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| Plot Summary of Sleeping Beauty |
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"Lew Archer is a tough but compassionate private eye in California. On the beach one day he encounters a vast oil spill. A beautiful woman is picking up birds and cleaning the oil from them. She is disturbed, angry, and seems lost and in need of help, just Archer's type. Archer is immediately attracted to her. Turns out her family owns the oil company responsible for the spill. She lets Archer take her to his house, then she suddenly leaves. Archer discovers that she took sleeping pills from his medicine cabinet. Then the search is on. Archer must find her before she harms herself.
In the course of his searches, Archer encounters her parents, grandparents, and husband. All are in anguish of one sort or another. The husband truly loves her but feels she is above him. Her family regards the husband as a gold digger. Archer finds out that the woman has been suicidal in the past and seems to be suffering from some guilty knowledge. Then the woman's parents get a ransom note saying their daughter has been kidnapped. Trying to find the beautiful woman, Archer uncovers family secrets that many would rather remain hidden. There is a mysterious couple of men hovering about who seem to have a grudge against the family for past injuries. One of the men is found murdered, and the police and Archer suspect a member of the family. Then a servant of the wealthy family is found dead. Will Archer find the woman before someone silences her forever? Or is she the killer? Will Archer be able to keep himself safe? A fast moving highly readable mystery novel, with a good story line and excellent quick characterizations."
Fenella, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of Sleeping Beauty |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Book
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 70%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 20%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 10%
Tone of story
- Dry-cynical
Time/era of story:
- 1960's-1970's
Kid or adult book?
- Adult or Young Adult Book
Crime Thriller
Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown)
Yes
Main Character
Gender
- Male
Profession/status:
- private investigator
Age:
- 40's-50's
How much violence does he/she use?
- none
Ethnicity/Race
- White/American
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence
- Very much smarter than other characters
Physique
- average physique
Style
Person
- rotating 1st
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
How many deaths?
- 3-4
Sex
Yes
What kind of sex:
- vague references
Amount of dialog
- roughly even amounts of descript and dialog
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Click here for more information about this book
Ross MacDonald Resident Scholar Profiles
TOP SCHOLAR:
 Fenella
SCHOLARS:
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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