A crucial inspiration for such writers as Sue Grafton and George Pelecanos, Ross Macdonald gives a culminating demonstration of his transformation of the detective novel into a literary expression of unique psychological depth and drama in this final volume of the Library of America's definitive edition of his works. From his vantage point in southern California - and through the eyes of his great creation, private eye Lew Archer - Macdonald cast a shadowy vision of modern America, drawing on both the turmoil of his private life and on the inequities, injustices, and simmering anxieties of the society around him for raw material.