  6. Dimensions
    5.17 x 0.56 x 8.04 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    0679768068
  8. ISBN-13
    978-0679768067
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Most writers who work in a specific genre such as science fiction or detective stories write with a comfortable narrowness, their ambitions constricted by well-worn conventions; a rare few attain something much deeper, as the scope of their explorations and the originality of their prose operate in a kind of tension with the genre's confines. Ross Macdonald is one such writer. In a series of 25 novels written between 1944 and 1976, all but five featuring Lew Archer as protagonist, Macdonald picked up the baton dropped by Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett and took the genre to new heights.

The Drowning Pool, first published in 1950, is the second Lew Archer novel. It opens in classic hard-boiled fashion, with a well-dressed woman hesitantly engaging Archer's services at his L.A. office. Soon he's digging up secrets in her oil-rich hometown, and the themes that preoccupied Macdonald throughout his career begin to emerge: tormented families, buried secrets that fester through multiple generations, environmental destruction, concealed paternity, and the brutal contrast between rich and poor. Macdonald's later novels--including The Galton Case (1959), The Chill (1964), and The Underground Man (1971)--showed increased maturity and a tone less tied to tradition, but The Drowning Pool returns to the virtues that are the hallmarks of Mcdonald's work: complex and compelling plotting, psychological depth, just enough mayhem, and highly economical prose that routinely rises to something near poetry.

From Library Journal

Published in 1965, 1963, and 1950, respectively, this trio feature Macdonald's hard-boiled private detective Lew Archer. The plots involve murder, deceit, blackmail, sex, and all those other goodies that make for great crime stories.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Vintage Crime/Black Lizard; Reprint edition (June 3, 1996)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0679768068
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0679768067
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 7.6 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.17 x 0.56 x 8.04 inches
  • Customer Reviews:

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Ross MacDonald

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Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
590 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

evil concarne
5.0 out of 5 stars Great books, but the Kindle editions contain too many typos.
Reviewed in the United States on February 19, 2013
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I have been a fan of Ross MacDonald's Lew Archer series for decades and have re-read all the books in the series many times. I have been working my way through them again, in publication order, this time on my Kindle. The novels are as great as ever and I still enjoy them. But the Kindle editions are full of typographical errors. Some are random (e.g., he/she confusion), some are repetitive - not just within a books - from book to book (e.g., a car referred to as a "Chewy" rather than "Chevy". This is a minor annoyance and does not significantly detract from these great novels. But it does seem to imply that the publisher considers them "pulp" rather than serious novels. That strikes me as disrespectful to both the author (who is a recognized master) and the reader (who paid full price for these books).

I've put this review under this book because it is the first in the series. But my comments apply to all the books in the Lew Archer series. The books are all very good. But the Kindle editions all contain typos.
9 people found this helpful
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David Fulmer
4.0 out of 5 stars Great Private Eye Novel
Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2021
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This is a great private eye novel about Lew Archer, a detective who’s hired by a woman facing a blackmail threat. She won’t let him know what scandalous background she might have that she could be blackmailed over, just that she’s received a vaguely threatening letter and fears more, so he has to just start hanging out around her family to learn more. From there it gets violent and soap operative as a bunch of family secrets emerge and mix with an oil company’s efforts to drill on the family land. Archer is a cynical and witty detective whose voice and style is one of the major assets of this novel. It’s an entertaining thriller full of plot twists set in mid-century Los Angeles and its environs.
One person found this helpful
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Jim Spray
5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Read for all, not just mystery readers
Reviewed in the United States on June 18, 2015
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This and other Ross Mcdonald novels of the era are wonderful tales about the cases of a PI in the late '40's and early '50's in Southern California. They provide a wonderful sociological over of the life and times of this bygone time. Readers of genres other than the PI/mystery tale will also find his stories entertaining, educational and at times downright hysterically funny.
4 people found this helpful
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Arnhout Zwingley
3.0 out of 5 stars Chandler is better at writing Chandler
Reviewed in the United States on November 8, 2016
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my first ross macdonald novel. pretty racy stuff for the early fifties. dialog and description clearly influenced by Raymond Chandler.
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MagnoliaSouth
4.0 out of 5 stars Good book, but for a couple of things.
Reviewed in the United States on August 29, 2017
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I came to Lew Archer via the Kindle Daily Deal. They had  The Galton Case  up for about $2.99. For those new to the series it's the 8th book in the series. I was seriously WOWED by that book and so much so that I wanted to start the Lew Archer series, from the beginning. Despite what others have said about the first and previous novel to this one ( The Moving Target , I loved it! Many believe he just wasn't up to his later excellence but if that's considered one of the worst, along with this one, then I cannot imagine how incredible the others are.

