IVORY GRIN, THE PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Ross Macdonald | 240 pages | 10 Jul 2007 | Random House USA Inc | 9780307278999 | English | New York, United States Ivory Grin, the PDF Book See all 8 reviews. Scott Fitzgerald inspired masterwork Struggled to build some interest in an Adrian McKinty novel, got bogged down. Jan 08, Greg rated it really liked it Shelves: 20th-century , reviewed , midth-century-american-crime , hard-boiled-private-eye. This one, "The Ivory Grin," takes place in a small California town. Looking for More Great Reads? Also in Lew Archer Series. In his search for the killer, Howard Cross digs deep into the Los Angeles underworld, finding along the way a beautiful, lost adolescent mourning a dead lover, a suitcase hidden under an aging sadist's bed, and a slovenly gentleman with an ice pick in his neck. Just when you think you know what'll happen next, MacDonald dispels everything you thought you knew. Then Archer realizes this isn't about the jewelry at all, but perhaps something big Una is hiding. Was going to write something akin to what Wiki entered on Ross Macdonald's page, but why bother. Pay using card ending in. Jun 05, Jon rated it really liked it. May 14, Evgeny rated it really liked it Shelves: crime-and-mystery. Reviewed by jonesli jonesli. It didn't take me long to recall that I had read this book but heh, it's Ross Macdonald. I'm sick, old, exhausted, bereft. So if you find a current lower price from an online retailer on an identical, in-stock product, tell us and we'll match it. Sure, there's a good depiction of racism, blah blah blah We aim to show you accurate product information. Had read only 3 of his novels before and loved 'em so my appetite was fully whetted by the time I grabbed 4 of his rare Omnibus editions. Not his best. Reed Farrel Coleman. The author ensures we understand the racial tensions, but doesn't dwell on it. But this is no slouch in the ambiance or the dialogue department. The Zebra-Striped Hearse. When Lew Archer is hired to get the goods on the suspiciously suave Frenchman who's run off with his client's girlfriend, it looks like a simple case of alienated affections. Macdonald first introduced the tough but humane private eye in the short story Find the Woman. I highly recommend this novel. Besides, at one point in the story, Archer describes his client being "in a spiteful rage, less than half a woman now, a mean little mannish doll raving ventriloquially. He's still stuck too tightly in the Philip Marlowe mode. But first Perry Mason tracks down the publisher of the blackmailing tabloid and discovers a shocking secret, which eventually leads to Mason being accused of murder. Archer doesn't believe the story but he believes her one-hundred dollar bill. If I have to nitpick though the resolution itself was strong, a more proactive Archer could have arrived at it sooner. Benning marrys a beautiful blonde 20 years younger: one doesn't need to guess where that plot line is heading. Branch knew that the Nazis would have him eliminated as soon as it was convenient. When his father abandoned his family unexpectedly, Ross Macdonald is the pseudonym of the American-Canadian writer of crime fiction Kenneth Millar. Dec 29, ISBN Add to Cart. Started with "The Ivory Grin" and I experienced "one of those days" where the rest of the things and the people around you seem utterly insignificant. Chester Himes could take these stereotypes and give them some flash and panachemainy by infusing them with anger and aggressionbut we're still decades away from the fully dimensioned characters of Walter Mosley's Easy Rawlins. We are sorry. So, let's hear it for Woburn! Your email address will never be sold or distributed to a third party for any reason. Good As It Gets Great plot and characters. Meet Me at the Morgue is the story of a kidnapping that led to four murders. According to Una, Lucy had left and taken ruby earrings and a gold necklace. Clearly one of the best things I've done in the past six or so months is to get a library card for the library in the next town over, which gave me access to Macdonald. See all books by Ross Macdonald. Most of the modern thrillers are as straightforward as a shortest path between two points in Euclidean geometry. Towards the end I was just thinking to get it over with, whatever the outcome. Ivory Grin, the Writer The signs of Macdonald's maturity as an author are more prominent here. I can't help it, I love gangsters. The plot is strong, and the narrator captures Archer's world-weariness. He is best known for his series of hardboiled novels set in southern California and featuring private detective Lew Archer. What listeners say about The Ivory Grin. This one dealt with some racial issues and was written in the early fifties so I was worried I was in store for some good ole' fashioned awkwardness but for the most part Macdonald did a good job of not being too preachy but unfortunately his knowledge and ideas about African American's is dicey at best. She sounded fishy for everybody with intellect higher than that of a six-year-old child, so Archer had his reservations about taking the assignment, but it sounded simple and harmless enough - he was to just tail the maid and report on the people she saw to his client - so he accepted. It begins when Archer is approach When I began reading Ross Macdonald's Lew Archer novels last year, I built my acquisitions around the three-volume collection published by the Library of America. The pacing of his style is superb, timed just right, delivering punch bowls of satisfaction to sip from. This novel has it all. The two Paul Newman adaptations of "The Moving Target" and "Deep Blue Goodbye" were strong, and I wish he had continued in that role, but it's cool to imagine Newman's amused cynicism in his literary counterpart. While doing graduate study, he completed his first novel, The Dark Tunnel , in And the series had always thrown up great femme fatales. Norris, Alex's mother: "I believe you are a righteous man, Mr. I also challenge anybody to call this particular ending Happily Ever After and keep a straight face. Please note that the only reason I talk about standard tropes here is to avoid spoilers as much as possible. Yet while an enjoyable read there is a reason why it didn't make the "best of" collection published by the LoA, as the elements of the story don't come together as well as they do his other novels. This is the first time Archer went all sociologically profound on our genre-loving asses, and there's pros and cons. He served as the president of the… More about Ross Macdonald. Ask a question Ask a question If you would like to share feedback with us about pricing, delivery or other customer service issues, please contact customer service directly. White Jazz. But for Archer, it may hold the key to a missing teenager and a hot murder. Between the late s and his death in , he gave the American crime novel a psychological depth and moral complexity that his predecessors had only hinted at. Book Review Basics Home. This soon results in a series of encounters that hit the marks familiar to readers of Macdonald's novels, with murders, clashes with local law enforcement, and encounters with a cast of sharply-written characters. The revelations and reversals are well-timed, and everything hangs together neatly in the end--something that wasn't quite true of his earlier books. Norris is portrayed beautifully here: "Last night [a murder] was like all the things I'd dreaded for myself and Alex Also available from:. He runs up against desperate people, motivated by greed and unloosed from whatever moral compass they may have started with long ago in some other existence. The wall plants had drooped and died. Add to Cart failed. Rating details. The classics in the series are still a few years off. Readers also enjoyed. Add to Cart. But still it didn't grab me the way other books and other writers of the genre have in the past. Walmart I was right. Archer tells her to go to the police. Millar was born in Los Gatos, California, and raised in his parents' native Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, where he started college. After serving at sea as a naval communications officer from to , he returned to Michigan, where he obtained his Ph. Board of Education even. At the very least, this one was good enough to keep me going for a while. Read more Ivory Grin, the Reviews Archer digs deeper into the case and discovers a web of deceit and intrigue, with crazed number-runners from Detroit, gorgeous triple-crossing molls, and a golden-boy shipping heir who's gone mysteriously missing. And for those reading this review He tracks the wayward maid to a ramshackle motel in a seedy, run-down small town, but finds her dead in her tiny room, with her throat slit from ear to ear. A hard-faced woman clad in a blue mink stole and dripping with diamonds hires Lew Archer to track down her former maid, who she claims has stolen her jewelry.