Lew Archer

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Lew Archer is a fictional character created by Ross Macdonald. Archer is a private eye working in Southern California.

1 Profile
2 Books
3 External links

[edit] Profile

Initially, Lew Archer was similar to (if not completely derivative of) Philip Marlowe. However, he eventually broke from that mold, though some similarities remain. Archer's principal difference is that he is much more openly sensitive and empathic than the tough Marlowe. He also serves a different function than Marlowe. Raymond Chandler's books were studies of Marlowe's character and code of honor, while Macdonald used Archer as a lens to explore the relationships of the other characters in the novels.

Archer's name is an homage to Dashiell Hammett: "Miles Archer" was the name of Sam Spade's murdered partner in The Maltese Falcon.

[edit] Books

[edit] Novels

The Moving Target (1949)
The Drowning Pool (1950)
The Way Some People Die (1951)
The Ivory Grin (1952; AKA Marked for Murder)
Find a Victim (1954)
The Barbarous Coast (1956)
The Doomsters (1958)
The Galton Case (1959)
The Wycherly Woman (1961)
The Zebra-Striped Hearse (1962)
The Chill (1964)
The Far Side of the Dollar (1965)
Black Money (1966)
The Instant Enemy (1968)
The Goodbye Look (1969)
The Underground Man (1971)
Sleeping Beauty (1973)
The Blue Hammer (1976)

[edit] Short stories

"Find the Woman" (June 1946, EQMM)
"The Bearded Lady" (American Magazine, October 1948)
"The Imaginary Blonde" (February 1953, Manhunt; AKA Gone Girl)
"The Guilty Ones" (May 1953, Manhunt; AKA The Sinister Habit)
"The Beat-Up Sister" (October 1953, Manhunt; AKA The Suicide)
"Guilt-Edged Blonde" ( January 1954, Manhunt)
"Wild Goose Chase" (Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, July 1954)
"Midnight Blue" (October 1960, Ed McBain's Mystery Magazine)
"The Sleeping Dog" (April 1965, Argosy)

in three collections: My Name is Archer, Lew Archer, Private Investigator, and Strangers in Town

[edit] Film and TV

Two feature films starring Paul Newman as Lew Harper:

"Harper" (1966, Jack Smight) from the novel The Moving Target (1949)
"The Drowning Pool" (1975, Stuart Rosenberg)

(Newman reportedly, and perhaps apocryphally, changed the name to Harper to continue a run of lucky movies beginning with the letter H - The Hustler, Hud... )

A TV movie starring Peter Graves: