Recommended reading - The Doomsters (1958)

The Doomsters

by Ross Macdonald.

ASIN: 0307279049

Published by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 9780307279040

ISBN-13: 978-0307279040

Description:

“Most mystery writers merely write about crime. Ross Macdonald writes about sin.” – The Atlantic Monthly.

“Ross Macdonald should not be limited in audience to connoisseurs of mystery fiction. He is one of a handful of writers in the genre whose worth and quality surpass the limitations of the form.” – Los Angeles Times.

Hired by Carl Hallman, the desperate-eyed junkie scion of an obscenely wealthy political dynasty, detective Lew Archer investigates the suspicious deaths of Hallman’s parents, Senator Hallman and his wife Alicia. Arriving in the sleepy town of Purissima, Archer discovers that orange groves may be where the Hallmans made their mint, but they’ve has been investing heavily in political intimidation and police brutality to shore up their rancid riches. However, after years of dastardly double-crossing and low down dirty-dealing, the family seem to be on the receiving end of a karmic death-blow. With two dead already and another consigned to the nuthouse, Archer races to crack the secret before another Hallman lands on the slab.

Murder, madness and greed grace The Doomsters, where a tony façade masks the rot and corruption within.

“Ross Macdonald is one of the best writers of the whipcord thriller.” – The Bookman.

Born on this day – Preston Sturges:

 

Preston Sturges

Writer

Director

August 29, 1898 – August 6, 1959

Credits:

American Masters (1990); Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940); Child of Manhattan (1933); Christmas in July (1940); College Swing (1938); Diamond Jim (1935); Easy Living (1937); Fast and Loose (1930); Hail the Conquering Hero (1944); Henry Fonda: The Man and His Movies (1982); Hotel Haywire (1937); Houdini (1953); I Married a Witch (1942); If I Were King (1938); I'll Be Yours (1947); Imitation of Life (1934); La grande mare (1930); Love Before Breakfast (1936); Lux Video Theatre (1954–1955); Never Say Die (1939); New York Town (1941); Next Time We Love (1936); Nosferatu vs. Father Pipecock & Sister Funk (2014); One Rainy Afternoon (1936); Paris Holiday (1958); Port of Seven Seas (1938); Preston Sturges and 'the Miracle of Morgan's Creek' (2005); Reflets de Cannes (1954); Remember the Night (1939); Rock-a-Bye Baby (1958); Safeguarding Military Information (1942); Star Spangled Rhythm (1942); Strictly Dishonorable (1931); Sullivan's Travels (1941); The Beautiful Blonde from Bashful Bend (1949); The Big Pond (1930); The Birds and the Bees (1956); The French, They Are a Funny Race (1955); The Good Fairy (1935); The Great McGinty (1940); The Great Moment (1944); The Invisible Man (1933); The Lady Eve (1941); The Miracle of Morgan's Creek (1943); The Palm Beach Story (1942); The Power and the Glory (1933); The Sin of Harold Diddlebock (1947); They Just Had to Get Married (1932); Thirty Day Princess (1934); Twentieth Century (1934); Unfaithfully Yours (1984); Vendetta (1950); We Live Again (1934); Welcome to the Basement (2012).

Born on this day – Ingrid Bergman:

Ingrid Bergman

Actress

August 29, 1915 – August 29, 1982

Born on this day – George Macready:

 

George Macready

Actor

August 29, 1899 – July 2, 1973

Born on this day – Germana Paolieri:

 

Germana Paolieri

Actress

August 29, 1906 – August 8, 1998

Born on this day – Lurene Tuttle:

Lurene Tuttle

Actress

Acting coach

August 29, 1907 – May 28, 1986

Credits:

