Ross Macdonald (real name Kenneth Millar, 1915–1983) is one of the most famous crime fiction writers of the 20th century. In his novels there is not only a teasing mystery and a brilliantly twisted plot, but also the outstanding skill of a storyteller and a whole bouquet of memorable characters.
One night, Lew Archer was awakened by Carl Hallman—a young man who had escaped from a psychiatric clinic where his relatives had “put him away,” and who is now trying to cut him out of the inheritance left after his father’s death—a congressman.
Archer persuades Carl to return to the clinic while Archer himself deals with his relatives’ affairs—but before they make it to the clinic…