Archy McNally, the “son” of McNally and Son, Attorney-at-Law, is the head of the firm’s discreet inquiries department. In this capacity he resolves sticky situations for the firm’s wealthy clients with minimal publicity or police involvement. In this case, the Forsythe family is being plagued by thefts of jewellery, rare books, and other valuables that could only be stolen by a family member. Archy is brought in to investigate and has as his cover the cataloguing of the Forsythe family’s books. But before he can figure out who’s committing the thefts, the Forsythe patriarch is murdered. And there’s a lot of weird dynamics in this household that Archy wishes he didn’t have a ringside seat for…

I always enjoy spending time with Archy, and this book is no exception. His delicious dinners, his turns of phrase, his conversations with his father, his collaboration with Sgt. Al Rogoff...all of these are what you come to expect from this series. And this is one of the ones actually written by Lawrence Sanders, so it has more zip than the later installments do (at least to my thinking). ( )

A good yarn. Not as good as some but Sanders always tells a good story. And Archy is so incorrigible. ( )

The fourth episode of the Archie McNally saga involves him with a family of not-very-likable nut cases, with one touching exception. Inevitably, it all leads to murder, and inevitably Archie gets drawn in, on several fronts. Archie remains his charming self -- an eccentric who is the "Discreet Enquiries" branch of his father's Palm Beach law firm. He lives happily with Mum and Dad, untroubled by his lack of worldly success, and he loves the ladies. In this installment, his butterfly bedroom capers were a little bothersome: has the man no respect for the institution of marriage? Evidently not. But perhaps the slightly sour note was only my own prejudices: this may not be my favorite in the series, but it is still a True McNally. ( )

PI Archy McNallys father, an insurance executive, assigns the debonair detective to work undercover to identify the thief who has pilfered the Forsythe family's priceless first edition of Poe.

Archy bribes most of his informants with dinners, cases of booze and weekends in the Bahamas....to get the info he needs. His indiscriminate bedhopping complicated matters but as usual he is able to come out smelling like a rose.

Another good addition to the McNally series. ( )

Tone of language: Light-hearted, witty, skeptical
Characters: Leading lives of lonely desperation
Pace: Missing information fills in quickly
Plot twists: One major surprise at the end
Ending: Life is unfair, but there are still adjustments you can make
Values: Live for pleasure
Sexuality: Several instances of sexual indulgence, discretely described
Background research: Palm Beach society; Gourmet cooking
Target audience: Everyone
Offensive to any group: Leftists
Flaws: The murderer didn't have to run from the law, since there wasn't enough evidence to convict. ( )