1999;
309 pages. Book #8 (out of 13) of the Archy McNally series. New Author? : No, and Yes. Genre : Crime-Humor. Overall Rating : 8½*/10.
There really isn’t anything for Archy McNally
to investigate. Geoffrey Williams, a
local tennis pro – and known womanizer – has been shot to death, his naked body
(corpse, I
guess) sprawled across the floor in his house.
There
isn't any question as to who killed him.
His wife, Melva, freely admits she did the dirty deed, after discovering
Geoffrey and a mystery woman in flagrante
delicto on the floor. So no
investigation is needed, and Melva simply asks that Archy, as a friend, look
after their daughter, the ravishing and partying Veronica.
But a couple nagging questions keep floating around in Archy’s
head. Who was the mystery woman and
why hasn't she come forward? Why was the house
security turned off that one particular night? Why did
Melva have the address of where to find the vivacious Veronica
conveniently written on a piece of paper for Archy? And what was it that the maid said about the
goings on that night?
What’s To Like...
There are actually two tasks for Archy to
perform here – two plotlines if you will.
One is to poke around in the Geoffrey Williams slaying, keeping in mind
that the accused in a client of McNally and Son. The other is to find out who is blackmailing John Fairhurst
III, and why, since the “dirt”, while embarrassing, is not particularly
troublesome. The reader of course knows
that the two storylines will eventually converge, but it’s fun to watch (read)
how it’s done.
This is my second Archy McNally book (the
other one is reviewed here), and I am indeed warming up to our protagonist. Here Archy is a bit more of a wit and a bit
less of a fop. He may still bed the
girl, but who’s toying with whom? And
our hero now gets, to a certain degree, his comeuppance for his vanity. I liked that.
As
always, the story is set in Palm Beach, Florida. As always, wit and plot twists abound. I love it when Archy lapses into French. There are acronyms to learn; it took me a
while to realize that “PBR” = “Palm Beach Rumor”, and “PBF” = “Palm Beach Fact”. Once again, detailed descriptions are given
for what everybody is wearing and eating from one day to the next. And you’ll be amused to discover what “Steak
Tartare Medium Rare” works out to be.
The ending is quite twisty and quite good. You and Archy both know some sort of
subterfuge is afoot, but determining what’s really going on will surprise you.
Kewlest New Word. . .
And Bob’s Your Uncle (phrase.)
: “and everything’s all right!”; “et voila!”; “;”and there you go!” (a Britishism)
Excerpts...
“Do you know who
this place belongs to, Archy?”
“No. Do you?”
“An old couple
who went into hock to get their daughter married to an English title. Now they have to rent the place every winter
and go live with their daughter and son-in-law in his family castle. No central heat, sixty bedrooms, one loo, and
if you want to take a bath you have to order the hot water a week in advance.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Would I lie to
you, Archy?”
“Yes.” (pg. 99)
Al Rogoff was
living proof of the old adage “You can’t tell a book by its cover.” The only time Al Rogoff watched television
was when PBS aired a performance by the New York City Ballet or an opera from
the Met. Al could listen to the William
Tell overture without once thinking, “Hi, ho, Silver, away,” and could tell an
’82 Medoc from Chianti sold by the gallon.
He enjoyed Vivaldi and knew that “La Belle Dame sans Merci” was not a
French dominatrix. (pg.
155)
“As you sue, so shall you
reap.” (pg. 217)
Archy’s
Dilemma was published in 1999, but sadly Lawrence Sanders passed away in February,
1998. His estate chose Vincent Lardo to
write this book, the 8th in the series. Unfortunately, this switching of authors isn’t
mentioned on either the front or back cover blurbs.
The only place it is cited is in the small print on the “Library of
Congress” info page.
This apparently upset no small number of Lawrence Sanders fans, who felt that Mr. Lardo did not fully capture the full inner
essence of our hero. Well, I agree with
them to a certain extent, Lardo’s Archy is subtly different from Sanders’
Archy.
But
personally I prefer the “new” Archy better to the old one. Yeah, a lot of times there’s just no substitute
for the original author (see all the Robert Ludlum wannabees), but
once in a while the new writer actually improves things. IMHO, Brandon Sanderson saved Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series. And that just might be the case with Lawrence
Sanders and Vincent Lardo. More data (more books read
in the series) is needed.
8½ Stars. Subtract 1 Star if you are partial to the charmingly, rascally Archy McNally that Lawrence Sanders penned. We shall agree to disagree.
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