A Life of Her Own (1950); Adam-12 (1973); Adam's Rib (1973); Adventures in Paradise (1961); Alcoa Premiere (1962); Alice (1976); Amazing Stories (1985); Bachelor Father (1959); Barnaby Jones (1980); Bonanza (1967); Bourbon Street Beat (1960); Broken Arrow (1957); Buckskin (1958); Burke's Law (1964); Carlton Your Doorman (1980); Cavalcade of America (1953–1957); Charlie's Angels (1978); Cinderella Goes to a Party (1942); Cinemassacre's Monster Madness (2010); Colt .45 (1957–1960); Crash (1978); Crazy Like a Fox (1985); Critic's Choice (1963); Crusader (1956); Dennis the Menace (1960); Dirty Duck (1974); Don't Bother to Knock (1952); Dorothy in the Land of Oz (1980); Dr. Kildare (1963); Dynasty (1982); Evil Town (1985); Fantasy Island (1978–1979); Father of the Bride (1961–1962); Final Chapter: Walking Tall (1977); For the Love of It (1980); Front Row Center (1956); General Electric Theater (1953–1958); Give a Girl a Break (1953); Goodbye, My Fancy (1951); Goodyear Theatre (1959–1960); Grand Jury (1959–1960); Gunsmoke (1960–1973); Hart to Hart (1981); Have Gun - Will Travel (1958); Hazel (1961–1963); Heaven Only Knows (1947); Hello Mother, Goodbye! (1974); Hemo the Magnificent (1958); Hollywood Beat (1985); Hollywood Opening Night (1951); Homecoming (1948); Human Experiments (1979); I Dream of Jeannie (1965); I Love Lucy (1953); Insight (1972); Iron Horse (1967); It Came Upon the Midnight Clear (1984); Johnny Midnight (1960); Johnny Ringo (1960); Judd for the Defense (1967); Julia (1968–1970); Karen (1965); Kickapoo Juice: Porkuliar Piggy / A Pee-kool-yar Sit-chee-ay-shun / Amoozin' But Confoozin' (1944); Law and Order (1976); Lawman (1959–1961); Leave It to Beaver (1959–1962); Life with Father (1953–1955); Little House on the Prairie (1975–1976); Live Again, Die Again (1974); Ma Barker's Killer Brood (1960); Macbeth (1948); Mannix (1975); Matinee Theatre (1956–1958); Matt Houston (1985); Medical Center (1975); Michael Shayne (1960); Mod Squad (1972); Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948); Mr. Novak (1963); Mrs. Sundance (1974); Murder, She Wrote (1985); My Favorite Martian (1965); My Friend Flicka (1956); My Living Doll (1964); My Three Sons (1968); NBC Comics (1950–1951); Never Wave at a WAC (1953); Niagara (1953); Nightmare in the Sun (1965); Nutcracker Fantasy (1979); Part 2: Walking Tall (1975); Perry Mason (1958–1966); Pete and Gladys (1961); Petticoat Junction (1964–1968); Pistols 'n' Petticoats (1966); Playhouse 90 (1959); Police Woman (1977); Psycho (1960); Rawhide (1961); Ripcord (1963); Robert Young and the Family (1971); Room for One More (1952); Sadie Hawkins Day (1944); Saints and Sinners (1962); Schlitz Playhouse (1953); Screen Snapshots 5852: Hollywood Night at '21' Club (1952); Shooting Stars (1983); Shotgun Slade (1961); Sincerely Yours (1955); Slander (1957); Soldiers of Fortune (1955); St. Elsewhere (1984); Stand Up and Cheer! (1934); Stars Over Hollywood (1950); Strike Force (1982); Studio 57 (1956–1957); Summer Playhouse (1964); Sweet Smell of Success (1957); Switch (1976–1977); Tales of Wells Fargo (1961); Tammy (1965); Testament (1983); The 20th Century-Fox Hour (1957); The Admiral Was a Lady (1950); The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1981); The Adventures of Jim Bowie (1957); The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1953); The Affairs of Dobie Gillis (1953); The Americans (1961); The Andy Griffith Show (1960–1964); The Ann Sothern Show (1960–1961); The Asphalt Jungle (1961); The Barbara Stanwyck Show (1961); The Beverly Hillbillies (1967); The Bob Cummings Show (1956); The Bold Ones: The New Doctors (1972); The Californians (1958–1959); The Clonus Horror (1979); The Cowboys (1974); The Danny Thomas Show (1957–1964); The Dukes of Hazzard (1979); The DuPont Show with June Allyson (1959); The Fortune Cookie (1966); The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show (1953); The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966); The Glass Slipper (1955); The Good Old Days of Radio (1976); The Gray Ghost (1957); The Great Grape Ape Show (1975); The Horse in the Gray Flannel Suit (1968); The Jimmy Stewart Show (1972); The Joseph Cotten Show: On Trial (1956); The Loretta Young Show (1954); The Love Boat (1982); The Magical World of Disney (1971); The Manitou (1978); The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1972); The Millionaire (1956–1958); The Munsters (1964); The Name of the Game (1971); The Partridge Family (1972); The Real McCoys (1958–1959); The Restless Gun (1957); The Restless Ones (1965); The Return of the Beverly Hillbillies (1981); The Rookies (1974); The Second Hundred Years (1967); The Smith Family (1971); The Story of Heidi (1975); The Texan (1958); The Thin Man (1958); The Twilight Zone (1964); The Unexpected (1952); The Whip Hand (1951); The World Through the Eyes of Children (1975); These Are the Days (1974); This Is the Life (1959); Three Lives (1953); Tom, Dick and Harry (1941); Tomorrow Is Another Day (1951); Trapper John, M.D. (1979–1984); True Fear: The Making of Psycho (2015); Untamed Youth (1957); Valentine's Day (1965); Voyagers! (1983); Wagon Train (1960); Walking Tall (1973); Wanted: Dead or Alive (1958); Watch the Birdie (1950); White Mama (1980); Wide Country (1962); You Are There (1953).

Born on this day – Barry Sullivan:

 

Barry Sullivan

Actor

August 29, 1912 – June 6, 1994