McNally's Puzzle (Archy McNally)

by Lawrence Sanders

1997

Status

Available

Publication

Berkley Books (1997), 343 pages

Description

LAWRENCE SANDERS' BLOCKBUSTER BESTSELLER AT A NEW LOW PRICE! "McNally's Puzzle" Read by Boyd Gaines Hiram Gottschalk is a wealthy widower and a man desperate to save himself from an unknown stalker. He hires Palm Beach sleuth Archy McNally, who is convinced he'll soon return his client's life to order -- but then Gottschalk is stabbed in his sleep, and two of his clerks are abducted and killed in the Everglades. It takes all McNally's skill to put together the pieces.

User reviews

LibraryThing member annbury

Archie rides again, with Binkie by his side! I find that the Lawrence Sanders Archie McNally series got better and better as it rolled along. The central characters have had time to develop into their full glory, and each new detail added on contributes to the fun. Also, Archie seems to be growing

somewhat deeper (not much deeper, don't worry), which makes him even more interesting. This time, the mystery centers on a parrot shop, the elderly owner of said shop, the elderly owner's loathsome familty, etc. etc.). Binkie goes undercover (or underfeather) and things progress at a fast pace. A very enjoyable read.

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LibraryThing member moonshineandrosefire

Bird store owner Hiram Gottschalk is a wealthy widower with a paranoid son and heir, twisted twin daughters, and shady employees. As the owner of Parrots Unlimited, Hiram believes that his life is in danger, so he hires playboy-turned-Palm Beach private investigator Archy McNally and his sidekick

Binky to protect him. Apparently Hiram had good reason to be frightened, Archy soon realizes - when the bird shop owner's mutilated body is found sometime later.

Hiram has been stabbed in his sleep, so Archy tries to solve the deadliest case of his career. But for Archy and Binky, the biggest piece of this scandalous puzzle is still missing - who has the motive to kill two more birds with one stone.

Although I eventually enjoyed reading this book, I did have some slight trouble at first getting into the style of the writing. I suppose it just took me a while to get used to the way Archy McNally expressed himself - to me, he seemed affected and somewhat pedantic. It was annoying at first, but I did eventually get used to Archy McNally as a character. This book was certainly enjoyable, and I have several more books from this series sitting on my bookshelf, but McNally's Puzzle was the first Archy McNally book that I've actually read. I give this book a strong A!

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LibraryThing member AliceAnna

Enjoyable as usual. Made me hungry as always. Needed more of Consuela to keep Archy in line. The inimitable Binky makes another appearance -- an enjoyable dolt. Not one of Sander's best, but still a quite enjoyable way to while away a few hours.

LibraryThing member mainrun

I enjoyed the comedy in the book, but wished there was more. I think the book was set in the early 1990's, but the main character, Archibald McNally, seemed to have lived pre-1950. I kept googling names he kept dropping that I did not recognize: Edith Piat, Edgar Guest, Ronald Coleman, Juan

Belmonte, Busby Berkeley, Joan Blondell, and Ann Sheridan to name a few. All were active before Archy would have been born. Lawrence Sanders made Archy to be well educated. He kept using words I did not recognize, and I googled them too. Even with all the stopping to google to get information, I enjoyed the story and probably will read more by this author.

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