The doomsters: Lew Archer, MacDonald's celebrated Southern California private detective, hunts for a killer in the hellholes of Los Angeles and Las Vegas. The illustrious and obscenely wealthy Senator Hallman and his large family have had a run if bad luck. First the mother mysteriously croaks. The Senator is the next to greet the Reaper. Then one son is stashed away in the nuthouse for keeps. And that's only the beginning. Maybe old lady Hallman was right when she said there were fates ganging up on the family ----"Doomsters" she called them. But Lew Archer thinks their misfortunes emanate from a more human source---a certain crazed someone who won't quit until he runs out of Hallmans to kill. The zebra-striped hearse: Lew Archer, a private detective, is hired to investigate the background of a wealthy young woman's suitor, who seems to be a fortune hunter. The instant enemy: She was seventeen years old. Her parents were paying Lew Archer to bring her home. When he'd started looking for her she was just another runaway. Now she was a kidnapper.… (more)