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Death Trap
Death Trap, one of many classic novels from crime writer John D. MacDonald, the beloved author of Cape Fear and the Travis McGee series, is now available as an eBook.
As a teenage wild child, Jane Ann Paulson had earned her wicked reputation, but no one deserves the shocking death she receives. When the police find a suspect, everyone relaxes . . . everyone except for Hugh MacReedy. A construction engineer by trade, Hugh has no business investigating a murder. But he happens to owe a big debt to the innocent man they’re sending to the electric chair. And so Hugh begins to look into Jane Ann’s death, not knowing that her quiet little town is sitting on some ugly secrets, that he’s about to blow the lid off each and every one of them, and that he’s just put a very tempting target on his back.
Features a new Introduction by Dean Koontz
Praise for John D. MacDonald
“The great entertainer of our age, and a mesmerizing storyteller.”—Stephen King
“My favorite novelist of all time.”—Dean Koontz
“To diggers a thousand years from now, the works of John D. MacDonald would be a treasure on the order of the tomb of Tutankhamen.”—Kurt Vonnegut
“A master storyteller, a masterful suspense writer . . . John D. MacDonald is a shining example for all of us in the field. Talk about the best.”—Mary Higgins Clark
As a teenage wild child, Jane Ann Paulson had earned her wicked reputation, but no one deserves the shocking death she receives. When the police find a suspect, everyone relaxes . . . everyone except for Hugh MacReedy. A construction engineer by trade, Hugh has no business investigating a murder. But he happens to owe a big debt to the innocent man they’re sending to the electric chair. And so Hugh begins to look into Jane Ann’s death, not knowing that her quiet little town is sitting on some ugly secrets, that he’s about to blow the lid off each and every one of them, and that he’s just put a very tempting target on his back.
Features a new Introduction by Dean Koontz
Praise for John D. MacDonald
“The great entertainer of our age, and a mesmerizing storyteller.”—Stephen King
“My favorite novelist of all time.”—Dean Koontz
“To diggers a thousand years from now, the works of John D. MacDonald would be a treasure on the order of the tomb of Tutankhamen.”—Kurt Vonnegut
“A master storyteller, a masterful suspense writer . . . John D. MacDonald is a shining example for all of us in the field. Talk about the best.”—Mary Higgins Clark
191 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 11, 2013
About the author
John D. MacDonald
583 books1,406 followersJohn D. MacDonald was born in Sharon, Pennsylvania, and educated at the Universities of Pennsylvania, Syracuse and Harvard, where he took an MBA in 1939. During WW2, he rose to the rank of Colonel, and while serving in the Army and in the Far East, sent a short story to his wife for sale, successfully. He served in the Office of Strategic Services (O.S.S.) in the China-Burma-India Theater of Operations. After the war, he decided to try writing for a year, to see if he could make a living. Over 500 short stories and 70 novels resulted, including 21 Travis McGee novels.
Following complications of an earlier heart bypass operation, MacDonald slipped into a coma on December 10 and died at age 70, on December 28, 1986, in St. Mary's Hospital in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was survived by his wife Dorothy (1911-1989) and a son, Maynard.
In the years since his death MacDonald has been praised by authors as diverse as Stephen King, Spider Robinson, Jimmy Buffett, Kingsley Amis and Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.. Thirty-three years after his passing the Travis McGee novels are still in print.
Following complications of an earlier heart bypass operation, MacDonald slipped into a coma on December 10 and died at age 70, on December 28, 1986, in St. Mary's Hospital in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was survived by his wife Dorothy (1911-1989) and a son, Maynard.
In the years since his death MacDonald has been praised by authors as diverse as Stephen King, Spider Robinson, Jimmy Buffett, Kingsley Amis and Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.. Thirty-three years after his passing the Travis McGee novels are still in print.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
December 26, 2022
Death Trap, first published in 1957, was a standard crime paperback. MacDonald here did not focus on a dozen different backstories, climbing the corporate ladder, or the high price of infidelity. He uses Hugh McReedy as his amateur detective in a small town where he is a stranger and everyone stands against him from the local police to the local leather-clad juvenile delinquents to the murdered girl’s broken-hearted father. The opening set up serves as the lead in to Hugh’s moral redemption and the passage of time.
The opening finds Hugh in Spain working as an engineer on a large construction project. He is a swashbuckling man about town, eager for his six weeks off to spend in Mexico with a woman mature enough to know it’s just a good time and nothing permanent. But he’s got guilt. He was once working a project in a small town, Warrentown, where he met Vicki, fell for her, and wooed her till a fateful night in a cheap motel when he failed to respond to her exclamation of love and now regrets leaving her behind.
It seems Hugh’s chance to re-open the romance comes in the form of his playing a knight in shining armor. Vicki is devoted to her odd brother who has, according to the news, been tried and convicted for murdering a young girl and now is just ten days from the electric chair. Vicki knows her brother is innocent, but is now shunned in this small town. Off Hugh rides to the rescue, with the ulterior goal of winning back her heart by his virtuous deeds.
Although the romance plays the opening gambit here, the tension between the two really isn’t maintained throughout. Rather, it’s a story of an out of town amateur detective bucking common sense and ducking it out with the local enforcer and the juvenile delinquents. There are a few solid fight scenes here as well as a dogged investigation against all odds.
The opening finds Hugh in Spain working as an engineer on a large construction project. He is a swashbuckling man about town, eager for his six weeks off to spend in Mexico with a woman mature enough to know it’s just a good time and nothing permanent. But he’s got guilt. He was once working a project in a small town, Warrentown, where he met Vicki, fell for her, and wooed her till a fateful night in a cheap motel when he failed to respond to her exclamation of love and now regrets leaving her behind.
It seems Hugh’s chance to re-open the romance comes in the form of his playing a knight in shining armor. Vicki is devoted to her odd brother who has, according to the news, been tried and convicted for murdering a young girl and now is just ten days from the electric chair. Vicki knows her brother is innocent, but is now shunned in this small town. Off Hugh rides to the rescue, with the ulterior goal of winning back her heart by his virtuous deeds.
Although the romance plays the opening gambit here, the tension between the two really isn’t maintained throughout. Rather, it’s a story of an out of town amateur detective bucking common sense and ducking it out with the local enforcer and the juvenile delinquents. There are a few solid fight scenes here as well as a dogged investigation against all odds.
