The Wycherly Woman

A Lew Archer Novel

By: Ross Macdonald

Narrated by: Grover Gardner

Phoebe Wycherly was missing two months before her wealthy father hired Archer to find her. That was plenty of time for a young girl who wanted to disappear to do so thoroughly—or for someone to make her disappear. And before he could locate the Wycherly girl, Archer had to reckon with the Wycherly woman, Phoebe’s mother, an eerily unmaternal blonde who kept too many residences, had too many secrets, and left too many corpses in her wake.

©1961 Ross Macdonald; renewed 1989 by Margaret Millar (P)2010 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

In the character of Lew Archer, Macdonald redefined the private eye as a roving conscience who walks the treacherous frontier between criminal guilt and human sin.

“Lew Archer [is] up to his neck in murder, kidnapping, and blackmail – just another day at the office. This is hard-boiled detective writing at the top of its form.” ( Library Journal)

“It’s not just that Ross Macdonald taught us how to write; he did something much more, he taught us how to read, and how to think about life, and maybe in some small but mattering way, how to live.” (Robert B. Parker)

Excellent Storytelling

Interesting story, captivating characters, great private eye detective work. Enjoyed it immensely. One of this Author's most intriguing title in this PD series. Would recommend.

Nice work

Grover Gardner is such an excellent narrator that he invests all his work with convincing voices and therefore credible characters. This helps with this novel which has a plot that is a little more stretched than usual. The final hour and denouement require more suspension of disbelief than Macdonald usual demands. Still the complete result is very entertaining and often funny. Recommended.

Outstanding all around!

Grover Gardner does an outstanding performance with nuanced characters that make you forget you’re listening to one narrator. He pulls you along and directs your imagination with clear visualizations of each character, and every cinematic scene.

Of course he has excellent material to work with. I think Ross McDonald rivals Chandler and Hammett. This story is exemplary in the sheer number of quotable dialogue quips with that full classic LA and Bay Area Noir! You cannot go wrong by picking this up and giving it a thorough listening!

Retro

Definitely a retro, noir style story. It was like watching a ‘40’s hard-boiled detective film noir. Grover Gardner never disappoints.

Hard boiled mystery.

My first Lew Archer book. Some actions may be dated or sexist, but all in all a good listen. Grover Gardner is great as always.
A wealthy man returns from a 2 week cruise to discover his daughter is missing. Archer unravels a huge entangled mess of lives leading up to the discovery that not all is as it seems.
Excellent.