Reading Order
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Start with The Moving Target and continue through all 18 books in the listed reading order.
Start Here
Start with The Moving Target
Book 1 by Ross Macdonald
Use the reading order above to move through the series in the intended sequence.
Complete List
Lew Archer reading order
Ends with The Blue Hammer
- 1
Book 1:The Moving Target
Ross Macdonald
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- 2
Book 2:The Drowning Pool
Ross Macdonald
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- 3
Book 3:The Way Some People Die
Ross Macdonald
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- 4
Book 4:The Ivory Grin
Ross Macdonald • 1952
An expensively dressed woman hires Lew Archer to shadow her former maid, claiming theft. When the young woman is found with her throat cut, Archer uncovers a knot of small town prejudice, gangland money and a vanished...
- 5
Book 5:Find a Victim
Ross Macdonald • 1954
Lew Archer stops for a wounded hitchhiker on a desert road and is drawn into a small town boiling with robbery, corruption and family feuds. A hijacked liquor truck, a missing woman and a rising body count force him t...
- 6
Book 6:The Barbarous Coast
Ross Macdonald
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- 7
Book 7:The Doomsters
Ross Macdonald
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- 8
Book 8:The Galton Case
Ross Macdonald
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- 9
Book 9:The Wycherly Woman
Ross Macdonald
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- 10
Book 10:The Zebra-Striped Hearse
Ross Macdonald
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- 11
Book 11:The Chill
Ross Macdonald • 1963 • 1 recommendation
On the day after his wedding, a young husband asks Lew Archer to find his vanished bride. The search for Dolly Kincaid links a counselor's murder, an old killing and a botched trial, forcing Archer to untangle twenty...
- 12
Book 12:The Far Side of the Dollar
Ross Macdonald • 1965
A reform school hires Lew Archer when troubled teenager Tom Hillman disappears, only for a ransom demand to arrive at his wealthy parents' home. Tracking the boy leads Archer into wartime grudges, ruined friendships a...
- 13
Book 13:Black Money
Ross Macdonald
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- 14
Book 14:The Instant Enemy
Ross Macdonald • 1968
When a runaway teenager and her unstable boyfriend snatch a local industrialist, Lew Archer is hired to get the man back alive. What looks like a foolish kidnapping soon exposes buried crimes, damaged parents and chil...
- 15
Book 15:The Goodbye Look
Ross Macdonald • 1969
A seemingly simple burglary at the Chalmers' hilltop mansion brings Lew Archer into a family obsessed with an old scandal. As he searches for their missing son and a box of letters, Archer uncovers a decades old killi...
- 16
Book 16:The Underground Man
Ross Macdonald
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- 17
Book 17:Sleeping Beauty
Ross Macdonald
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- 18
Book 18:The Blue Hammer
Ross Macdonald • 1976
Hired to recover a stolen portrait of a striking blonde, Lew Archer stumbles on a painter who vanished into the desert decades earlier. Two present day murders mirror an old killing, and the search for the artwork bec...
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Lew Archer FAQ
What is the best order to read the Lew Archer series?
The recommended reading order is the numbered order shown on this page, starting with The Moving Target.
How many books are in the Lew Archer series?
There are 18 books currently listed in the Lew Archer series on GurusReads.
Where should I start with the Lew Archer series?
New readers should start with The Moving Target, the first book in the reading order.
Is the Lew Archer series complete?
Based on the publication years we have, the series appears likely complete and spans releases from 1952 to 1976.