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The Drowning Pool Audiobook
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(3.01) - 1,495 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
When a millionaire matriarch is found floating face down in the family pool, the prime suspects are her good-for-nothing son and his wife, who stand to inherit, as well as a questionable chauffeur and a tycoon of a company trying to get the woman’s property for the oil under it.
Private Investigator Lew Archer takes this case in the Los Angeles suburbs and encounters a moral wasteland of corporate greed and family hatred—and sufficient motive for a dozen murders.
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"Ok, MacDonald is no Raymond Chandler... he just doesn't have the same simile power. However, this one is a pretty dark'n'twisty good read. Its a bit weak in places and the dialogue gets a bit canned here and there, but it is entertaining leasure-time fodder to be sure."
— Jean (4 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
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“Fast moving, smoothly written, first-rate whodunit of the hard-boiled school.”
— New York Times Book Review -
“Macdonald picked up the baton dropped by Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett and took the genre to new heights…The Drowning Pool returns to…the complex and compelling plotting, psychological depth, just enough mayhem, and highly economical prose.”
— Amazon.com -
“Archer solves crimes with the instincts of a psychologist and the conscience of a priest, and the mid-twentieth-century Southern California setting is a wonderful ride in the Wayback Machine.”
— Los Angeles Times, praise for the series -
“The plots involve murder, deceit, blackmail, sex, and all those other goodies that make for great crime stories.”
— Library Journal, praise for the series -
“Ross Macdonald remains the grandmaster, taking the crime novel to new heights by imbuing it with psychological resonance, complexity of story, and richness of style.”
— Jonathan Kellerman, New York Times bestselling author, praise for the author -
“[Grover Gardner]’s narration perfectly captures Archer’s world-weary persona and is by turns crisp, sardonic, and wry…Only references to prices and technology remind us that the story features a different time.”
— AudioFile
Awards
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A Los Angeles Times Pick of Best Mystery Series
The Drowning Pool Listener Reviews
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" A pretty good, old-fashioned hard-boiled detective story. Shades of Hammett and Chandler. Mystery, some action, nice terse prose. "
— Steve, 1/14/2014 -
" Excellent, nail-biting Lew Archer tale. "
— Nonamedufus, 12/13/2013 -
" Terrific and made into a good movie with Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward (and, if I'm not mistaken, a young Melanie Griffith). "
— Tim, 11/9/2013 -
" really good hard boiled, well written "
— Mark, 9/13/2013 -
" MacDonald borrows heavily from Chandler - most obviously The Big Sleep, but with a dash of The High Window for flavor and a pinch of The Lady in the Lake for piquancy - and to good effect. Archer could easily be Marlowe's bastard son - less poetry and polish, but with a certain similarity about the jaw. Even smacking of the derivative, it's good noir, with a nearly nonsensical story that's subordinate to the parade of dames and toughs. "
— Jennifer, 1/10/2013 -
" Depressing. This one will not make you like people. "
— Rachel, 11/12/2012 -
" reading this novel for Tom Krumpacks 597 class. We are also collectively writing a novella set in LA today. "
— Christina, 9/28/2012 -
" This is the second in the Lew Archer series. I liked it quite a bit and I am seeing some parallels in MacDonald's works. There are some recurrent themes such as lost innocence of youth, escalating violence, and broken adults with twisted lives. "
— Elizabeth, 5/25/2012 -
" The first really excellent Archer novel "
— Doug, 5/13/2012 -
" Lew Archer #2. Solid. Better than the first book. I like the emphasis on psychology even if the constant metaphors get to be a bit much at times. "
— Erik, 12/5/2011 -
" I LOVE Ross Macdonald. Fantastic noir fiction. The really neat thing is that Eudora Welty thought he was one of the best. "
— Tonya, 10/28/2011 -
" A really good original story. At least one other author has plagarized this one! "
— Barb, 8/31/2011 -
" It's a great book of MAYHEM,MURDER & MORE MURDER!!!!!!!!!!! "
— Negin, 8/7/2011 -
" Another great Lew Archer novel; I don't know that there was anything in particular that stood out about this one, but still it's a great read. "
— Sean, 5/19/2011 -
" Post-WWII dectective fiction without a single wasted word. Light reading and very entertaining. Thanks Jerry! "
— Donald, 5/15/2011 -
" Lots of twists and turns in this yarn! And it is just over 200 pages, so it goes quickly! Maybe too quickly, as I got confused a few times over who done what to whom! But well worth the time! "
— Donald, 10/11/2010 -
" Can people really kill someone and assume their identity without no one catching on? In Ross MacDonald's world it seems to happen all the time. I love Archer, but this one was not one of my favorites. "
— David, 1/8/2010 -
" The most complicated Lew Archer I've yet read. Some fiendish twists, the impact of which is lessened somewhat by two chapters of exposition before the conclusion. "
— Keith, 12/13/2009 -
" Fairly good LA-noir type mystery, but definately not one of his better ones. Still, great plot twists at the end. "
— Alan, 5/11/2009
About Ross Macdonald
Ross Macdonald (1915–1983) was the pen name of Kenneth Millar. For over twenty years he lived in Santa Barbara and wrote mystery novels about the fascinating and changing society of his native state. He is widely credited with elevating the detective novel to the level of literature with his compactly written tales of murder and despair. His works have received awards from the Mystery Writers of America and of Great Britain, and his book The Moving Target was made into the movie Harper in 1966. In 1982 he was awarded the Eye Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Private Eye Writers of America.
About Grover Gardner
Grover Gardner (a.k.a. Tom Parker) is an award-winning narrator with over a thousand titles to his credit. Named one of the “Best Voices of the Century” and a Golden Voice by AudioFile magazine, he has won three prestigious Audie Awards, was chosen Narrator of the Year for 2005 by Publishers Weekly, and has earned more than thirty Earphones Awards.