Product Description

Palm Beach private investigator Archy McNally takes on the murder of a socialite and uncovers a thorny tangle of blackmail and deceit, south Florida style.

Playboy Geoffrey Williams is dead. But it's not a search for the killer that brings Archy McNally to the case; the lovely Melva Williams readily admits to the crime passionnel. After finding Geoff in a precarious position with an attractive young lady, she pulled the trigger on husband number two. It sounds like an open-and-shut case for McNally & Sons' Department of Discreet Inquiries until Melva asks Archy to shield her daughter, Veronica, from the press and paparazzi. Gallant Archy takes the case -- and escorts grown-up and gorgeous Veronica home to the McNally manse. Rumors fly, and some of them may be true.

Veronica is no damsel in distress though, and she's certainly not sorry her stepfather is in the grave. When her story doesn't match Melva's, which doesn't match Geoff's, Archy realizes he does indeed have a dilemma on his hands. Someone's lying, and the one person who knows the truth -- Geoff's perky playmate -- has gotten away.

A delectable combination of high society and high jinks, and featuring some of the most eccentric characters to populate Florida's Gold Coast, McNally's Dilemma is as witty and charming as Archy McNally himself.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #405920 in Books
• Published on: 2000-07-01
• Released on: 2000-07-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

From Library Journal
Private investigator Archy McNally has real problems. His friend Melva Williams has confessed to the murder of her husband, Geoffrey, after finding him with another woman. She asks Archy to take care of her daughter, a chore that leaves him in hot water with his fianc?e. Meanwhile, Archy must also find the person who is blackmailing another family friend. While investigating this case, Archy finds clues that link both of these crimes together. Listeners will truly enjoy this whodunit. It is full of twists and turns as well as hilarious dialog. The story is well written and will hold one's interest until the bitter end, leaving you wanting more. Tony Award nominee Boyd Gaines is an extremely gifted reader and does a masterful job interpreting this novel. A wonderful addition for all libraries.ADanna Bell-Russell, Library of Congress
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From AudioFile
In his eighth Archy McNally adventure, master plotter Lawrence Sanders manipulates events so that seemingly unrelated cases meet head on. Adam Henderson's version of Archy McNally is smug and self-congratulatory as the private sleuth hobnobs with the Palm Beach set, for whom "conspicuous consumption is the rule, rather than the exception." Henderson's women sound as if they were dipped in treacle, and he turns McNally senior into the reincarnation of W. C. Fields (who would, no doubt, rather be in Philadelphia). However, the story is engrossing, and offers enough twists and surprises to keep the legions of faithful Sanders fans more than satisfied. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

About the Author
Lawrence Sanders, one of America's most popular novelists, was the author of more than twenty-two bestsellers.

Customer Reviews

So So McNally story
It was only by reading the fine print that I learned that this novel was Not by Lawrence Sanders. For me Archy McNally will always remain the creation of Mr. Sanders, but I wanted to read another story about one of my favorite characters. The attempt by Vincent Lardo gave an interesting slant to McNally, but his style of writing wasn't the same as Mr. Sanders. For the first time, it was clear how the story would evolve, and that's another indication that Lawrence Sanders did not write this book. In my opinion, Mr. Sanders name should not be on the cover, for it's a total disservice to the legacy of this great writer.

Hot Dog! Pass The Mustard! The New Archy is Up!
This being the notorious "take over" novel by Vincent Lardo, I was particularly interested in how Vince would crook his finger to the reader, and how he would work into the role of Lawrence Sanders's Archy McNally. The reader "in" was steak tartare, a $14.95 plate on the menu upgrade at the Pelican Club. By another name, "Steak Tartare" was a hamburger, juicy, rare.

Hamburger up! Phase one locked in.

In opening scenes Lardo appeared to have Archy's entertaining "Voice" in order, with a handle on most if not all the nuances which have enhanced this series. Yet, I felt a wisp of an added designer scent to this "new" man leading ths show. This guy felt subtly darker, more intense, like a wolf in sheep's clothing, not to imply that the Sanders Archy was a sheep. He was not.

Reading onward in McNally's DILEMMA, I noticed the differences between the two Archy's continuing to flicker, like old celluloid running through a movie projector. The original character had a feel of a free-spirited-youth in a mature-male-body. Lardo's Voice for Archy seemed an octave lower, and Lardo's Archy had a macho undercurrent.

The original Archy could giggle ... at any spontaneous moment.

Lardo's Archy would be able to burst spontaneously into a manly type of laughter, possibly described as a deep chuckle fluctuating with a high pitched peel. But, he could not produce a true, free-flowing giggle... unless, possibly, if he were plowed out of his mind by long applied liquor ... or if he were to reside too long in the Sanders Archy's shoes.

The Sanders Archy could easily play act the light grace of a ballerina, for and in fun. If Lardo's Archy tried that he would appear the classic bull in a china closet, probably stubbing his toe; and his late-morning, beard-shadow would ruin the show (or slide it into farce). Archy-1 might own a light stubble in the morning if he hadn't shaved since the previous morning, but a late-morning shadow would never darken his facade, at least not naturally by way of wiry hairs popping forth in dense supply, a few hours after the blade had scratched paths of baby-buns effect.

