The Underground Man

One of Ross Macdonald's best, right up there with The Galton Case and The Chill (and my all-time favorite, The Wycherly Woman). I knocked half a star off my rating only because a few befuddled observations about "these kids today" were awkwardly inserted into the narrative at certain key points. Still, they're mercifully brief and were the expression of a sincere concern on Macdonald's part: convinced that young people were growing increasingly disaffected, he worried about the world they were inheriting from his generation. More than ever, the Archer of The Underground Man is an extension of/mouthpiece for the author himself. There's not much physical action, but the book is loaded with the kind of mystery and psychological tension show more that only Macdonald could produce.

Against the nerve-jangling backdrop of a wildfire that's spreading rapidly through the hills above Santa Teresa (Macdonald's fictionalized version of Santa Barbara), Archer searches for a missing boy who may have witnessed a murder. The private detective finds himself moved by the plight of the boy and his frantic young mother, and commits to a deeper personal investment in the case than is customary for him. Weary and cynical in middle age, Archer nonetheless views the novel's characters and their motivations from a heightened emotional perspective, which makes this a special book. Troubled families and the fascinating convolutions of their histories are a central part of The Underground Man, just as they're a central part of all Macdonald's novels, but what's really noteworthy this time around is the maturity that allows Archer to empathize with the other characters despite their flaws. Compare this Lew Archer to the more brusque iteration in The Ivory Grin or The Barbarous Coast to see just how far he (and Macdonald) had come. show less

Review: The Underground Man by Ross MacDonald.

The story started off with a domestic kidnapping that led to many events as stealing a beautiful sail boat and not knowing how to maneuver it over the ocean and ended breaking up in the ocean almost taking three lives with it. Also the author entwined a natural disaster, a dreadful wildfire in the California hills around members of the family’s home he was investigating. A recent murder was discovered that belong to the same family causing more work for Lew Archer to untangle. Archer’s theory involved malicious relationships of the family members and he needed to prevent any more impending tragedies. The story has some twist and turns that places Archer in situations of danger. The land show more and ocean becomes characters because there used to carry the story through some rough adventures throughout this family in the past and the future.

Archer was more or less pulled into a situation he was not seeking when he went outside one morning to feed some peanuts to a few blue jays and met a young boy and his mother.
Archer also got to meet the estranged husband when he came to pick up his son. Somehow, Archer gets involved into a domestic quarrel, a series of adulteries, a broken marriage, petty crimes, frauds, and a murder going back three generations. The story spools around southern California in the 60’s. Being a detective, Archer realizes that powerful families have dark history secrets that sadly repeat themselves over and over again.

This was a good mystery and I really enjoyed the story. I felt like I was almost reading a Sherlock Holmes book. The detective, Lew Archer kept asking questions in the investigation that he already surmised and nonchalantly kept his cool and moved on. I was the reader and he never clued me in! He moved within the story like he didn’t know anything and he wasn’t predictable but he knew where he was going and who the next person he was going to question. However, as I was reading I didn’t make a connection with his way of thinking and he baffled me because he never gave anything away. He kept everything locked away in his mine until he was ready to give the reader a little bit more to keep the story going. I could tell he was leading up too something but really didn’t catch on until I was almost at the end of the book and started putting it all together. Ross MacDonald was clever enough to have his character hold back to entice the reader. I enjoyed the way the story unraveled and it kept me intrigued to the end. show less

“Half-way down the stairs I paused and leaned on the handrail and told myself that I was descending into trouble: a pretty young woman with a likeable boy and a wandering husband. A hot wind was blowing in my face.”

Throw in a raging wildfire, and Lew Archer definitely has his hands full in this one! And then the bodies start stacking up! It's a good story, with lots of characters, and their sexual partners, to keep track of! Marin County, where I live, pops into the story in chapter 24! Specifically, the city of Sausalito. Kind of fun for me!

Great last line: "We passed the steaming remnants of the fire and drove on south through the rain."

