Initially, Lew Archer was similar to (if not completely a derivative of) Philip Marlowe. However, he eventually broke from that mold, though some similarities remain. Archer's principal difference is that he is much more openly sensitive and empathetic than the tough Marlowe. He also serves a different function from Marlowe. Raymond Chandler's books were studies of Marlowe's character and code of honor, while Macdonald used Archer as a lens to explore the relationships of the other characters in the novels.

Another small but subtle difference was that Marlowe prowled the city of Los Angeles during the 1940s, while Lew Archer primarily worked the suburbs in the 1950s, moving outward with the populace. Like Marlowe, Archer observes growing dichotomies in American society with visual "snapshots". In The Zebra-Striped Hearse, Archer hunts a missing girl who may be dead, possibly murdered. He questions surfers who own a hearse painted in gay zebra stripes. To the youngsters, death is remote and funny. To the world-weary detective, it's close and grim.

Lew Archer is largely a cipher, rarely described, though in The Doomsters a sheriff mocks his 6'2" and blue eyes. As old failures plague him, we learn he once "took the strap away from my old man", that he was a troubled kid and petty thief redeemed by an old cop, that he sometimes drank too much, that his ex-wife's name is Sue, and he thinks of her often. His background is most thoroughly explored in The Moving Target: he got his training with the Long Beach California Police Department, but left (Archer himself says he was "fired") after witnessing too much corruption, and during World War II, he served in military intelligence in the United States Army, again mentioned in The Doomsters.

Archer's name pays homage to Dashiell Hammett: "Miles Archer" was the name of Sam Spade's murdered partner in The Maltese Falcon.

Novels

• The Moving Target (1949)
• The Drowning Pool (1950)
• The Way Some People Die (1951)
• The Ivory Grin (1952; aka Marked for Murder)
• Find a Victim (1954)
• The Barbarous Coast (1956)
• The Doomsters (1958). A escapee from a mental institute appeals to Archer for help. Bodies pile up as the doomed family members heap their many crimes on the manhunted scapegoat, but Archer is convinced he's innocent.
• The Galton Case (1959)
• The Wycherly Woman (1961)
• The Zebra-Striped Hearse (1962)
• The Chill (1964). Archer hunts a runaway wife on a college campus, finds a dead professor, then learns of an old unsolved murder in Chicago. He knows they must be connected, but how?
• The Far Side of the Dollar (1965)
• Black Money (1966)
• The Instant Enemy (1968)
• The Goodbye Look (1969)
• The Underground Man (1971)
• Sleeping Beauty (1973)
• The Blue Hammer (1976)

Short stories

• "Find the Woman" (June 1946, EQMM)
• "The Bearded Lady" (American Magazine, October 1948)
• "The Imaginary Blonde" (February 1953, Manhunt; AKA Gone Girl)
• "The Guilty Ones" (May 1953, Manhunt; AKA The Sinister Habit)
• "The Beat-Up Sister" (October 1953, Manhunt; AKA The Suicide)
• "Guilt-Edged Blonde" ( January 1954, Manhunt)
• "Wild Goose Chase" (Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, July 1954)
• "Midnight Blue" (October 1960, Ed McBain's Mystery Magazine)
• "The Sleeping Dog" (April 1965, Argosy)

in three collections: My Name is Archer, Lew Archer, Private Investigator, and Strangers in Town

The character has been adapted for visual media several times with varying degrees of success.

Two feature films starring Paul Newman as "Lew Harper" (rumor supposes the name was changed from the original because Newman felt characters with "H" names were "lucky"):

• Harper (1966, directed by Jack Smight) derived from the novel The Moving Target (1949)
• The Drowning Pool (1975, directed by Stuart Rosenberg) derived from the novel of the same title
• The Underground Man (1974, directed by Paul Wendkos) a television movie starring Peter Graves.

Archer, a 1975 NBC TV series (NBC) starring Brian Keith based on the character. It was cancelled after six episodes:

• "The Turkish Connection", aired 30 January 1975
• "The Arsonist", aired 6 February 1975
• "The Body Beautiful", aired 13 February 1975
• "Shades of Blue", aired 20 February 1975
• "The Vanished Man", aired 6 March 1975
• "Blood Money", aired 13 March 1975

Le Loup de la côte Ouest (2002, Hugo Santiago from the short story "Guilt-Edged Blonde") starring James Faulkner as Lew Millar. (Alternate Title: The Wolf of the West Coast)

• Warren Zevon was a well-known fan of Ross MacDonald's work; during the 2008 season of the show "Californication," a character based loosely on Zevon named "Lew Ashby" was a nod to the Archer character.

• "Sleeping Beauty", aired 1 January 1996 on NPR

Zebra Striped Hearse