Black Money [Hardcover]

Ross Macdonald (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 12, 1999

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.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Next time someone who doesn't read mysteries asks where they should start, point them toward Ross Macdonald. Luckily, Vintage/Black Lizard is reprinting several of Macdonald's classic Lew Archer novels in handsome new quality paperback versions. If Black Money (or the other two books in the current series, The Drowning Pool and The Chill) don't have them panting for more, they're probably hopeless cases. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Random House Value Publishing (April 12, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0517375389
• ISBN-13: 978-0517375389
• Shipping Weight: 5.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,281,519 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The finest series in American detective fiction., September 24, 1997

By 

[e-mail] (NIANTIC,CT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Black Money (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard) (Paperback)

Hammet, Chandler, McBain, Pronzini, Block and Parker are all masters of the American detective novel. The first two created the form, the last four continue to carry it out with both continued freshness and comfortable familiarity. The most perfect form, however, is the series of Lew Archer stories and novels written by the late Ross MacDonald. Like Chandler an immigant, he caught the smell and the feel of Southern California better than a native. He also crystalized the inner calmness and unwavering honor of the classic private eye, without awkwardness and sentiment. Perhaps the greatest tribute that could be given to MacDonald the writer is that he only wrote one story, but wrote it so well that each time was a new experience. This story is just that, a fresh look at the classic life and conflict in a Southern California that never existed but is real and beloved to everyone who admires and appreciates this very American form of literature.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read it, November 16, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Black Money (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard) (Paperback)

An elegant masterpiece of crime fiction. Vivid and unsentimental, with crisp stylish prose, "Black Money" shows thepower of Ross Macdonald work, and Black Lizard should keep 'em coming. By the end of the book, I was experiencing so many emotions I didn't know what to feel.. Highly recommended

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of Ross Macdonald's best., October 27, 2005

By 

Michael G. "mikefromrochester" (Rochester, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Black Money (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard) (Paperback)

Veteran private eye Lew Archer finds himself hobnobbing with the country club set and an academic type or two as he wends his way through this very engaging mystery. Hired to investigate a mysterious stranger who claims to be a wealthy French aristocrat, Archer manages to uncover a number of diverse yet interrelated scandals and crimes dating back a dozen years and more.
The intricate plot unfolds against the backdrop of a quiet suburban town just to the south of LA, with a short sojourn to one of Las Vegas' less reputable casinos. There are a number of interesting characters and the well crafted narrative twists and turns in some very intriguing ways. Moreover, Macdonald's smart, insightful prose makes Black Money compellingly readable.
Ross Macdonald was in top form when he wrote Black Money. Read it, it's a real page turner.