Archy McNally, the hero of Lawrence Sander's latest whodunit McNally's Gamble is a throwback to an earlier, more gracious age. He lives well, dresses well, and keeps hours that Dashiell Hammet's "Thin Man," Nick Charles, would approve of. When not wining, dining, or driving his fire-engine red Miata around Palm Beach, Archy keeps discreet tabs on the wealthy clients of his father's law firm. Then one day, Edythe Westmore, a well-to-do widow, considers buying a Fabergé Imperial Egg and all hell breaks loose. Her children are displeased, her lawyer (Archy's father) is concerned, and Archy is up to his neck in intrigue. Sanders writes a serviceable mystery, but the real pleasure in McNally's Gamble is Archy. Imagine Bertie Wooster as a detective, or Lord Peter Wimsey a Floridian, and you'll have some idea of Archy. Though he describes himself as "a frivolous scatterbrain," he has enough discipline to solve the case and, by the end, land the girl, as well.


From Library Journal
Sanders's venerable creation, playboy sleuth Archy McNally, finds yet more greed, envy, and murder among Florida's rich and famous-and all because of the Faberge Imperial egg that, much to her children's consternation, the widowed Edythe Westmore would like to buy.Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.


The New York Times Book Review, Paula Friedman
In his latest novel, Lawrence Sanders presents another comic whodunit featuring Archy McNally, the foppish but likable head of "discreet inquiries" at his father's law firm in Palm Beach, Fla.... Mr. Sanders overdoes the jokes, making Archy's comments a bit too cute. But more often the witticisms are pitched just right. Mr. Sanders clearly delights in playing up the bumbling spoof aspects of this detective yarn, especially during its climactic but unavoidably funny denouement.


Book Description
Put your money on Lawrence Sanders' most popular detective... in his latest New York Times bestselling crime caper!

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Archy McNally lives a life most people only dream about. As Chief of Discreet Inquiries at his father's white-shoe law firm, Archy keeps tabs on the rich and famous while keeping hours only a barfly could love. When well-to-do widow Edythe Westmore is urged to buy a Faberge Imperial egg, her adult offspring violently oppose the investment and enlist Archy's services to put the kibosh on the deal. As he investigates the bona fides of the bejeweled trinket, the mysterious machinations of the siblings, family advisors, and an aged antiques dealer are revealed, and Archy is thrust into a whirling vortex of greed, passion, and murder that even he must fight to rise above.

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal