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"Looking for someone?" - predatory Professor Helen Haggerty
"Just waiting." - Lew Archer, hardboiled private investigator
"For Lefty or Godot? It makes a difference." - Haggerty
"For Lefty Godot. The pitcher." - Archer
"The 'pitcher in the rye'?" - Haggerty
"He prefers bourbon." - Archer
"So do I. You sound anti-intellectual to me, Mr. -- ?" - Haggerty
"Archer. Didn't I pass the test?" - Archer
"It depends on who does the grading." - Haggerty
"I've been thinking maybe I ought to go back to school." - Archer

Another one of the solid noir-like detective novels from the long-running series by Ross MacDonald (a.k.a. Kenneth Millar), this early 60's entry dates from the middle of the run. Private investigator Lew Archer is taking a break from pounding his usual beat in Los Angeles. Instead, he is finishing up one case in a sunny small So-Cal coastal university town when - literally just moments after walking out of a courtroom as a verdict is handed down on his client - he's hired to locate a young runaway bride by her concerned husband. Of course, the matter quickly spirals into a much larger (and hazardous) affair involving assumed or disguised identities, deep family secrets, a large cast of multiple and multi-generational suspects, and good old-fashioned MURDER. While there is a distinct lack of snappy P.I. patter - the knightly Archer has a decent line or two, but the catchy dialogue was more often handled by fellow contemporary 'eyes' like Philip Marlowe and Mike Hammer - the frequently serpentine story and well-drawn characters keep things humming along rather nicely here.