March 14, 2026
From 1957
Hugh comes back to America after working construction in Spain. Only to find that the brother of his beloved is set to be executed for murder. So of course Hugh must be the one to find the real killer so he can clear her brother and wed the girl.
Death Trap is also the name of Ira Levin’s meta murder mystery play (and movie). The play is from 1978.
Hugh comes back to America after working construction in Spain. Only to find that the brother of his beloved is set to be executed for murder. So of course Hugh must be the one to find the real killer so he can clear her brother and wed the girl.
Death Trap is also the name of Ira Levin’s meta murder mystery play (and movie). The play is from 1978.
February 25, 2022
Hugh MacReedy has just returned to the US from Europe where he has spent two and a half years working on the construction of some military airfields. He’s ready to take a nice two-month vacation when he happens across a newspaper article describing the upcoming execution of the brother of an old girlfriend. Seems the man has been convicted of the rape and murder of a young woman, a local promiscuous tease of a girl. Hugh goes back to the small town where it all took place, gets back together with his old girlfriend, and begins investigating the circumstances of the crime.
This novel was MacDonald's nineteenth novel, first published in February 1957. The plot is a fairly straight-forward murder investigation by a non-professional. Hugh is a construction engineer, not a private investigator. But he is an intelligent fellow and is very good at pounding the pavement, speaking with those involved, and putting together the subtle clues to solve the mystery and determine the real rapist/murderer. In fact, he identifies the culprit pretty early, about half-way through the book, and the story changes from a sleuthing mystery to more of a thriller. Hugh, working now with several other townspeople, must find actual evidence in order to grant a stay of execution for the wrongfully convicted brother of his girlfriend and bring the real killer to justice.
This novel was written in the early prime of MacDonald’s writing career. Before the Travis McGee novels, which largely took over his writing life, his stand-alones showed a genuine progression as he matured as a writer and this one clearly shows his prowess with the written word. The main character, Hugh MacReady is a typical MacDonald protagonist. He is tall, strong, tanned, and women find him attractive. He is a professional man doing man's work. But he is also different in that he committed a major blunder in his early days, having wooed, bedded, and then abandoned his girlfriend. She was nothing more than another notch in his belt. Thus, after returning to that same small town after three years, his rekindling of that relationship, genuine this time, represents a correction of his moral flaw. This moral theme is seen often in MacDonald’s prose.
For those readers who tend to read only Travis McGee novels by John D. MacDonald, I recommend pursuing his other novels as well. For the most part, they are real treats. As this one is.
This novel was MacDonald's nineteenth novel, first published in February 1957. The plot is a fairly straight-forward murder investigation by a non-professional. Hugh is a construction engineer, not a private investigator. But he is an intelligent fellow and is very good at pounding the pavement, speaking with those involved, and putting together the subtle clues to solve the mystery and determine the real rapist/murderer. In fact, he identifies the culprit pretty early, about half-way through the book, and the story changes from a sleuthing mystery to more of a thriller. Hugh, working now with several other townspeople, must find actual evidence in order to grant a stay of execution for the wrongfully convicted brother of his girlfriend and bring the real killer to justice.
This novel was written in the early prime of MacDonald’s writing career. Before the Travis McGee novels, which largely took over his writing life, his stand-alones showed a genuine progression as he matured as a writer and this one clearly shows his prowess with the written word. The main character, Hugh MacReady is a typical MacDonald protagonist. He is tall, strong, tanned, and women find him attractive. He is a professional man doing man's work. But he is also different in that he committed a major blunder in his early days, having wooed, bedded, and then abandoned his girlfriend. She was nothing more than another notch in his belt. Thus, after returning to that same small town after three years, his rekindling of that relationship, genuine this time, represents a correction of his moral flaw. This moral theme is seen often in MacDonald’s prose.
For those readers who tend to read only Travis McGee novels by John D. MacDonald, I recommend pursuing his other novels as well. For the most part, they are real treats. As this one is.
November 6, 2020
The narrator-protagonist of this entertaining story, Hugh MacReedy, is a guy in “the construction game,” as he puts it, who has just finished a long assignment in Spain and is planning to spend the next two months on a fishing trip. But when he spots a familiar name in a Chicago newspaper article about a young man soon to be executed for murder, he can’t ignore it. The convicted killer is the brother of a former lover, Victoria Landy, whom he jilted before he went to Spain, and he hasn’t been able to get her out of his mind. “You never forget the chances you have missed, the good things you have thrown away.”
So he puts his fishing trip on hold and goes to see Vicky. She’s convinced that her brother is innocent, although everyone else in town agrees he’s guilty. Seeing a chance to atone for treating Vicky badly, Hugh promises to look into the crime and try to save her brother from the electric chair. But the clock is ticking: the execution date is only ten days away.
When it comes to detective work, Hugh is an amateur. But he’s determined, and he has good intuition. The condemned man’s lawyer recognizes that and advises him, “Just keep blundering and stumbling around, Hugh. You have a great talent for doing the wrong thing at the wrong time in the wrong way, and coming up with a right answer.” Sure enough, he soon zeroes in on someone he believes was the real killer. But how to prove it?
Death Trap is a fast-paced mystery. As always, MacDonald is great at creating believable characters. Like MacDonald’s iconic hero Travis McGee, Hugh is a man’s man and something of a knight in shining armor. MacDonald has few peers in describing fights, and Hugh gets into his share of them. Some of MacDonald’s descriptions of women feel a bit dated, but overall his observations about life and love ring true.
I enjoyed Death Trap, and I think most other mystery fans will too.
So he puts his fishing trip on hold and goes to see Vicky. She’s convinced that her brother is innocent, although everyone else in town agrees he’s guilty. Seeing a chance to atone for treating Vicky badly, Hugh promises to look into the crime and try to save her brother from the electric chair. But the clock is ticking: the execution date is only ten days away.
When it comes to detective work, Hugh is an amateur. But he’s determined, and he has good intuition. The condemned man’s lawyer recognizes that and advises him, “Just keep blundering and stumbling around, Hugh. You have a great talent for doing the wrong thing at the wrong time in the wrong way, and coming up with a right answer.” Sure enough, he soon zeroes in on someone he believes was the real killer. But how to prove it?
Death Trap is a fast-paced mystery. As always, MacDonald is great at creating believable characters. Like MacDonald’s iconic hero Travis McGee, Hugh is a man’s man and something of a knight in shining armor. MacDonald has few peers in describing fights, and Hugh gets into his share of them. Some of MacDonald’s descriptions of women feel a bit dated, but overall his observations about life and love ring true.