I found myself hoping that this stubbled, more intensely male Archy would maintain the market demand which survived Sanders' demise. To that end, I wondered how Lardo would work in Archy's bottom line appeal, as exposed in McNally's SECRET:

>> "I had lived through dire warnings of nuclear catastrophe, global warming, ozone depletion, universal extinction via cholesterol, and the invasion of killer bees. After a while my juices stopped their panicky surge and I realized I was bored with all these screeched predictions of Armageddon due next Tuesday. It hadn't happened yet, had it? The old world tottered along, and I was content to totter along with it." <<

Lardo's Archy paraphrased the above sentiment in DILEMMA, as he also linked to many thoughts, themes, and scenes from the original 7 novels. Those tributary reminders gave warm, effective touches. However, somehow Lardo's paraphrase of the above passage felt hollow. The femme fatal's question, "Why can't you be serious, Archy," almost seemed to puzzle Archy-2 as much as it did the woman posing it.

As I read along with Lardo's Archy, observing how he handled heated situations, I continued to see this new man as a push/direct type of guy, acting in clear confidence (though, at times, that esteem slipped under a graciously appropriate humility).

To me the old Archy cajoled much, but did not seem to have a habit of pushing or directing, and often his confidence was endearingly and genuinely lax, as he tottered along, playing with life's dictates as a youthful spirit carrying a complex sensitivity which sometimes slipped into a contemplative moodiness. I loved the way he would work himself out of those dark-side slips by using (and detailing to the reader) his cherished daily routines, reveling in them, mentioning the flavors and items of nearly every meal, every afternoon dunk in the ocean, every evening pause with his journal, when he often turned aside to speak directly to his reader.

The new Archy touched upon, but didn't seem to WALLOW within simple routines, or elaborate meals; most of his underlying focus seemed to be on powering, with finesse or foible, through problems. And, I had the feeling that Lardo would not harbor a hidden dream of, in his late thirties, living in his father's mansion. Early in the plot, Archy-2 gave off subtle scents of seeming not to understand, nor to like pater McNally.

Contrasting all this, periodic flickers of the old Archy flashed through Lardo in clear brilliance.

At "off" times it appeared that Lardo did not quite get Sanders' motivation for writing a character like Archy McNally, did not precisely comprehend the market success of a rarely serious Archy being a true heroic persona to great masses of readers. It appeared that, to Lardo the old Archy was somewhat of a simpering wimp, and, furthermore, why did he live in gawd-awful, flooding Florida, instead of NYC, when he obviously had the choice to do so. This is my speculation of Lardo's possible feelings; I get the Florida appeal, as well as the charisma of NYC (if one has money to maintain the lifestyles).

Will Archy-2 carry the series? According to observations of reviews and steady sales ranks on Amazon, readers want more Archibald by Vincent.

Though I miss the old Archy, I was attracted to the changed nuances in McNally's DILEMMA, and I believe Archy-2 will carry the series into a stronger style, not quite as delicately sophisticated (with none, or less of, the figurative ballerina dancing, contemplative moods, or extended introspection ... or giggles).

At this point, I'm recalling a feeling I had reading the original Archy's attractions to women. I often wondered why they seemed to lack the type of deep-throated, Adam's Apple "gggrrrrrrrrr" which Lardo's Archy would naturally have been able to give them (though the Sanders Archy was amusingly, artistically sensual). When Archy 2 described Victoria Manning I could feel his seething attraction. That gave an effective sensual substance.

As noted, the new Archy was a living, heavily breathing, sauntering, strutting male. How could that guy take over a character as stylishly, delicately, sensitively sensual as the Lawrence Sanders Archy McNally?

He could not. Viva la difference.

I feel an amusing, warm empathy for Lardo's willingness to dawn Archy's hats, scarves, and shoes. How could he not? I hope Vincent Lardo will be able to fully link to the unique market of his appeal, because that market exists. I'll give McNally's FOLLY a chance to grow the appeals of Archy-2. How could I not? (See my Listmania for titles/links for this series and Lardo's web site address.)

This novel does not have "twists and turns." It has a labyrinth of convolutions, and the wrap of them bogged the gulls in my mind.

Hats off to Lardo. Salute!

Linda G. Shelnutt
Author of:
Molasses Moon
Myrtle's Ultimate Mystery
The Rose and the Pyramid (The Books of Gem)

The real dilemma is this book
Poor Archy. No matter how dandified he dressed, he was always self-aware, there was a kind of rebellion expressed in his style, & nobody could doubt the quality of his duds. & when he wooed & bedded a woman of dubious background or reputation, as part of a "discreet inquiry" or just because she was beautiful & he could, the seduction was always accompanied by a complexity of emotions regarding his true soulmate, the fiery, jealous, no-nonsense Consuela. But the ever-positive Archy always viewed his cocktail glass as at least half-filled, if not overflowing. A drizzly gray sky today means driving the red Miata under Florida sunshine tomorrow.

Alas, Vincent Lardo's Archy McNally is oblivious when his attire makes him resemble a Lime Rickey, & his yachtsman outfit, complete with bell bottoms left over from college days, is twice-removed from Cary Grant by-way-of Tony Curtis in "Some Like It Hot." Even worse, he chases after a transparently untrustworthy 22 year old heiress like a pathetic, deluded, middle-aged lothario, fantasizing marriage & a houseful of little McNallys, as if this spoiled post-adolescent was actually the equal of the self-reliant, intelligent, & sexy Connie, who is there to remind Archy that some people must work to pay their rent, & for bosses like the absurd Lady C. No, now he practically insults her with lies & risks breaking her heart altogether. At one point in this novel he even loses count of how many Ovals he's smoked. This Archy is not so lovable a fellow. That's the real dilemma here.