Ivory Grin,the [Mass Market Paperback]

Ross Macdonald (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 1988

Private eye Lew Archer is hired by the rudest woman he has ever met to find a girl. This he does, but unfortunatley she has just had her throat cut, and then to complicate matters, his client disappears. Other work by the author includes "The Blue Hammer" and "The Moving Target".

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Macdonald's spare, controlled narration, built for action and speed, conveys the world through which the action moves and gives it meaning, [bringing] scene and character, however swiftly, before the eye without a blur.”—Eudora Welty, The New York Times Book Review"Archer-Macdonald are working together at their peak, piecing together a most modern American tragedy, making literature out of the thriller form, gazing more clearly the ever into the future as it rolls through the smog.” —Newsweek“Ross Macdonald must be ranked high amongst American thriller-writers.”—Times Literary Supplement


From the Trade Paperback edition. --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

About the Author

ROSS MACDONALD (1915-1983) was the pen name of Kenneth Millar. Born near San Francisco but raised in British Columbia, he returned to the United States as a young man and published his first novel in 1944. He served as the president of the Mystery Writers of America and was awarded their Grand Master Award as well as the Mystery Writers of Great Britain's Silver Dagger Award. --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Bantam (August 1, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553273523
• ISBN-13: 978-0553273526
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,923,034 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars As current a mystery as you would want, August 1, 2007

By 

Armchair Interviews (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ivory Grin (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard) (Paperback)

Ross Macdonald's Lew Archer is one of the most famous characters in all of detective fiction, and The Ivory Grin quickly shows the reader why. Archer is hired by the archetypal mystery client who won't tell him anything about herself, to find a young woman she won't tell him much about either. Archer knows from the first moments that he is being conned, but he's both a little short on cash and a romantic at heart, and he just can't resist the challenge that goes with the $100.

If you're afraid that a novel written and first published in 1952 will seem dated, you'll be both right and completely wrong. Of course, the clothes, cars, telephones, and even some of the geography no longer apply, but the motives and deception, the danger and the twists and turns of a first-rate detective novel are timeless. Macdonald carries it all off with a flair and a high sense of style that have kept his novels in print and his readers wishing he could have lived and written forever. When he died in 1983, Macdonald - a pseudonym for Kenneth Millar - left behind what critic William Goldman called "the finest series of detective novels ever written by an American author."

Archer has a dry wit and no overly developed sense of his own importance. His observations of his clients, his surroundings, and the events he becomes part of are smart and wise. In this novel, Archer starts out in his hard-boiled detective office, but spends little time there as he travels between Los Angeles and one of those hot and dusty inland California towns where his clients and the people they're seeking always seem to end up. He runs up against desperate people, motivated by greed and unloosed from whatever moral compass they may have started with long ago in some other existence. He struggles at each point to see who might be on the right side of things, and in almost every case he is disappointed. In The Ivory Grin, there are no heroes, except perhaps Lew Archer himself, and he lays no claim to that title.

Armchair Interviews says, "If you're looking for a detective, a story, and a writer that won't disappoint you, pick up Ross Macdonald's The Ivory Grin--and then prepare to rush out for more."

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Really good., June 27, 2006

By 

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

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Ivory Grin (Paperback)

In this early (1952) Lew Archer mystery, author Ross Macdonald does a great job of storytelling. The descriptive passages are original and highly evocative, the dialogue is first rate and the intricate plotting is very compelling. Macdonald introduces a number of interesting, realistically crafted characters from many different walks of life and masterfully weaves their individual stories together to create a literary tapestry that is quite satisfying.

The Ivory Grin is a remarkable example of detective fiction. Its two greatest strengths are the vividness with which the characters are drawn and the precision with which the multiple plot threads blend together. Highly recommended.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A master at work., November 11, 2008

By 

Peter (Melbourne Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ivory Grin (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard) (Paperback)

The detective novel had been around for many years prior to Ross Macdonald starting his series featuring Lew Archer, but the main writers (Hammett and Chandler) did not take their characters to the depth that Macdonald took Archer.

Archer sees the bleakness of the world through a cynic's eyes and reports to us his findings which are rarely optimistic.

Macdonald's books usually had the unlying theme of families disintegrating due to the sins of the past being reborn.

Macdonald's books are all classic detective fiction and well worth your time.