3.5
The Galton Case
ByPublisher Description
Lew Archer returns in this gripping mystery, widely recognized as one of acclaimed mystery writer Ross Macdonald's very best, about the search for the long lost heir of the wealthy Galton family.
Almost twenty years have passed since Anthony Galton disappeared, along with a suspiciously streetwise bride and several thousand dollars of his family's fortune. Now Anthony's mother wants him back and has hired Lew Archer to find him. What turns up is a headless skeleton, a boy who claims to be Galton's son, and a con game whose stakes are so high that someone is still willing to kill for them. Devious and poetic, The Galton Case displays MacDonald at the pinnacle of his form.
Almost twenty years have passed since Anthony Galton disappeared, along with a suspiciously streetwise bride and several thousand dollars of his family's fortune. Now Anthony's mother wants him back and has hired Lew Archer to find him. What turns up is a headless skeleton, a boy who claims to be Galton's son, and a con game whose stakes are so high that someone is still willing to kill for them. Devious and poetic, The Galton Case displays MacDonald at the pinnacle of his form.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesThe Galton Case Reviews
3.5
Hawaii Miss
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“Archer is hired by Dalling to track down the missing heir to the Galton fortune. Simple, initially, but it quickly turns complex when Archer discovers false identities, a staged death, and a tangled web of family secrets. As he digs deeper, Archer uncovers the emotional damage inflicted by wealth, neglect, and deception.
Archer is Macdonald’s moral compass—empathetic, intelligent, and quietly relentless. While solving mysteries; he's also delving into buried emotional truths. Archer often serves as a therapist to the dysfunctional families he investigates, and in this case, he exposes how identity can be both constructed and inherited.
John Galton / "John Brown"
The lost heir to the Galton fortune.
Symbol of fractured identity. His transformation into “John Brown” (a name with historical resonance) reflects a desire to escape both class expectations and personal trauma. His story touches on themes of rebirth, deception, and the constructed self.
Anthony Galton
John Galton’s father, who supposedly died young.
A Gatsby-like figure who disappears, only to linger as a haunting absence. He represents the sins of the father and the damage wrought by secrets and illusions. His ghost-like presence feeds the novel’s mythic and tragic atmosphere.
Maria Galton
John’s mother, Anthony’s wife.
A faded aristocrat clinging to appearances. Maria’s coldness and emotional repression are emblematic of the old-money class: elegance masking rot. She sacrifices truth for status, making her complicit in her family’s disintegration.
Carl Hallman
claims to be John Galton.
His false identity raises deep questions about the nature of self. Carl embodies mythic imposture—like the prince who returns, only to be revealed as a pretender. His fate is a tragic commentary on class aspiration and psychological manipulation.
Keith Dalling
The lawyer who hires Archer.
A manipulator with unclear motives. His role in orchestrating the case ties into the of using law and order to preserve upper-class legacies, even through deceit.
Helen Welles
Carl’s girlfriend.
Torn between love and survival, Helen is a figure of vulnerability and loyalty.”
Brendan Shannon
Created about 1 month agoShare
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David Monroe
Created about 2 months agoShare
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“Very good. Probably the best of the Archer books I've read. It works on three levels. A breezy noir mystery with the usual Macdonald trops being wraped up by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wold_Newton_family member Lew Archer; a fairly (especially for 1959) nuanced and complex psychological study; and for those paying attention (or those in the 21st Century with access to Wikipedia) Macdonald's thin veneer of autobiographically retracing his own steps from Canada to Chicago to California.”
Stefan Vleming
Created 4 months agoShare
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Katie Fullerton
Created 6 months agoShare
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About Ross Macdonald
Ross Macdonald's real name was Kenneth Millar. Born near San Francisco in 1915 and raised in Ontario, Canada, Millar returned to the U.S. as a young man and published his first novel in 1944. He served as the president of the Mystery Writers of America and was awarded their Grand Master Award as well as the Mystery Writers of Great Britain's Gold Dagger Award. He died in 1983.
Other books by Ross Macdonald
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