I enjoyed Death Trap, and I think most other mystery fans will too.
May 10, 2013
So, far the best book I've read aside from "Travis McGee" series. Mystery, and action well keep you flipping the pages. His got some marvelous character, and the plot was exceptional.
May 16, 2025
This is excellent. Though it is not quite as self-assured as April Evil, and there are too many fist fights, which makes it feel a bit…. I don’t know, commercial?
But that said, the story is very strong.
Rich and believable characters, strong plotting, and certain passages of philosophical grandeur — these seem to be the hallmarks of John D. McDonald’s writing.
But that said, the story is very strong.
Rich and believable characters, strong plotting, and certain passages of philosophical grandeur — these seem to be the hallmarks of John D. McDonald’s writing.
October 6, 2016
Looking for redemption, protagonist Hugh McReedy reconnects with a spurned lover and attempts to help her genius brother beat a murder rap. The novel is essentially an amateur murder investigation with a great cast of characters, and a perfectly paced and engaging plot. Another early MacDonald gem.
January 19, 2016
17 jan 16, #75 from macdonald for me. from '57? on the copyright page there is a 1956 copyright, the hearst corporation. below that a 1957 copyright john d macdonald. paperback.
story begins
when i read the small item in the chicago paper and the whole world seemed to stop, i remembered that i had thought about vicky that very morning, thought about her while i was shaving.
onward & upward
notes as i read
this one has most of the hallmarks of the travis mcgee stories. but unlike those stories where mcgee usually recovers lost or stolen money in this one the eye-narrator hugh macreedy is about to recover what he lost, a girl who loves him, a girl he failed to say that he loved her. he's also going to try to uncover evidence to set her brother free, set to die in ten days, the 24th of october, a monday.
materials list
time place scene setting
* a number of places are given: chicago, spain, warrentown and dalton, fuengirola/spain
* sheridan college, dalton
* story opens in october and much of what happened in dalton six months ago is the focus of the story, the rape murder of jane ann paulson
* various dates are provided to signify the passing of time, or time itself, "two years ago"..."three years ago"..."six months ago"...
* hotels, hotel rooms, bars, cafes, macclelland inn, one of the hotels
* the house in dalton where vicky had been living, 28 maple
* the brig, basement bar at the macclleland inn
* the tennant house in warrentown, #8 anchor lane
* state prison, near mercer, an industrial town...the bird cage...where death row inmates are kept for a time prior
* the paulson home, 88 oak road
* the garson home
* morgan's lake...when she (jane ann) was 12, qqc happened there
* big time burger drive-in...teen hang-out
characters both major minor scene-setting well-known/famous
* eye-narrator, hugh macreedy, 30-year-old, construction worker, very much single
* victoria "vicky" landy, 26-year-old, the female lead
* alister "al" landy, her 19/10-year-old brother, on death row for the murder rape of jane ann. said to somewhat of a genius, likened to leopold & loeb, also social misfit, student at sheridan college
* jane ann paulson, the raped murdered girl in dalton, 16-year-old
* her sister, nancy paulson, al's girlfriend, 18-year-old
* waitress
* al's attorney
* telboht brothers, construction firm that employs hugh
* green local labor, payroll people
* sitterson, project superintendent, telboht brothers
* al mooney, co-worker of hugh, a kind of father-figure
* bucky, hugh's father...his mother
* felizia, a woman in spain...hugh spends time with her on his vacation days off
* friends from the home offices
* scotty, in new orleans...hugh has 60 days off upon his return from spain and he intends to go fishing in mexico with scotty but he doesn't make it that far
* husband wife combo at a bar, arguing
* little guy about 50/hugh gets information from him at the bar, has son-in-law in construction
* loeb & leopold, real people
* frank leader, a smart state cop who built the case against al
* prosecution attorney, milligan
* pre-school kids...2 young housewives
* an old lady was raking leaves (landlady of vicky)...mrs hemsold
* chief of police, dalton, perry score
* his only assistant, barney quillan...the proverbial rough cop, quick with the hands so forth so on
* county sheriff turnbull
* ingrid bergman, pre-rainier kelly, einstein
* charlie staubs, owner operator of the mcclelland inn
* his wife, mary
* the junglies...heh! macdonald was not politically correct
* felipe, in spain, a worker bee who was mechanically inclined
* raoul, in spain, who was not
* jud cowan...hmm...was the first lawyer for al, but he bailed when he saw the evidence
* six college kids...at the brig bar...two others
* john tennant, in warrentown, defense lawyer for al
* jurors...a private investigator tennant hired
* robbie howard, previous boyfriend of nancy paulson, he drowned at the lake
* "virginia lewis"...name hugh checks vicky into hotel after she has to move out of apartment 'cause of who she is, sister to the rapist murderer
* guards on catwalks...gate guards...guard captain...young clerk at a corner desk...two guards played cards...and elderly guard...george, one of the car players
* ginny garson, friend/associate of jane ann, she puts out for all ooga booga
* mickey...rook...powie...high school kids associated with ginny
* cora and jerry garson, ginny's parents
* two other guys with jerry, drinking beer on the porch
* sheridan boys...high school boys
* ann sibley, friend of jane ann, her father is a professor
* 3 boys in the 12-year bracket (swimming near where jane ann's body found)
* smith, rough-neck high school boy, hugh and he get it on
* hardesty smith senior, bank president, father of smith
* dr. fargon...then dr. higel
* quarto kid
* car-hop girl, angie
orange caution flag
curious to note the materials used here, in one of his early novels. i left off "hitler"...or did i? the materials list is about 80-90% complete. don't know if i'll complete it or not. probably not. curious, the "real" names he used...god is included, probably noted. but there's only a handful of "real" people included here. some of his later stories have a long list of real folk. there exists, always, in his stories a long cast of characters and they are alive by what they say and do, even the minor characters. fun stuff.
flaws if any?
it is not entirely clear just where the various towns are located. somewhere in the northeast, perhaps new england. hugh's employer has offices in chicago. dalton and warrentown are two towns relatively close. i either missed it, or it wasn't there, but i don't see how hugh and vicky "hooked up" to begin? let me go back, check.
i checked...kinda
hugh met vicky when he was working on a highway project near dalton/warrentown. she was working in the admin bldg at the college where she also babysat her misfit brother. we had over two feet of snow that fell, falling, as i read. here in happy camp there is a lot of white.
