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Lew Archer
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Lew Archer

fictional character
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Article History

Lew Archer, fictional private investigator (P.I.) featured in the hard-boiled detective novels of Ross Macdonald. Archer made his first appearance in The Moving Target (1949). In this and subsequent books, including The Galton Case (1959), The Goodbye Look (1969), and The Underground Man (1971), the no-frills P.I. unravels intricate webs of deception and violence among the wealthy of southern California. Behind his austere, streetwise exterior Archer is a man of deep introspection and personal integrity who avoids the entanglements of the world he dissects.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Kathleen Kuiper.