The Drowning Pool

infobox Book |
name = The Drowning Pool
title_orig =
translator =


image_caption =
author = Ross Macdonald
cover_artist =
country = United States
language = English
series = Lew Archer
genre = Mystery novel
publisher = Random House Inc
release_date = 1950
media_type = Print (Hardcover, Paperback)
pages =
isbn = ISBN 0-679-76806-8
preceded_by = The Moving Target
followed_by = The Way Some People Die

The Drowning Pool is a 1950 mystery novel written by Ross Macdonald, his second book in the series about private detective "Lew Archer".

Plot summary

Archer is hired by a woman to investigate a slanderous letter she received. The family lives in the house situated on the line between two Southern Californian towns, one an idyllic, oil-rich town, and the other the small, seedy town from which the oil comes, corrupt and destroyed by the industry. It is not long before Archer is more concerned with investigating murder instead of just blackmail.

The book was the basis of the 1975 Paul Newman film of the same name, but the movie has radical departures from the plot of the novel, including moving the location to Louisiana.