The Blue Hammer

Rating:
Summary: Not the strongest Archer
Review: Lew Archer is hired by a troubled couple to get a painting back that had been stolen from them. The painting may or may not be genuine and was painted by an artist who may or may not be dead. Add an addicted daughter, an earnest young man, an aged beauty, a drunken father and a strange cult and you have an Archer mystery.

One of the Archer strengths is the way he draws complex characters, rather than complex plots. One of the weaknesses of this book is that the vice is versa-- this is one of the most complex Archer plots that I've read, and without the bulk of pages to fill it out, the characters are correspondingly not as strong. This isn't to say that it isn't entertaining nor that there aren't high points (the character of Fred is noteworthy), but simply that there are better Macdonald novels out there.

Rating:
Summary: An engaging mystery.
Review: The Blue Hammer by Ross MacDonald is a tale of two cities. The coastal town of Santa Teresa, California and the isolated desert community of Copper City, Arizona. Chapter 1 finds veteran private eye Lew Archer at the Santa Teresa home of copper magnate Jack Biemeyer and his wife Ruth. He's been hired to locate a potentially valuable painting that is missing from their residence.
It doesn't take long for Archer to establish that the Biemeyer's flower child daughter, Doris, and her art student boyfriend, Fred Johnson, have something to do with the painting's disappearance. But the case takes a much more serious turn when, later that same night, the art dealer who originally sold the painting to Ruth Biemeyer is bludgeoned to death.
This intricately plotted mystery is less a story about stolen artwork or even murder than it is a study of family secrets reaching back over more than a generation. Lost love, jealousy, dysfunctional relationships, homosexuality and substance abuse all play a part in the interesting narrative that unfolds in the pages of this novel. And the ending is a really great one.
Well constructed and compelling, The Blue Hammer is first rate storytelling. Well worth reading.

Rating:
Summary: Top Notch, In Depth Mystery
Review: This is the second Ross MacDonald (Lew Archer) book that I have read. This was similar to the first one I read, "The Galton Case", in that it involved a twisted complex murder mystery involving a family and close acquaintances. Prior to reading "The Blue Hammer" I had read some negative reviews of the book. Maybe compared to MacDonald's other "Archer" novels "TBH" is weaker, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I thought this was a solid mystery and enjoy the "Archer" character very much. The only negative remark I can make about "TBH" is that there are so many characters in it that sometimes it gets confusing keeping up with them all. Having said that I still believe this is a solid piece of work, and for MacDonald's last installment in the "Archer" series I think he did a fine job. Now my problem is deciding which "Archer" book to read next.