John D. MacDonald |
The books, especially the early ones, are in the noir genre of Sam Spade, etc. The women have personalities, but they are primarily sexual objects who behave in stereotyped ways. Although, interestingly, in Nightmare in Pink McGee specifically states that he does not feel this way about women. There is a lot of pessimistic psychological description. This is well-written and not tedious, but there is more of it than modern readers expect.
As the series progresses, more strong women appear, and the style evolves to include less dark psychological narrative. However, there is plenty of nudity although no explicit sex, and there is plenty of violence.
Series location:
McGee lives on his houseboat, the Busted Flush in a marina located at Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The series is based there, but McGee and Meyer travel extensively.
Recurring Characters of Note
G. Ludweg Meyer, economist and his best friend
Puss Killian, one of the few women Travis really loved
Gretel, another of the few women Travis loved
#1 The Deep Blue Good-by (1964)
As the introductory volune of this series, McGee and his boat, the Busted Flush are introduced and we learn a fair amount about who he is. His "salvage operation" business is generated by recovering things for someone that have been stolen or disappeared, but perhaps the original acquisition wasn't quite kosher either, so no one wants the authorities involved.
A young dancer, Cathy, tells McGee the story of how her father, a WWII veteran went to prison after the war, but he had always told his family there would be plenty of money for them. Somehow his tales rang true, and they always believed him. But he died in prison.
A man who knew him while he was incarcerated shows up at the family farm. He lives with Cathy as if they were married and is severely abusive. They can tell he is looking for something but have no idea what. One day, he disappears again, but the gateposts are torn down and he's obviously taken something. He shows up in the area a week later with plenty of money.
McGee tries to track him down and recover whatever was taken that should belong to Cathy and her family.
#2 Nightmare in Pink (1964)
The story begins with McGee trying to do a favor for Nina, the kid sister of his best friend, a disabled Korean vet. Her fiancee was killed in an apparent mugging, and she finds $10,000 in his closet. This lends weight to things he had told her about financial irregularities at the place where he worked.
But the kid sister has grown up, and is no longer the 12-year-old of the snapshot in Travis' friend's wallet. They begin a long affair while he tries to track down how the fiancee was killed. Their suspicions of fowl play seem validated when her apartment is burglarized but nothing except cash is taken.
The pursuit leads to a terrifying confinement for McGee.
This volume includes a lot of narrative about the mysteries of sexual intimacy. You can skip those chapters if you just want the story.
#3 A Purple Place for Dying (1964)
#4 The Quick Red Fox (1964)
#5 A Deadly Shade of Gold (1965)
#6 Bright Orange for the Shroud (1965)
#7 Darker than Amber (1966)
#8 One Fearful Yellow Eye (1966)
#9 Pale Gray for Guilt (1968)
#10 The Girl in the Plain Brown Wrapper (1968)
#11 Dress Her in Indigo (1969)
#12 The Long Lavender Look (1970)
#13 A Tan and Sandy Silence (1971)
#14 The Scarlet Ruse (1973)
#15 The Turquoise Lament (1973)
#16 The Dreadful Lemon Sky (1975)
#17 The Empty Copper Sea (1978)
#18 The Green Ripper (1979)
The Green Ripper is a child's mispronunciation of The Grim Reaper. McGee has been living aboard his boat with Gretel, one of his true loves. She has temporarily moved to a location closer to her new job as an all-purpose-person at a health spa. She is telling Travis and Meyer about an odd occurance where she recognized a man from her past with one of the owners. A few day later, the man is dead from a fall off his bicycle and Gretel is in the hospital with an unexplained flu-like disease. Her condition worsens, and the pathogen can not be identified.
When Gretel does not survive, Travis insists on an autopsy, and a clever murder is revealed.
McGee embarks on a quest to find the man Gretel recognized, find out what's going on and exact revenge. His quest takes him to a militant terrorist "church" in California with a chilling agenda.
#19 Free Fall in Crimson (1981)
#20 Cinnamon Skin (1982)
Meyer's geologist neice Norma and her new husband Evan are visiting as part of an extended honeymoon. Meyer leaves for Toronto for a speaking engagement. Norma, Evan, and a pilot take Meyer's boat out for a cruise, and just after it enters deep water the boat disintegrates in a violet explosion.
McGee and Meyer embark on a mission to find out who is responsible and why. The story is very linear as they learn more and more facts, but it is not boring.
They end up in Mexico where a Mayan womon with "cinnamon skin" has as much reason to want revenge on the perpetrator as they do.
The Travis McGee Quiz Book (compiled by John Brogan, introduction by MacDonald) (1984)
#21 The Lonely Silver Rain (1985)
This is the final book in the series. It's not exactly clear if MacDonald intended to end the series, but it does make a nice conclusion. The final chapter takes place in a rain so heavy it bounces off the pavement. Travis calls it a "lonely silver rain."
A friend of McGee asks him to try to recover his custom yacht that was stolen. It's a real long shot, because stolen boats are usually quickly transformed so as to be unrecognizable. However, the custom build of this one does suggest a method to find it. When McGee finds the boat, there are three dead bodies aboard, and someone in the drug smuggling world seems to want to blame McGee and the boat owner for the murders.
McGee travels to Mexico to try to keep from being killed by finding out who is really to blame.
Meanwhile, someone is leaving whimsical pipe-cleaner cats in various colors on his own boat.