19 jan 16
finished. great story. i'd skimmed at least one other review, said something about figuring it out. the reader does learn, when hugh learns, whodunnit. for me, it is almost a cliche to hear a reader make the claim they had it all figured out. easy to write, hard to prove, and usually...i find the claim hard to believe. macdonald writes some darn good yarns, after 75+ stores, i can say with all honesty that i've only been disappointed with one novel...perhaps one or two short stories. the remainder are solid, a joy to read, most often the "bad" get their just reward, and the good triumph. and that, my friend, is never a bad thing.
story begins
when i read the small item in the chicago paper and the whole world seemed to stop, i remembered that i had thought about vicky that very morning, thought about her while i was shaving.
onward & upward
notes as i read
this one has most of the hallmarks of the travis mcgee stories. but unlike those stories where mcgee usually recovers lost or stolen money in this one the eye-narrator hugh macreedy is about to recover what he lost, a girl who loves him, a girl he failed to say that he loved her. he's also going to try to uncover evidence to set her brother free, set to die in ten days, the 24th of october, a monday.
materials list
time place scene setting
* a number of places are given: chicago, spain, warrentown and dalton, fuengirola/spain
* sheridan college, dalton
* story opens in october and much of what happened in dalton six months ago is the focus of the story, the rape murder of jane ann paulson
* various dates are provided to signify the passing of time, or time itself, "two years ago"..."three years ago"..."six months ago"...
* hotels, hotel rooms, bars, cafes, macclelland inn, one of the hotels
* the house in dalton where vicky had been living, 28 maple
* the brig, basement bar at the macclleland inn
* the tennant house in warrentown, #8 anchor lane
* state prison, near mercer, an industrial town...the bird cage...where death row inmates are kept for a time prior
* the paulson home, 88 oak road
* the garson home
* morgan's lake...when she (jane ann) was 12, qqc happened there
* big time burger drive-in...teen hang-out
characters both major minor scene-setting well-known/famous
* eye-narrator, hugh macreedy, 30-year-old, construction worker, very much single
* victoria "vicky" landy, 26-year-old, the female lead
* alister "al" landy, her 19/10-year-old brother, on death row for the murder rape of jane ann. said to somewhat of a genius, likened to leopold & loeb, also social misfit, student at sheridan college
* jane ann paulson, the raped murdered girl in dalton, 16-year-old
* her sister, nancy paulson, al's girlfriend, 18-year-old
* waitress
* al's attorney
* telboht brothers, construction firm that employs hugh
* green local labor, payroll people
* sitterson, project superintendent, telboht brothers
* al mooney, co-worker of hugh, a kind of father-figure
* bucky, hugh's father...his mother
* felizia, a woman in spain...hugh spends time with her on his vacation days off
* friends from the home offices
* scotty, in new orleans...hugh has 60 days off upon his return from spain and he intends to go fishing in mexico with scotty but he doesn't make it that far
* husband wife combo at a bar, arguing
* little guy about 50/hugh gets information from him at the bar, has son-in-law in construction
* loeb & leopold, real people
* frank leader, a smart state cop who built the case against al
* prosecution attorney, milligan
* pre-school kids...2 young housewives
* an old lady was raking leaves (landlady of vicky)...mrs hemsold
* chief of police, dalton, perry score
* his only assistant, barney quillan...the proverbial rough cop, quick with the hands so forth so on
* county sheriff turnbull
* ingrid bergman, pre-rainier kelly, einstein
* charlie staubs, owner operator of the mcclelland inn
* his wife, mary
* the junglies...heh! macdonald was not politically correct
* felipe, in spain, a worker bee who was mechanically inclined
* raoul, in spain, who was not
* jud cowan...hmm...was the first lawyer for al, but he bailed when he saw the evidence
* six college kids...at the brig bar...two others
* john tennant, in warrentown, defense lawyer for al
* jurors...a private investigator tennant hired
* robbie howard, previous boyfriend of nancy paulson, he drowned at the lake
* "virginia lewis"...name hugh checks vicky into hotel after she has to move out of apartment 'cause of who she is, sister to the rapist murderer
* guards on catwalks...gate guards...guard captain...young clerk at a corner desk...two guards played cards...and elderly guard...george, one of the car players
* ginny garson, friend/associate of jane ann, she puts out for all ooga booga
* mickey...rook...powie...high school kids associated with ginny
* cora and jerry garson, ginny's parents
* two other guys with jerry, drinking beer on the porch
* sheridan boys...high school boys
* ann sibley, friend of jane ann, her father is a professor
* 3 boys in the 12-year bracket (swimming near where jane ann's body found)
* smith, rough-neck high school boy, hugh and he get it on
* hardesty smith senior, bank president, father of smith
* dr. fargon...then dr. higel
* quarto kid
* car-hop girl, angie
orange caution flag
curious to note the materials used here, in one of his early novels. i left off "hitler"...or did i? the materials list is about 80-90% complete. don't know if i'll complete it or not. probably not. curious, the "real" names he used...god is included, probably noted. but there's only a handful of "real" people included here. some of his later stories have a long list of real folk. there exists, always, in his stories a long cast of characters and they are alive by what they say and do, even the minor characters. fun stuff.
flaws if any?
it is not entirely clear just where the various towns are located. somewhere in the northeast, perhaps new england. hugh's employer has offices in chicago. dalton and warrentown are two towns relatively close. i either missed it, or it wasn't there, but i don't see how hugh and vicky "hooked up" to begin? let me go back, check.
i checked...kinda
hugh met vicky when he was working on a highway project near dalton/warrentown. she was working in the admin bldg at the college where she also babysat her misfit brother. we had over two feet of snow that fell, falling, as i read. here in happy camp there is a lot of white.
19 jan 16
finished. great story. i'd skimmed at least one other review, said something about figuring it out. the reader does learn, when hugh learns, whodunnit. for me, it is almost a cliche to hear a reader make the claim they had it all figured out. easy to write, hard to prove, and usually...i find the claim hard to believe. macdonald writes some darn good yarns, after 75+ stores, i can say with all honesty that i've only been disappointed with one novel...perhaps one or two short stories. the remainder are solid, a joy to read, most often the "bad" get their just reward, and the good triumph. and that, my friend, is never a bad thing.