I picked this book because of an article in the New Yorker (March 3, 2025) titled "The Classic show more Mystery That Prefigured the Los Angeles Wildfires". Those are the fires that ravaged the L.A. area this past January. Weird, huh? Anway, that article inspired me to pick up this book, and this book has inspired me to read the whole Lew Archer series! Thanks New Yorker! show less

Another compelling and extremely well-written entry in Ross Macdonald's Lew Archer series of detective novels. This one, in concert with Macdonald's ongoing theme, revolves around an old family secret that comes back to haunt those lucky enough to have survived the events of the secret. Macdonald is simply one of the best writers of this sort of fiction, a writer with poetry and heartbreak and melancholy in his soul who conveys those attributes without undue cynicism and with an unobtrusive but magical way with words. This is one of his best.

When Lew Archer witnesses the abduction of a boy he is drawn into a tortuously complex case of murder and blackmail hidden amongst the wealthiest families of small town California.

I rarely like a Noir book for the plot but I enjoyed the way this twisted tale unfurled which, like the forest fire it’s set against, it rapidly breaks out in all directions and tries to consume all. Although, it does this in sedately fashion; one of the key joys is the pacing, the steady unfurling of what could easily be a torrid soap opera of a plot. Affairs and loveless marriages, blackmail, murder and rape, mental illness are all slowly unearthed but Lew's humane pragmatism grounds it all whilst ramping up the tension. It is a tale with a strong theme as show more one generations sins hit the next and then next and then?

It's hard to pick out a negative part, it is what it is after all and has aged well. This book does sit towards the end of a series but that didn't negatively impact the tale and I am intrigued to try an early one and see how the character starts out. show less

This is a Lew Archer mystery that for me is one of the best books in the series. Archer's involvement in the story is as much personal as business and there are two themes from the series that are brought out very well.
The book begins with Archer out in his front yard throwing peanuts to some blue jays. A small boy comes out of the house next door and joins him. He is Ronald Broadhurst who becomes a central figure in the story. This beginning is a perfect set up for the rest of the story. His parents have just separated and after Ronny's father picks him up to visit his grandmother he disappears and Archer is hired to find him.
In the course of his search for Ronny Archer meets Sue Crandall and Jerry Kilpatrick. They are two young people show more who are alienated from their parents and the rest of the world. This is a theme that appears often in MacDonald's books. Parents and their children talking past each other without communicating living in different worlds. The parents all think they have good relationships with their children but the children are really just objects in the parent's world. The children feel alone and unloved and act out these feelings to the confusion of the parents.
Sue and Jerry take Ronald away on a boat which Jerry is taking care of. Archer follows their trail which ends up with Sue standing on the side of the Golden Gate Bridge deciding whether or not to jump.
Stanley Broadhurst is found buried behind his mother's house having started a disastrous fire during the course of his murder. Further digging finds that his father, who was murdered 15 years ago is buried beneath him. All of the murders are traced back to one of Archer's favorite villains. A seemingly nice old lady who has lived a life motivated by fear and hate. I don't think this requires a spoiler alert since there are several suspects for this role.
This book was very well written and is one of my favorite Lew Archer novels to date. There is a real depth to the characters and Archer's interaction with them. MacDonald is an excellent writer who writes detective stories that are good literature. show less

Lew Archer is feeding the birds at his apartment one morning when he meets a little boy named Ronny, who is staying in the same building along with his mother. The boy's father arrives unexpectedly and Archer becomes entangled in an unpleasant domestic scene. This chance encounter leads Archer into a mess of long-held secrets and connections, with kidnapping and murder forming part of the web. And just to make things more difficult, a wildfire has erupted in the Santa Teresa area that could either burn away the untruths or destroy the truth entirely…

This was a really absorbing story. It put me in mind of Macdonald's The Galton Case, which also deals in family secrets. (Come to think of it, most of Archer's cases involve long-held show more secrets in some way.) This one had a different twist in that a little boy was involved and put in danger; usually the main focus of an Archer story is an imperilled woman. The fire was also a novel plot element and reflected part of the reality of life in southern California. I got a bit lost somewhere in the latter half of the book but read on, figuring that everything would be explained in the end, and it was. The only slightly off note was a throwaway remark about poisoned pelicans on the coast. My initial reaction was "Oh great, a token environmental message," but Archer was able to rescue it somewhat later on (it may be a spoiler to mention the statement in detail or how he rescued it).

I would recommend this if you've already read Macdonald; it would make a good second Archer if you are not particular about reading in order. Or if you liked The Galton Case, this one might appeal to you as well. show less