Beach Noir Book 2 -- The Zebra-Striped Hearse

This was my second go-around for this book (I blogged about it five (!) years ago, here). I couldn't remember any of the details and it's funny that in my earlier appraisal I complain about there being one coincidence too many. I didn't notice that at all this time. No, this time I was absolutely swept away. I have to agree with the anonymous commenter in my earlier post that this might be one of the -- if not the best -- detective novels ever written. Coincidence? No. A slow, steady, thorough chase, methodically picking up the pieces. A tacked-on last chapter? No. A final twist that makes one unloved character all the more tragic. Hearse is a perfect book and has a permanent place in my pantheon. What's more, the prose is sublime. Who else but Ross Macdonald would compare a cobblestone street to a dry riverbed.... and have it mean so much?

One added bonus: I found this Anthony Boucher review tucked inside my book:

Totally agree on all counts Unusual subtlety and distinction indeed. And there's something so much more poignant about non-professionals mixed up in crime. Human life is bungling exercise, and the amateur in the mystery novel is the best expression of that -- of the mistakes we make that we cannot cover up. I think that's what makes this novel, and all of Ross Macdonald, so devastating.

On a side note, I'm convinced that one minor character in this book is based on Manny Farber. He lives in Southern California, he's an art critic, and his name is "Manny Meyer." The suspect is a painter and Archer takes photos of his paintings to Manny Meyer to judge whether he's a good artist or a total fraud. His art is deemed excellent. I won't spoil it for you and tell you whether that makes someone more or less likely to be a murderer. I'll just let you ruminate on it.... but I will reveal that the man is, in fact, rather amoral. There's only one thing artists really care about, as Lew Archer says: "A good north light, and money to buy paints." How much paint they need, and what they're willing to do for it, remains the mystery...