April 24, 2014
I'm not sure what it is.
john D. MacDonald should be right in me wheelhouse: his writes short books about crime in the pulpish tradition of the 1940s and 1950s but always at a level above the hack. This one is, like, the third or fourth MacDonald book I've read. And they've all been--including this one--fine. But not very exciting. I guess I'm missing a gene or something.
The book is about Hugh MacReedy, a construction bum who, on his return to Chicago from Spain, learns that the love of his life--the one who got away--is embroiled in a murder case. Her brother--an odd duck, too smart for his own good, and he knows it--has been sentenced to death for killing his girlfriend's sister. MacReedy shows returns to his one-time love with ten days days to go before the brother is executed. The two reconcile, declare their love for each other--but Vicky says she'll be so destroyed by the brother's death that she'll never be able to marry anyone. This sets MacReedy to investigating the case himself. He runs into juvenile delinquents, muscle headed boys and oversexed girls, honest professors and sadistic cops, straight-shooting lawyers and troubled investigators, Con men and old-fashioned midwesterners unable to keep up the changing time--the coming of television and consumer culture, of disobedient kids and kinder, gentler parental methods.
So, part of the reason I may not have been able to sink into the book is that a lot of the issues that animate the story are dated--fears of JDs with switchblades and high-horsepowered cars. Fingernail biting over the new mall that will destroy the moms and pops. The horrors of television. Much of this was common to writing in the 1950s, but doesn't quite grab my guts.
Along side that, MacDonald's musings on the human condition seem antedated and laughable. The older generation is too repressed. Men are sexual beasts on a hunt for prey. Women--even if the best of them learn to enjoy sex--have to be on guard: it's the natural order.
These are sideline riffs, though, and can be ignored. The bigger problem is the characterization. MacReedy is --as the fannish cliques say--a Marty Sue. He's young, in great shape, strong, big, and fast, a former athlete, an excellent fighter, good at getting people to talk, capable of succeeding in an investigation where professionals failed, and also college-educated, whip smart, and incisive. The only thing wrong with him is that he stilted Vicky years before. And now he's making up for that.
The other characters are cardboard cut-outs for MacReedy to respond to: the brother is typed as what we would now call autistic. The jailbait girl is skanky. The punk boys . . punks. The dad angry. Another guy conniving. MacReedy's first impressions about a character are always correct.
The mystery itself is not so much a mystery. MacDonald throws in a red herring or two, but not enough of the world is developed early on to really make it possible to guess what happened.
One is supposed to sit back, and enjoy the ride. And in that respects MacDonald gives the reader what is promised. The story is well enough structured, and smoothly enough written it's easy to move through the book quickly.
It helps, too, if one doesn't think too much about the plot. Some of the motivations are . .. obscure. Hypnotism helps solve the crime. And this may be another reason it was hard for me to really surrender to the book. MacDonald was laying down some of the tricks of the mystery-writing trade. Now they're common hat: indeed, his hints at the depraved lifestyles of the teens are stuffy compared to the contemporary writing of a James Patterson or Stephen King. (This problem is also making my progress through Ambrose Bierce's stories slow: what he invented, or perfected, is now so common that the books do not seem novel or fresh.)
A fine book if you come across it--a few hours of entertainment--but not one worth hunting down.
john D. MacDonald should be right in me wheelhouse: his writes short books about crime in the pulpish tradition of the 1940s and 1950s but always at a level above the hack. This one is, like, the third or fourth MacDonald book I've read. And they've all been--including this one--fine. But not very exciting. I guess I'm missing a gene or something.
The book is about Hugh MacReedy, a construction bum who, on his return to Chicago from Spain, learns that the love of his life--the one who got away--is embroiled in a murder case. Her brother--an odd duck, too smart for his own good, and he knows it--has been sentenced to death for killing his girlfriend's sister. MacReedy shows returns to his one-time love with ten days days to go before the brother is executed. The two reconcile, declare their love for each other--but Vicky says she'll be so destroyed by the brother's death that she'll never be able to marry anyone. This sets MacReedy to investigating the case himself. He runs into juvenile delinquents, muscle headed boys and oversexed girls, honest professors and sadistic cops, straight-shooting lawyers and troubled investigators, Con men and old-fashioned midwesterners unable to keep up the changing time--the coming of television and consumer culture, of disobedient kids and kinder, gentler parental methods.
So, part of the reason I may not have been able to sink into the book is that a lot of the issues that animate the story are dated--fears of JDs with switchblades and high-horsepowered cars. Fingernail biting over the new mall that will destroy the moms and pops. The horrors of television. Much of this was common to writing in the 1950s, but doesn't quite grab my guts.
Along side that, MacDonald's musings on the human condition seem antedated and laughable. The older generation is too repressed. Men are sexual beasts on a hunt for prey. Women--even if the best of them learn to enjoy sex--have to be on guard: it's the natural order.
These are sideline riffs, though, and can be ignored. The bigger problem is the characterization. MacReedy is --as the fannish cliques say--a Marty Sue. He's young, in great shape, strong, big, and fast, a former athlete, an excellent fighter, good at getting people to talk, capable of succeeding in an investigation where professionals failed, and also college-educated, whip smart, and incisive. The only thing wrong with him is that he stilted Vicky years before. And now he's making up for that.
The other characters are cardboard cut-outs for MacReedy to respond to: the brother is typed as what we would now call autistic. The jailbait girl is skanky. The punk boys . . punks. The dad angry. Another guy conniving. MacReedy's first impressions about a character are always correct.
The mystery itself is not so much a mystery. MacDonald throws in a red herring or two, but not enough of the world is developed early on to really make it possible to guess what happened.
One is supposed to sit back, and enjoy the ride. And in that respects MacDonald gives the reader what is promised. The story is well enough structured, and smoothly enough written it's easy to move through the book quickly.
It helps, too, if one doesn't think too much about the plot. Some of the motivations are . .. obscure. Hypnotism helps solve the crime. And this may be another reason it was hard for me to really surrender to the book. MacDonald was laying down some of the tricks of the mystery-writing trade. Now they're common hat: indeed, his hints at the depraved lifestyles of the teens are stuffy compared to the contemporary writing of a James Patterson or Stephen King. (This problem is also making my progress through Ambrose Bierce's stories slow: what he invented, or perfected, is now so common that the books do not seem novel or fresh.)
A fine book if you come across it--a few hours of entertainment--but not one worth hunting down.
