Lew Archer, MacDonald's celebrated Southern California private detective, hunts for a killer in the hellholes of Los Angeles and Las Vegas. The illustrious and obscenely wealthy Senator Hallman and his large family have had a run if bad luck. First the mother mysteriously croaks. The Senator is the next to greetthe Reaper.Then one son is stashed away in the nuthouse for keeps. And that's only the beginning. Maybe old lady Hallman was right when she said there were fates ganging up on the family ----"Doomsters" she called them. But Lew Archer thinks their misfortunes emanate from a more human source---a certain crazed someone who won't quit until he runs out of Hallmans to kill.