Compared to the first book, this one is even better, stylistically. You can actually see the improvement in his descriptive writing. Yes, he appears to be influenced by Chandler/Hammett, but the style is definitely his own. I thoroughly enjoy his approach to humor. It is quite subtle, and it's very dry. His vocabulary is what I really like. Much of his words are, according to Kindle's on-board dictionary, "archaic" but that is what makes it fun. Learning what these things are. I say: let's bring 'em back!

The only real problem I have is in his characterization. You can see that MacDonald doesn't really understand women, very well. The ending is deflating and unrealistic. Naturally this is fiction, so of course it's unrealistic, but what I mean is there is something one does in the book that characteristically speaking, would never would ever have done. That bothers me. I would love to discuss this and see what others think. If you know of a place online where we can do this, please let me know in the comments.

Also, a previous review mentions the harshness of Archer's treatment of his client, in the beginning. I was disappointed as well. Perhaps though that is a demonstration of his growth by the end of the novel. Whatever it was, it was a bit off putting but not a serious problem for me.

Is it worth the read? I think so. Just be prepared for a bizarre ending that seems wrong. It's not a bad ending, mind you. There are other things that are rather fascinating. It's just the one thing that bothers me and I refuse to spoil it for anyone. For this reason, that being that the ending is entertaining on the detecting side.
6 people found this helpful
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Kindle Customer Ace
5.0 out of 5 stars Thoroughly enjoyable like a triple deli sandwich !
Reviewed in the United States on January 27, 2020
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I enjoy the Lew Archer character , honesty ,integrity, a decent guy all around. Nice plot and quite a few interesting characters.
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soperedi
5.0 out of 5 stars Good book
Reviewed in the United States on September 22, 2020
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I enjoyed reading this book. Very interesting plot and unexpected ending, a little bit violence - all these give special favour for it.
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Kindle Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Book 2 The Drowning Pool (a Lew Archer novel)
Reviewed in the United States on May 22, 2023
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A Hard-boiled bananza . Style, violence, men with principles and old school values. This is a tale of greed, love and trying to live until the story ends.
A step above book one The Moving Target. I liked the book a lot.
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Top reviews from other countries

Mr. A.J. PENDLEBURY
4.0 out of 5 stars 4.5 stars to be fair.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 29, 2023
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Tremendous sense of place and full of memorable one liners; real class in parts of this book. Lew Archer is one very determined operative and never seems to give up despite the odds. There are some moderately graphic times ,but the author doesn't wallow in them ,thus making the serious point much more effectively.

There are some areas which could become somewhat formulaic ; I think the secret is to space the reading of the other books in a wide time frame. Not brilliant value though and Penguin's pricing policy makes a nonsense of their promotional blurb .
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Engrossing
Reviewed in India on November 6, 2023
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I like detective novels especially written by popular writers. This book fulfilled my expectations.
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Joel Hollowday
5.0 out of 5 stars A model from the past.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 16, 2023
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Some of the language seems dated as well
it might. This is not a modern book nor a new author. In fact this is one of the authors that my father gave me to read as a teenager and I am now 68, so it has been a while. Once one gets past this sense of the past the story rattles along. It is not an original thought to say that Lew Archer is almost the stereotypical hard-bitten gumshoe; no let's call him detective. You may spot the murderer before the end. Certainly if you are familiar with the genre you may but this will not spoil things for you. I will now seek out more novels from this period of my life and more by this author.
3 people found this helpful
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Slint Berninger
4.0 out of 5 stars A worthy successor to Raymond Chandler
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 21, 2012
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Ross MacDonald's Archer shares a lot in common with Chandler's Marlowe; both centres around the doings of a Los Angeles private eye who see's the world through cynical and weary eyes but who nonetheless try their hardest to do some good for a naive and innocent underdog. Whilst MacDonald isn't quite up there when compared with Chandler's descriptive prose and witty dialogue, he still does sometimes come close, (how can anyone beat the master?). What you lose in one-liners you make up with in a well plotted novel and more rounded characters. Both of which aren't exactly Chandler's strengths.

However, the reader must be warned that MacDonald's Lew Archer novels do seem to be rather formulaic; for instance his novels usually include one or more of the following plot devises:
1) A wealthy family hiding a secret from the past which has come back to haunt them,
2) The head of the family is usually a dominatrix who has a strained relationship
with her sons and/or their daughter in laws,
3) A key character that turns out not to be the person he claims to be,
4) Another Key character with important clues who has a nervous breakdown and whose
doctor prevents Archer from questioning them,
5) A lawyer/Doctor who cannot disclose important Patient/Client information.

Some of these plot devices have been used in the Drowning pool. Never the less, it is still a gripping read with plenty of plot twists, which keep you guessing right to the end. If you want to escape to post war LA, then this will give you plenty hours of pleasure. You could almost smell the warm sea breeze coming from the ocean and imagine the palms gently swaying as you drive down the pacific coast highway.
6 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars As described
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 8, 2023
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