The Barbarous Coast

by: Ross MacDonald

Published by: Vintage Crime

Reviewed by Julie Failla Earhart

It’s nice to visit old friends. I haven’t read any of Ross Macdonald’s Lew Archer novels in a long, long time. Macdonald’s prose hasn’t lost any of its punch for me over the years. Like Anthony Boucher says, “{Macdonald)...writes like a son of a bitch.”

Originally published in 1956, The Barbarous Coast has PI Lew Archer nosing around Malibu, looking for a freaked-out Canadian’s wife, a high-diving bombshell, Hester Campbell (in the vein of Esther Williams, for those who might not get it). The fact that the guy has punk hair makes the character seem awfully strange for the book’s original publication date, but that’s okay.

Hester has disappeared without a trace. Lew starts poking his nose into things at the Channel Club, the ritziest, snobbiest country club in the Pacific Coast. Before long he’s up to his neck in blackmail, beauties, and a two-year-old unsolved murder that seems to hang around like last week’s fish odor.

When Macdonald passed in 1983, America lost one its greatest crime writers. However, The Barbarous Coast is not Macdonald’s best Lew Archer novel. The tales twists and turns at random that is more confusing than surprising. Sometimes, it’s even hard to follow. For the life of me, I can’t remember how Lew got messed up in this case.

One of the things that interests me, going back to the authors that have been a part of our American cultural landscape, is: Does the writing stand the test of time? This book does…the prose is magnificent. The difference between reading a vintage crime novel and a contemporary crime novel is like watching “Perry Mason” and “Law and Order.” Only the times dictate the color and level of morality that we find acceptable.

While the scenery may be old-fashioned, and The Barbarous Coast may not be the best Lew Archer episode, it’s still a good story. I’ve added the Lew Archer novels to my to-read list.

Armchair Interviews says: Another Lew Archer convert.