Ross Macdonald was the pen name of Kenneth Millar, an American-Canadian author known for his contributions to the crime fiction and mystery genres. Born in 1915 in Los Gatos, California, Millar spent most of his childhood in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. His youth was marked by instability, as his father abandoned the family, causing Millar to move frequently and live with various relatives. This tumultuous upbringing would later influence his writing, with broken homes and domestic issues often featured prominently in his novels.
Millar began his writing career contributing stories to pulp magazines. He attended the University of Michigan, where he earned a Ph.D. in literature. While pursuing his graduate studies, he wrote his first novel, The Dark Tunnel, published in 1944 under the name John Macdonald. He later changed his pen name to Ross Macdonald to distinguish himself from the prolific author John D. MacDonald. Millar's popular detective, Lew Archer, was introduced in the 1946 short story Find the Woman and made his first full-length novel appearance in The Moving Target in 1949. The character's name was derived from Sam Spade's partner, Miles Archer, and from Lew Wallace, author of Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. The Moving Target served as the basis for the 1966 film Harper, starring Paul Newman.
Macdonald is considered one of the masters of hardboiled mysteries, alongside Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. His writing is characterized by its psychological depth and exploration of the motivations of his characters. His plots are intricate, often hinging on the revelation of family secrets and the resolution of complex relationships. Macdonald's works frequently explore themes of lost or wayward children, and his stories combine the "whodunit" and psychological thriller genres in a seamless and engaging manner. Macdonald passed away in Santa Barbara, California, in 1983 after a battle with Alzheimer's disease.