February 21, 2025
I've read enough John D. to know I'm a fan and I've also read enough to know that I'm not a fan of the Travis McGee series, but I'm very much a fan of these earlier novels that are often just amazing.
For the record, I read the first two Travis McGee novels back to back and they're fine. But for me they were three star books and compared to Dead Low Tide or All These Condemned, among the first of MacDonald's works that I read, they simply weren't nearly as good or interesting. So, at least for now, I'm going to stick with this period where he really seems to shine.
I had a tiny bit of trouble getting into the first 20 pages of Death Trap, but soon I was hooked. And the further along I got, the more impressed I was with the writing and characters. I love how Mrs. Hemsold, a nosy, annoying and fairly stock character at the beginning comes into play at the end of the book when our protagonist, Hugh, needs more information. I love the side plot of cops being abusive that is slipped into the fold of the plot and fits perfectly. I liked the poetic passage that opens chapter nine in which JDM allows Hugh to muse as to what everyone is doing that morning including, "Jane Ann slept deep under the October grasses, with gray wind moving unheard through the drying leaves that still clung to cemetery elms." (p. 135)
Despite my enjoyment of these elements, there is a somewhat eye rolling section dealing with hypnosis. I know this was favorable at the time as we see it so many movies and books of the era, but it feels a bit pat now. A few other minor quibbles keep it from five stars, but nothing would keep me from recommending it. I very much enjoyed Death Trap.
For the record, I read the first two Travis McGee novels back to back and they're fine. But for me they were three star books and compared to Dead Low Tide or All These Condemned, among the first of MacDonald's works that I read, they simply weren't nearly as good or interesting. So, at least for now, I'm going to stick with this period where he really seems to shine.
I had a tiny bit of trouble getting into the first 20 pages of Death Trap, but soon I was hooked. And the further along I got, the more impressed I was with the writing and characters. I love how Mrs. Hemsold, a nosy, annoying and fairly stock character at the beginning comes into play at the end of the book when our protagonist, Hugh, needs more information. I love the side plot of cops being abusive that is slipped into the fold of the plot and fits perfectly. I liked the poetic passage that opens chapter nine in which JDM allows Hugh to muse as to what everyone is doing that morning including, "Jane Ann slept deep under the October grasses, with gray wind moving unheard through the drying leaves that still clung to cemetery elms." (p. 135)
Despite my enjoyment of these elements, there is a somewhat eye rolling section dealing with hypnosis. I know this was favorable at the time as we see it so many movies and books of the era, but it feels a bit pat now. A few other minor quibbles keep it from five stars, but nothing would keep me from recommending it. I very much enjoyed Death Trap.
May 1, 2020
I've enjoyed MacDonald's books in the past. And while I wouldn't want a steady diet of them they do make for an enjoyable experience when you pace them out. Even though they are a bit dated they still read well and he draws you into his characters. Here we have a worldly construction foreman reading about the death sentence of a young man whose sister he was involved with in the past. If you are a fan of the Travis McGee novels you will see elements of that figure in this novel as well. Fast paced, fun, and a quick read.
August 25, 2024
This was a re-read. MacDonald never disappoints.
Warning: This book is very much of its time in the treatment of women.
Warning: This book is very much of its time in the treatment of women.
April 11, 2026
Another great crime thriller from John D. MacDonald. This one concerns a man returning to a town he left a few years back. He reads a news story that the brother of an old flame who he treated badly has been convicted of murder and is set to be executed. He rekindles his romance and sets to prove the young man innocent before his pending execution.
This was a good one with secrets from the past haunting characters long after the tragic events of the past--a bit in the vein of Ross Macdonald.
I didn't love the inclusion of hypnotism as a defining plot point, though I can't complain too much as hypnotism was used by real life law enforcement agencies for decades after this book was written. The denouement involves tricking a confession out a suspect--not the best way to resolve things, either. Still the story itself was solid and this was a very entertaining read.
This was a good one with secrets from the past haunting characters long after the tragic events of the past--a bit in the vein of Ross Macdonald.
I didn't love the inclusion of hypnotism as a defining plot point, though I can't complain too much as hypnotism was used by real life law enforcement agencies for decades after this book was written. The denouement involves tricking a confession out a suspect--not the best way to resolve things, either. Still the story itself was solid and this was a very entertaining read.
March 9, 2014
This 1957 novel from John D. MacDonald has the grandmaster hitting his prime. He had been writing novels since 1950 and would not start his Travis McGee series until 1964. Hugh McReedy is one of JDM's competent protagonists. A construction worker advancing in the field, he is reminded of an immature act in his past when he reads that an ex-girlfriend's brother is about to be executed. He visits her and rekindles his feelings while promising to look into her brother's guilt in the 9 days before his execution. A most unlikely prospect unless being undertaken by JDM's man of brain and brawn. The plot is secondary to the description of the sociology of this Midwestern town and its sordid underbelly. Well worth reading.
Hugh, a construction worker back from 2 years in Spain, reads that an ex-girlfriend's younger brother is about to be executed for murder. He is drawn back in hope of helping his ex-girlfriend, Vicky, through the trauma - and to ease his own troubled conscience. Hugh gets tangled up in detective work. He soon discovers that this small Midwestern town has a seedy underbelly. It also has a violent deputy and a politically-minded sheriff, neither of whom encourage Hugh's amateur investigations. Hugh's efforts lead him into the depressing swamp of small-town juvenile delinquency and the frighteningly rigid adult system that created it. With his outsider's point of view, Hugh can see that the town is built on lies, desperately painting over the corruption to preserve the status quo.
Hugh, a construction worker back from 2 years in Spain, reads that an ex-girlfriend's younger brother is about to be executed for murder. He is drawn back in hope of helping his ex-girlfriend, Vicky, through the trauma - and to ease his own troubled conscience. Hugh gets tangled up in detective work. He soon discovers that this small Midwestern town has a seedy underbelly. It also has a violent deputy and a politically-minded sheriff, neither of whom encourage Hugh's amateur investigations. Hugh's efforts lead him into the depressing swamp of small-town juvenile delinquency and the frighteningly rigid adult system that created it. With his outsider's point of view, Hugh can see that the town is built on lies, desperately painting over the corruption to preserve the status quo.
October 28, 2019
Death Trap is a minor mystery by John D MacDonald, and it is a by the numbers mystery with a few flourishes of writing here and there, but nowhere near as good as MacDonald’s other writing.
