Sleeping Beauty

A Lew Archer novel

By: Ross Macdonald

Narrated by: Tom Parker

Sleeping Beauty plunges detective Lew Archer into a fascinating and intricate case connected to a disastrous oil spill on the Southern California coast. Ross Macdonald's masterful tale leads his investigator into a load of trouble involving ransom, a lethal dose of Nembutal, the death of a stranger found floating off shore, and three generations of the imposing Lennox family, whose offshore oil platform caused the spill.

The young Lennox heiress - glimpsed for a haunting moment on the beach, clutching an oil-drenched sea bird in her arms - has disappeared, and while on her trail, Archer finds himself journeying into the hidden lives of a family twisted by money, power, and a compulsive instinct for infidelity.

©1973 Ross Macdonald (P)1997 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Good story and good narration, but too many peripheral characters

I love Ross Macdonald’s mysteries, but it was a challenge with this one to keep track of so many characters and their relationships to each other. I made a list of the characters as I listened and referred to that list often. It was worth the effort tho’ because Macdonald never disappoints me.

Terrific!!!!!

You want to become embroiled in Hardboiled Detective Thrillers/Mysteries….Yes there’s Hammett and Chandler but Ross MacDonald brings it all together. These three are referred to as “The Holy Trinity” of Hardboiled Crime. I hope you enjoy Lew Archer as much as I do.

Even Late in His Career, Remarkable Writing

Some jarring coincidences and forced dialogue, but also some of the most vivid scenes ever written in the mystery genre.

Sleeping Beauty

Vintage Archer. A possible kidnapping, or runaway, leads to multiple murders. To solve it, Archer must solve a murder committed decades ago.

Yakkity, yakkity, yak

This reads like a parody of an Archer novel, but it’s the real deal. A convoluted tale of, as always, unhappy wealthy people and their hangers on - all anxious to bare their souls to a complete stranger - murders past and present, and a parade of often bizarre similes. Little action and lots of talk, talk, talk. After a while, the complexity of the plot becomes almost laughable. And Archer, for all his morality, seems a little quick to drop his pants with other men’s wives.