Las Cruces wasn’t a place most travelers would think to stop. But after Lew Archer plays the good samaritan and picks up a bloodied hitchhiker, he finds himself in town for a few days awaiting a murder inquest. A hijacked truck full of liquor and an evidence box full of marijuana, $20,000 from a big time bank heist by a small time crook, corruption, adultery, incest, prodigal daughters and abused wives all make the little town seem a lot more interesting than any guide book ever could. And as the murder rate rises, Archer finds himself caught up in mystery where everyone is a suspect and everyone’s a victim.

**

### From Library Journal

Though it doesn't have much of a title, this Lew Archer whodunit finds the gumshoe stopping over in a small town for an inquest. The seemingly quiet community reveals itself to be a hive of incest, corruption, dope dealing, and stolen booze. All in a day's work for a hard-boiled private investigator. This 1954 volume is for all mystery collections.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

### Review

“The writing is incisive and perceptive…forceful and fast-past…powerful and personal…a strange and haunting blend.”–*The New York Times Book Review*

“[Ross Macdonald] carried form and style about as far as they would go, writing classic family tragedies in the guise of private detective mysteries.”–*The Guardian*