The story is written in first person narration, and the protagonist is an engineer who goes to look up a women who has been on his mind for the two years he was on a project in Spain. He finds her with her life in shambles due to her brother being convicted of murder, and days from execution. He decides to try to help prove the man’s innocence, despite having no experience in detective work, not knowing anyone in the small down of the murder, and the execution being less than a week away.
The book moves at a brisk pace, with enough action here and there for the genre, but the book just feels flat compared to MacDonald’s other works. The mystery is too simple, the town people are mere plot devices, and the protagonist just doesn’t quite fit in the story. I am probably thinking too much about a novel that was meant to be a light distraction, but I do expect a MacDonald novel to have paragraphs that shine out, they were frustratingly absent in this book.
While it’s better than some books in the genre, Death trap come off as professionally bland and doesn’t stick in the mind the way other novels by the same author does.
The story is written in first person narration, and the protagonist is an engineer who goes to look up a women who has been on his mind for the two years he was on a project in Spain. He finds her with her life in shambles due to her brother being convicted of murder, and days from execution. He decides to try to help prove the man’s innocence, despite having no experience in detective work, not knowing anyone in the small down of the murder, and the execution being less than a week away.
The book moves at a brisk pace, with enough action here and there for the genre, but the book just feels flat compared to MacDonald’s other works. The mystery is too simple, the town people are mere plot devices, and the protagonist just doesn’t quite fit in the story. I am probably thinking too much about a novel that was meant to be a light distraction, but I do expect a MacDonald novel to have paragraphs that shine out, they were frustratingly absent in this book.
While it’s better than some books in the genre, Death trap come off as professionally bland and doesn’t stick in the mind the way other novels by the same author does.
May 5, 2025
There is nothing like a John D MacDonald book to get you out of a DNF reading slump. Or, to get you back into reading. I was burned out of reading for a while, these books always help me get back on track. It is not good to read too many John D novels in a row, but they always help me get back on track and I have a million of them laying around.
This is another piece of good writing by MacDonald. A fast-paced mystery thriller, I read this book in 24 hours. It follows the same trajectory of all John D books. I like the character details he throws in, a man from Chicago who has some typical man job, like a road construction worker, who drives down and turns into an amateur detective that solves a murder. A tough guy with fight scenes with a little science fiction thrown in.
Some people think these books are cheesy, but it's very good writing. I really appreciate the details surrounding the characters in his books. This book had a ton of characters in it, but some how he kept it fast-paced and not long winded.
This is the definition of a true page turner. One of the best John D novels that I have read so far.
This is another piece of good writing by MacDonald. A fast-paced mystery thriller, I read this book in 24 hours. It follows the same trajectory of all John D books. I like the character details he throws in, a man from Chicago who has some typical man job, like a road construction worker, who drives down and turns into an amateur detective that solves a murder. A tough guy with fight scenes with a little science fiction thrown in.
Some people think these books are cheesy, but it's very good writing. I really appreciate the details surrounding the characters in his books. This book had a ton of characters in it, but some how he kept it fast-paced and not long winded.
This is the definition of a true page turner. One of the best John D novels that I have read so far.
October 30, 2020
I found this to be among the better selections from JDM's 50's period. Hugh MacReedy, a Civil Engineer finds himself back in the US after a job overseas. He happens across a news story about the impending execution of his ex-girlfriend's brother for the rape and murder of a teenage girl. Vicky, the girlfriend was the one who got away, the one he cannot ever forget. He then requests 60 days off and heads back to the small College town where he met her while on a highway project. Her brother, a condescending, introverted genius is not a sympathetic personality. However, MacReedy can't believe he could ever be capable of such an act. Not knowing just what he would find, MacReedy goes in without reservations. He finds everything he is looking for, including big trouble almost immediately. The action is non stop. MacReedy leaves a trail of violence and discord as he tries to run this case down as an amateur. In true JDM fashion, men settle scores with their fists and women cry and faint on cue! This is a good tale of a troubled town that cannot get better until things get worse!
January 30, 2025
A solid MacDonald outing with villains, murder, and almost-lost love.
Hugh MacReedy is on vacation from doing construction work in Europe when he spots an article in the newspaper about his old crush's brother. The kid's going to the electric chair for murder, but Hugh can't imagine the guy doing it. So, he's off to the small town where it all takes place, trying to uncover the truth behind the murder.
This has a lot of the beats you'd expect from an early MacDonald book: the lost love, uncooperative cops, a skeezy villain, tough guys and gals trying to play the bad hand life's played them. I was a little disappointed by the ending. After 170 pages of investigation, it all wraps up pretty quick, and maybe a bit too neatly, using a cliché that edges deus ex machina.
But, even if the finish was a bit bumpy, MacDonald's prose makes it worth getting there. That guy could write an action scene. I almost didn't mind poor MacReedy constantly getting the snot kicked out of him because it was written so well.
Hugh MacReedy is on vacation from doing construction work in Europe when he spots an article in the newspaper about his old crush's brother. The kid's going to the electric chair for murder, but Hugh can't imagine the guy doing it. So, he's off to the small town where it all takes place, trying to uncover the truth behind the murder.
This has a lot of the beats you'd expect from an early MacDonald book: the lost love, uncooperative cops, a skeezy villain, tough guys and gals trying to play the bad hand life's played them. I was a little disappointed by the ending. After 170 pages of investigation, it all wraps up pretty quick, and maybe a bit too neatly, using a cliché that edges deus ex machina.
But, even if the finish was a bit bumpy, MacDonald's prose makes it worth getting there. That guy could write an action scene. I almost didn't mind poor MacReedy constantly getting the snot kicked out of him because it was written so well.
May 19, 2021
I have a confession. I put this novel down once with no intention of ever picking it up again. I stopped near the beginning when the narrator spends page after page describing his ex-girlfriend's physical appearance. It was supposed to show us how much the narrator loved her. Instead, it managed to be simultaneously boring and offensive at same time.
So why four stars? Well, I picked the book up again and I was treated to a terrific mystery story. The ex-girlfriend was always just as excuse to ignite the plot and once we get her off the stage, we get to enjoy the amateur sleuth's adventure in 1950s small town America. MacDonald has things to say about that world and a lot of it holds up very well for our time. When he's not commenting on society, he's giving us a strong plot, well-crafted dialogue, action, suspense, chills, and thrills. The Travis McGee series is for kids. Books like this one are the graduation gift.
