The Zebra-Striped Hearse

The Zebra-Striped Hearse is a detective mystery written in 1962 by Ross Macdonald, the tenth book featuring his private eye, Lew Archer.

In the beginning of this novel, Archer is hired by a man to investigate the man who is recently engaged to his daughter, fearing that the man is only interested in his daughter's money. Soon afterwards the daughter and finance disappear, and the plot turns into a manhunt. The search takes Archer to San Francisco, Mexico, Nevada, and back to California, finding dead bodies linked to the finance along the way.

The Zebra-Striped Hearse was praised by some critics, stating, for example that it had a "fantastic plot" and that "Lew Archer fit into the PI mold while still being his own unique creation". Others, however, found the Archer books "repetitive and often dully written" and The Zebra-Striped Hearse, in particular, full of "dime-store psychologizing".