McNally's Secret by Lawrence Sanders
Sunday, May 12, 2013 at 9:18PM 
First published in 1992; published digitally by Open Road Media on March 12, 2013
Expelled from law school for streaking, Archy McNally joined his father's Palm Beach law firm as an investigator. Archy refuses to take life seriously -- he blames most of society's troubles on an excess of seriousness -- and his whimsical attitude is showcased in the McNally novels. McNally's Secret is the first. Lawrence Sanders wrote six more, and Vincent Lardo continued the series after Sanders' death.
Archy's father, Prescott McNally, assigns Archy to look into the apparent theft of a block of rare postage stamps from his wealthy client, Cynthia Horowitz. With about a dozen suspects to investigate, including staff, family, and house guests, Archy has a formidable task ahead of him. He handles it with aplomb, taking frequent breaks for cocktails and long lunches at the club. The stamp theft eventually leads to a couple of deaths, turning McNally's Secret into a classic murder mystery.
Archy is something of a playboy. He spends his evenings wooing a new woman, despite the repeated warnings he receives that the relationship will lead to trouble. I enjoyed the superficially charming aspect of Archy's personality, but he's also a smug, condescending snob. Those traits begin to wear thin by the novel's end. Fortunately, it's a short novel.
The multilayered mystery itself is fun and, if one of the plot twists is a bit predictable, it leads to yet another twist that is quite satisfying. As a good mystery writer should, Sanders plants the clues and gives the reader a fair chance to pick up on them. While I'm a bigger fan of Anderson's grittier stories (I have fond memories of reading The Anderson Tapes thirty years ago), McNally's Secret should appeal to mystery fans looking for lighter fare.
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