So why four stars? Well, I picked the book up again and I was treated to a terrific mystery story. The ex-girlfriend was always just as excuse to ignite the plot and once we get her off the stage, we get to enjoy the amateur sleuth's adventure in 1950s small town America. MacDonald has things to say about that world and a lot of it holds up very well for our time. When he's not commenting on society, he's giving us a strong plot, well-crafted dialogue, action, suspense, chills, and thrills. The Travis McGee series is for kids. Books like this one are the graduation gift.
June 20, 2025
Death Trap, John D. MacDonald [Fawcett Gold Medal, 1956].
Hugh MacReedy is a civilian contractor who had been abroad, working as the foreman on a construction project for the U.S. Air Force in Spain. When he returns to the United States, he learns that his former girlfriend’s brilliant, though arrogant brother, Alister Landy, has been convicted of the murder of a teenaged girl and is awaiting execution. Hugh reconnects with Vicky who is adamant that her brother was framed for the crime. Hugh begins to investigate the crime in an amateur capacity, and begins to uncover new evidence. But will it be enough to save Landy?
***
John D. MacDonald (1916-86) was a WW II veteran who served as an officer in the U.S. Army. He wrote more than sixty crime novels and thrillers, including the Executioners which was twice adapted for the cinema as Cape Fear. Macdonald is best known for his Travis McGee series, about a salvage consultant, who essentially works as an amateur private detective.
Hugh MacReedy is a civilian contractor who had been abroad, working as the foreman on a construction project for the U.S. Air Force in Spain. When he returns to the United States, he learns that his former girlfriend’s brilliant, though arrogant brother, Alister Landy, has been convicted of the murder of a teenaged girl and is awaiting execution. Hugh reconnects with Vicky who is adamant that her brother was framed for the crime. Hugh begins to investigate the crime in an amateur capacity, and begins to uncover new evidence. But will it be enough to save Landy?
***
John D. MacDonald (1916-86) was a WW II veteran who served as an officer in the U.S. Army. He wrote more than sixty crime novels and thrillers, including the Executioners which was twice adapted for the cinema as Cape Fear. Macdonald is best known for his Travis McGee series, about a salvage consultant, who essentially works as an amateur private detective.
December 9, 2021
Written seven years before the first Travis McGee novel. Reads like it was out of a men's magazine of the era (1957), True Man, Men's Adventures, All Man, For Men Only, etc. etc.
Our hero works as a supervisor for a construction company, returns to the U.S. from a two year job in Spain, discovers the milquetoast intellectual brother of a former girlfriend--who he did wrong back in the day, the scoundrel--has been convicted of murder and is ten days away from the electric chair. Can our construction dude find out what really happened, after cops and lawyers and PI's have already left no stone unturned, to save the brother and win back the only woman he ever really loved? Huh? Huh? Gotta read it to find out. I love John D., good stuff!!
Our hero works as a supervisor for a construction company, returns to the U.S. from a two year job in Spain, discovers the milquetoast intellectual brother of a former girlfriend--who he did wrong back in the day, the scoundrel--has been convicted of murder and is ten days away from the electric chair. Can our construction dude find out what really happened, after cops and lawyers and PI's have already left no stone unturned, to save the brother and win back the only woman he ever really loved? Huh? Huh? Gotta read it to find out. I love John D., good stuff!!
February 25, 2019
MacDonald's storytelling ability is legend. This novel is no exception as it follows the tracks of Hugh MacReedy, a globe trotting construction man as he looks in on an old flame and finds himself in the middle of a race to save a young man from execution for murder. The entire town thinks that he is crazy and the local police are not only no help, but actively oppose everything he is trying to do. His only supporters are Victoria Landy the convicted's sister, Mr Tennant the attorney and an investigative coordinator from the state patrol.
December 5, 2018
I have not had luck getting into JDM. My first foray was “Night”, which bored me, a Travis novel, which bored me, now this; which was predictable, and frankly dumb, with the whole “hypnotism” BS.
I have a pile of his books, a lot of his standalones, which I’d hoped I’d enjoy better, and at least two dozen of his Travis novels. I’m making a dent, but not well or quickly.
I have a pile of his books, a lot of his standalones, which I’d hoped I’d enjoy better, and at least two dozen of his Travis novels. I’m making a dent, but not well or quickly.
August 21, 2019
An interesting window into the mid 50s as well as a clever story
A recurring theme for MacDonald - the unattached male who gets involved with the investigation of a crime. Events line up well so in fact he figures out what had eluded the police and at the same time he wins the heart of the girl. A well done story even if a bit formulaic.
A recurring theme for MacDonald - the unattached male who gets involved with the investigation of a crime. Events line up well so in fact he figures out what had eluded the police and at the same time he wins the heart of the girl. A well done story even if a bit formulaic.
February 2, 2021
Great book to read during a nor’easter! Quick read, stereotypical straight shooting, (figuratively, no guns in this tale), hero and 1950’s attitude towards the genders. Sure we need some disproven psychological mumbo jumbo to neatly wrap this baby up at the end but hey, it’s the 50’s, cut ‘em a break!
June 30, 2015
Not a bad little book. Although my only is complaint to whoever owned the book before me, you treated this poor little book like it was trash. I had to glue the pages back into the book.
But other than that, it was a good little book that honestly surprised me with who the actual killer was.
But other than that, it was a good little book that honestly surprised me with who the actual killer was.
November 4, 2017
🙌🏻saved my life the past few days #thanksbepa. Such a great mystery novel from 1957. Inside the cover there are pink lip stick marks. I’m wondering if it’s from one of my Grampa’s girls or part of book? 🤘🏻 This Book was sooooo entertaining.
May 5, 2020
Surprise plot
This mystery puts it all together, from the red herring to the unexplained to a surprise at the end. An early seed blooms. The hero gets his kick in the head but persists. The only aspect you may not like is solution by confession.
This mystery puts it all together, from the red herring to the unexplained to a surprise at the end. An early seed blooms. The hero gets his kick in the head but persists. The only aspect you may not like is solution by confession.
August 28, 2020
Excellent early John D. MacDonald novel. Easy to see the first glimpses of what his Travis McGee stories would come to rely upon: lots of the hard-hitting action and pithy descriptions of characters. Recommended.
May 14, 2024
I prefer the Travis McGee titles, but since I have read them all I am branching out. I believe MacDonald to be one of the best American writers of his time. I love his style, his diction, his pacing, and his characters. A true artist!
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