McNally's Dilemma

In this eighth installment of the Archy McNally series, Archy, a charming cad of a gumshoe, tackles two cases simultaneously. One is a blackmail scheme; the other is helping a friend accused of murdering her philandering husband. The cases, all set in the empty, slimy world of the Palm Springs jetset, seem to be unrelated, until... Gaines performs well in this abridgment, giving McNally a smooth, understated baritone that is never flustered. Other characters are given distinct voices that add to the performances, keeping it interesting and moving the action along. The cast is colorful, and the plot is intriguing. M.T.F. (c) AudioFile, Portland, Maine


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. (c) AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine