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Content snapshot
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Violence
Some
Violence and physical confrontations in a noir setting; one death
Language
Barely any
Hardboiled California dialogue; mild-to-moderate language
Sexual Content
Barely any
Adult relationships; the world of Hollywood and jazz clubs; mild
Substance Use
Barely any
Social drinking in the postwar California milieu
Emotional Intensity
Some
Moral corruption beneath the sunny surface of California wealth; the loneliness at the center of the private eye archetype
What this book is about
Lew Archer, a Los Angeles private investigator, is hired to find a millionaire oil man who has disappeared. The investigation pulls him through the layers of postwar California: a hippie cult in the hills, a jazz world full of beautiful women and dangerous men, and a missing person case that is much more than it appears. The first Lew Archer novel established the template for one of American crime fiction's most enduring series.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Violence and corruption in postwar California society
A missing person case entangled with a religious cult
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