Order of Ross Macdonald Books

Ross Macdonald was the pseudonym of American-Canadian writer Kenneth Millar (1915-1983). Throughout his career, Macdonald authored crime fiction and mystery novels, primarily featuring private investigator Lew Archer, set in Southern California. He is regarded as one of the masters of hardboiled mysteries, alongside Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. His intricate plots often involved Archer uncovering family secrets. The first two Lew Archer novels were adapted into films with Paul Newman portraying “Lew Harper.” Macdonald made his fiction debut in 1944 with The Dark Tunnel (also known as I Die Slowly), and his last novel, The Blue Hammer, was published in 1976. Below is a chronological list of Ross Macdonald’s books based on their original publication dates.