Vincent LardoReseñas

Enjoyable read. I couldn’t put the book down ! Loved the author’s humorous statements about the people living in the Palm Beach community .

Not one of the better mysteries I've read. The title was cute. I really couldn't connect with any of the characters although they were fairly well developed. I found that there was much too much extraneous info and action about Jack and Mike's relationship. It seemed to just take up space and not really add to the plot. The killer is never truly arrested even though the reader can easily figure out the murder's identity early on. I'd pass on this one if you are looking for a tightly written whodunit.

Little Maya loves her special blanket (manta) which was made by her grandmother (abuelita). Over time the manta goes through many changes until it is finally only useful as a bookmark (marcador de libros). When she loses her bookmark, Maya realizes that she can write the story down. And when she is grown with a little girl of her own, she tells that story to her. The book is written in Spanish and English.

Archy returns in a novel of Palm Beach high society and high jinks.

It has been quite a while since I've read one of the McNally books and I'd forgotten that I get a giggle and enjoy them.

This time 'round, Archy McNally is called on by Melva, an old friend. She is claiming to have murdered her husband. There is the dead body in the house and the story is she found him in disarray with another woman. He does have a reputation as a philanderer and she knows it, but this time it was in their house, so boom! The lady wants Archy to keep her stunning daughter away from the press and away from it all.

The 'child' is a stunning blue-eyed blonde of about 20 named Veronica. She is quite the temptation to Archy, but she is a friend's daughter and he is to keep her from the media circus. Meanwhile, Archy feels that there is more to this murder. That Melva didn't kill her husband, but she is covering up someone. Who? Little things keep bugging.

Archy's snappy combacks, unusual wardrobe, and ability to mingle with the Palm Beach elite keeps the pace going and the surprising revelations of family secrets coming. A light read buy with some good twists and turns!

Palm Beach in July is usually a dull place, so when the romance novelist Sabrina Wright comes to town, the gossip columns are on high alert. Ms. Wright is in pursuit of her husband, who was in pursuit of her daughter, who came to PB in quest of her biological father. The father is reputed to be someone of high standing in Palm Beach society, and at the time he paid a substantial amount of money in exchange for Sabrina’s silence. She didn’t reveal the identity of the father, merely his existence, but that’s enough to have everyone on all sides clamouring for Archy’s assistance to smooth things over. But murder won’t smooth anything over…

This is not a plot that ages well, and I had to derive enjoyment more from Archy’s narration and the side plot involving Binky Watrous, the thorn in his side who thinks he’s Archy’s friend. The book also suffers a bit for Archy’s parents being away on a cruise, but the story picks up more when they come home. I did like seeing more of Jamie and Ursi, though; Archy hangs out with them more when his parents aren’t around.

This book is a 3 for nostalgia purposes. If this were a first-time read, it would probably be a 2.5.

Love Lawrence Sanders as an author and enjoyed this book as much as I enjoyed his others. He is a wonderful author and if you haven't experienced him yet, do it now! The great thing about his books is you can read them in any order. It really doesn't feel as though you've missed anything like a regular series will. Enjoy!

Tastes differ, even in matters as frivolous as an Archie McNally mystery, and the reviews of this book show that clearly. Many readers seem to find the Archie books written by Vincent Lardo just as good as the ones written by Lawrence Sanders. Sanders, of course, created the series but died the year after the publication of "McNally's Gamble", number seven. I do not find the post-Sanders books at all an acceptable substitute, and this is the last of the series that I shall read. The core of the series is Archie's character, and in this book -- while he is still superficially silly -- he isn't ineffably silly. That is, he does silly things, like getting involved in amateur theatricals, but he isn't eccentric, and he isn't daft. He is much less interested in clothes and food that has been his wont, and seems to me much harder edged about people, life, and just about everything. The character started to change in the first Lardo book, but the change has gone further in this effort. I shall not follow it further. A workmanlike crime story, which is why two stars rather than one, but it's not my Archie.

This is the 8th novel in the Archie McNally series, and -- far more important -- the first that was not written by Lawrence Sanders. This isn't immediately clear when you look at the ocver. Great big letters: "Lawrence Sanders". Little tiny letters: "Vincent Lardo". Unfortunately, it is clear when you read the book. The central character is still Archie McNally, but it's Archie McNally in slightly bolder type, a little less fey, a little less preoccupied with the niceties of food, clothing, and other ephemera. The story is actually pretty good, and a good bit of the old Sanders humor remains. Given that, I decided to proceed to Lardo's next effort.

A light hearted mystery set in ultra-rich Palm Bead involving a murdered bigamist, a mother-daughter conspiracy and the son sleuth who solves the dilemma.

Vincent Lardo, writing as Lawrence Sanders, produces a story that doesn't fail to please fans of Sanders' Archie McNally. An old friend phones Archie at midnight to ask for help--she has just shot her no-good husband, who is now lying naked on the floor of the solarium. Archie is prevailed upon to help shield the woman's lovely young daughter from the harsh investigation and the vicious publicity resulting from the killing. Archie's wit and the hilarious dialogues kept me entertained through to the surprising, twisted end.

kind of dull

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.

While other books in this series have been silly but very entertaining, this one is just obnoxious and inane. I don't know whether the earlier books I've read/listened to were actually written by Lawrence Sanders, and this one is by Lardo - whatever the reason, the time I spent listening to this book on tape was totally wasted.

Only goes to show... it's hard to be a ghost writer. Doesn't quite bring off the sound of Lawrence Sanders

Spring break was very lucrative for this female writer. Inpregnated by having one sex fling each with the 3 boys of wealthy families made her a very wealthy woman. She knew each young man would pay her versus having family know. As the years went by and their futures grew, she blackmailed continually, knowing they had important careers and families they could ill afford to have destroyed. When her daughter found out, she & her step father plotted her mother's murder in hopes to gain wealth.

Typical hardboiled PI genre with a few twists.

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