Reading order · 18 books · 1949 to 1976 · Set in Los Angeles
Lew Archer Books in Order
Lew Archer is a Southern California private investigator, a quiet, compassionate observer of the wealthy families who hire him. Time and again, he finds that a present-day crime grows from secrets buried a generation before. Many readers rank the series alongside Chandler and Hammett.
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Series facts
- Books
- 18
- Published
- 1949 to 1976
- First book
- The Moving Target
- Latest
- The Blue Hammer (1976)
- Setting
- Set in Los Angeles
The reading order
Every Lew Archer book in publication order. Choose a title for its cast and summary.
18 books · Set in Los Angeles
- 1The Moving Target1949With Lew ArcherA wealthy woman hires Lew Archer to find her missing millionaire husband.Buy on Amazon
- 2The Drowning Pool1950With Lew ArcherA woman hires Archer about an anonymous letter, and soon her mother-in-law is found drowned in the family pool.Buy on Amazon
- 3The Way Some People Die1951With Lew ArcherA mother hires Archer to find her missing daughter, and the trail leads into the world of drugs and gangsters.Buy on Amazon
- 4The Ivory Grin1952With Lew ArcherA woman hires Archer to find her former maid.Buy on Amazon
- 5Find a Victim1954With Lew ArcherArcher stops on the highway to help a dying man, and is drawn into a case of a stolen truck and a small town’s secrets.Buy on Amazon
- 6The Barbarous Coast1956With Lew ArcherAt an exclusive beach club near Los Angeles, Archer is drawn into the search for a young wife who has run away to Hollywood.Buy on Amazon
- 7The Doomsters1958With Lew ArcherA young man who has escaped from a psychiatric hospital turns up at Archer’s door asking for help.Buy on Amazon
- 8The Galton Case1959With Lew ArcherA wealthy widow hires Archer to find her son, who disappeared twenty years ago.Buy on Amazon
- 9The Wycherly Woman1961With Lew ArcherA wealthy man hires Archer to find his missing daughter, Phoebe.Buy on Amazon
- 10The Zebra-Striped Hearse1962With Lew ArcherA father hires Archer to look into the painter his daughter plans to marry.Buy on Amazon
- 11The Chill1964With Lew ArcherA young husband hires Archer to find his bride, who vanished the day after their wedding.Buy on Amazon
- 12The Far Side of the Dollar1965With Lew ArcherA teenage boy has run away from a private reform school, and his parents hire Archer to find him.Buy on Amazon
- 13Black Money1966With Lew ArcherA young man hires Archer to investigate the mysterious Frenchman who has stolen his fiancée.Buy on Amazon
- 14The Instant Enemy1968With Lew ArcherA teenage girl runs away with her boyfriend, and her parents hire Archer to bring her home.Buy on Amazon
- 15The Goodbye Look1969With Lew ArcherA wealthy couple hire Archer to recover a stolen gold box, and the case reaches back a generation.Buy on Amazon
- 16The Underground Man1971With Lew ArcherA young boy is taken from his mother by his father, as a forest fire sweeps through the hills above Santa Teresa.Buy on Amazon
- 17Sleeping Beauty1973With Lew ArcherAs an oil spill blackens the California coast, Archer searches for a young woman who has disappeared.Buy on Amazon
- 18The Blue Hammer1976With Lew ArcherArcher is hired to find a stolen painting, and the case leads to an artist who vanished years ago.Buy on Amazon
Do you need to read them in order?
Each book stands alone. The Galton Case, The Chill and The Underground Man are a good place to start.
Who appears in which book
The series’ main characters, book by book. Lead means the book is told around them; minor covers cameos.
| Book | Lew Archer |
|---|---|
| 1 The Moving Target | LLead |
| 2 The Drowning Pool | LLead |
| 3 The Way Some People Die | LLead |
| 4 The Ivory Grin | LLead |
| 5 Find a Victim | LLead |
| 6 The Barbarous Coast | LLead |
| 7 The Doomsters | LLead |
| 8 The Galton Case | LLead |
| 9 The Wycherly Woman | LLead |
| 10 The Zebra-Striped Hearse | LLead |
| 11 The Chill | LLead |
| 12 The Far Side of the Dollar | LLead |
| 13 Black Money | LLead |
| 14 The Instant Enemy | LLead |
| 15 The Goodbye Look | LLead |
| 16 The Underground Man | LLead |
| 17 Sleeping Beauty | LLead |
| 18 The Blue Hammer | LLead |
Characters in the Lew Archer books
2 characters from Ross Macdonald’s chart, with the number of Lew Archer books each appears in.
| Character | Books | First in this series |
|---|---|---|
| Lew ArcherSouthern California private investigator, divorced and former police officer | 18 | The Moving Target 1949 |
| Betty Jo SiddonYoung newspaper reporter | 1 | The Blue Hammer 1976 |