Most mystery readers have read some or all of the classic Lew Archer series by Ross Macdonald (Kenneth Millar). But, before those Lew Archer novels, Ross Macdonald learned his craft by writing some stand-alone mystery novels. The Three Roads presents the reader with Bret Taylor, Lieutenant in the U. S. Navy, recovering from war wounds, memory loss, and the murder of his wife. Taylor, with the aid of another woman, Paula West, tries to recover his lost memories. But when Taylor investigates his wife’s murder (the police investigation stalled), he launches a patented Ross Macdonald convoluted plot sequence. The Three Roads was published in 1948 so aspects of the book are dated. Modern readers will find the heavy dose of Freudian psychology a bit baffling. But, for admirers of Ross Macdonald’s later work, The Three Roads displays the clever characterizations and plotting that would be the hallmark of his Lew Archer novels.
Not one I’ve read – all my Ross Macdonald reading has been Lew Archer, which is fine stuff indeed. Thanks for another great Friday Forgotten Book selection, George!
I hadn’t read any of the pre-Lew Archer books, either, Rick. Of course, I own them all. It’s just a matter of digging them out and reading them.
I thought I had read this but apparently not; it was his first book, THE DARK TUNNEL, which I remember as being better than this review would indicate. I’ll check it out.
I have THE DARK TUNNEL, BLUE CITY, and TROUBLE FOLLOWS ME (aka, NIGHT CITY), Jeff. You’ll be reading reviews of those books on FORGOTTEN BOOKS Fridays sometime in 2010.
Great pick, George!
THE THREE ROADS displays all the Ross Macdonald flourishes, Bill. Classical allusions abound, the Past always holds the secrets to the mystery in the Present, and the characters possess a complexity that rarely shows up in genre fiction.
OK, what’s the deal with the big asterisk? Is there something really interesting about RM on the back cover?
It’s just a marketing technique, Evan.
Since the top one is by his name, I’m assuming the back cover info is a pitch for the author
You’re right, Rick. The asterisk is a ploy to get you to buy more Ross Macdonald titles published by Bantam.
Pingback: In With the Old … | Crime Blog
Disappointed. I like to have to guess till almost the end whodunit.
Obvious from the beginning to me – psychology games go on too longto hold my interest.
THE THREE ROADS was an early Ross Macdonald, Diane. His plotting and writing improved vastly in the Archer series. Try THE GALTON CASE or THE FAR SIDE OF THE DOLLAR.
This prompted me to peruse about half of The Drowning Pool – 133 pages or so – to see how many similes I could count. (I’m using the Vintage Crime Black Lizard edition from May 1996). I counted thirty four and no doubt missed a few. I haven’t done the legwork, but I think some of the later books might have a slightly higher ratio. That’s a lot, but in any case I would argue that many of Macdonald’s similes are so strong that they infinitely enrich the work. Not only that – they are so strong that they put many “serious” writers of fiction to shame.
http://postmoderndeconstructionmadhouse.blogspot.com/2014/11/ross-macdonald-drowning-pool.html#.VGwznDSUeRZ
Elizabeth, if the speculations about Kenneth Millar’s possible Alzheimer’s are right, those similes faded in his later works.
Rather than reading the Archer stories solely as mysteries, thrillers, entertainments, and detective stories (though of course they can exist solely on that level for readers who are interested in them as such), we’d do ourselves a favor to consider them in a few other ways as well. In the massive reference work World Authors 1950-1970, published by the H.H. Wilson Company, Macdonald wrote that The Galton Case and Black Money “are probably my most complete renderings of the themes of smothered allegiance and uncertain identity which my work inherited from my early years.” Of course, in Black Money the smothered allegiance occurs between the lovers Ginny Fablon and Tappinger.
http://postmoderndeconstructionmadhouse.blogspot.com/2014/12/ross-macdonald-black-money.html#.VJYXdsAFB
Rather than reading the Archer stories solely as mysteries, thrillers, entertainments, and detective stories (though of course they can exist solely on that level for readers who are interested in them as such), we’d do ourselves a favor to consider them in a few other ways as well. In the massive reference work World Authors 1950-1970, published by the H.H. Wilson Company, Macdonald wrote that The Galton Case and Black Money “are probably my most complete renderings of the themes of smothered allegiance and uncertain identity which my work inherited from my early years.” Of course, in Black Money the smothered allegiance occurs between the lovers Ginny Fablon and Tappinger.
http://postmoderndeconstructionmadhouse.blogspot.com/2014/12/ross-macdonald-black-money.html#.VJtkdsAFB
Elizabeth, you are so right! Identity questions swirl around many of the plots of Ross Macdonald’s novels. Have you read the non-Archer THE THREE ROADS? It’s the best example.