McNally's Risk [Paperback]

...Dapper Palm Beach PI Archy McNally has been requested by a monied client of his father's law firm to check the background of Theodosia Johnson, a beautiful neo socialite in the south Floridian circles, and soon to be married to an heir of a fortune...McNally cajoles, bribes with meals and pays off his many sources--caterers, barkeeps and newspapermen--but information about the lass starts coming in seemingly disconnected pieces, until the artist of a masterful portrait of Theodosia winds up with a knife in his throat and a stripper who seems to be into extortion gets a bullet thru her head and the rightful heir to the artist's estate is found strangled in her SUV under water. McNally falls for the mysterious lady (Madame X) further complicating things, and a creepy thug with Michigan plates on his Cadillac is seen once too often near several of these disconnected pieces. This is Sanders in his element--a likable, idiosyncratic, quippy fella (McNally--who may or may not be like the author) who has excesses very much like the real crooks against the backdrop of a glamorous area solving a heinous crime. While you read you can probably guess who ultimately is the culprit of the dastardly deeds, but the big, big fun is how Sanders chooses to get us to the punchline. A page turning enjoyable read for all....

This is another in the series of books about Archie McNally, who carries out investigations for his father's law firm when he is not dashing about in his red Miata, hanging out at the Pelican Club, or pursuing various women. It is one of the earlier books in the series. The case starts out as a seemingly simply investigation into the background of a woman involved with the son of a wealthy client of the firm. Along the way there is a murdered artist who had painted the woman's portrait, the emotionally disturbed daughter of the artist, the son's ex-girlfriend from a topless car wash, the ex-girlfriend's nude dancer friend, a suspect "financial advisor," and a host of other character's including some of Archie's assortment of friends that carry forward from book to book. There is also the mysterious, untitled, missing painting. Overall, an intriguing whodunit, with a somewhat surprising ending.

In the original 7 McNally novels (see list below), RISK is the third in the series, and sixth which I've read and reviewed. For me, it was one of the more intriguingly quirky offerings. It was this quirkiness which kept my attention.

We had Theodosia Johnson(Madam X, Helen of Troy, Mona Lisa, who, who, who) and Archy's continued struggle with his attractions to women, and his coming-to-consciousness of his Double Standards. I found myself wondering in this one when Connie would give Archy his "comeuppance." She did it in spades and Archy's reaction was classic. Loved the way she initiated her absolutely unsuspected counterpoint with a compassionate, genuinely loving preface. Ya gotta read it.

Here are a few quotes to prime the push, from early on, then later in plot:

>> ... Department of Discreet Inquiries. I (Archy) was the sole member, and it was my task to conduct investigations requested by our moneyed clients who didn't wish to consult law enforcement agencies and possibly see their personal problems emblazoned on the covers of those tabloids stacked next to sliced salami in supermarkets. <<

>> It was like finding a hickey on the neck of the Mona Lisa. <<

Just what was that "it" of which Archy was narrating in his voice perfectly styled as, "I'm telling you, reader."

The opening of this third McNally offering was an antithesis to the kidnap delights applied by the other 5 I've read so far (well, except Peaches's vomit couldn't be described as delightful). In RISK, Archy is embroiled not with a sensually captivating Lady of Spice; he's forcing himself to pretend being enraptured by the prig-of-all-prigs, Mrs. Gertrude Smythe Hersforth. What a PERFECT name!

His summary of her(sforth) nose angle came to:

>> This overstuffed matron was implying that if your name was Smith, DiCicco, or Raginowitz, you were incapable of pride and probably bought your Jockey shorts at K-Mart. In Britain family determines class. But, in America, it's money. <<

On the other hand, Archy also pontificated and quoth-ed, in that delicious way of his:

>> The moment he (a dollars-down-the-drain, no donuts intended, "C" artist) used the phrase "guaranteed income," my opinion of his financial acumen plunged to subzero. Dear old dad had taught me years ago that there is no such thing as a guaranteed income. As pop said, "Who guarantees the guarantor?" <<

Quoting Rubin Hagler, and Archy's "in mind" comment, P 183 of the mass market paperback:

>> "I can promise you a twenty-percent return with no risk." When pigs fly, I thought, but didn't say it. <<

One of the most touching scenes I've read so far in this series was on Pages 249-250, when Arch shares a secret with Connie, a sad truth he uncovered from his investigations. The essence of the message in that scene reminded me of what I appreciated most in one of my favorite movies, CROCODILE DUNDEE. I believe those two pages convey the Heart of Archy and the carrying spirit of this series. Not only was the scene deeply touching; the way Archy dealt with it the next morning was telling. This was how Archy tempered and retained the strength of his character.

From that scene:

>> ... would dwindle away to become just another of the daily outrages we read about and eventually forget because to remember them all would be too painful to suffer. <<

In my review of the pilot to this series, McNally's SECRET, I quoted a passage from the opening of the novel which I felt explained the essence of reader kidnap in Archy's mystique. In RISK Sanders adds a few tangy tits-for-tat to Archy's ongoing sass (interjected into Ongoing Cultural Conversations) about food phobias (pseudo-science-induced-and-force-fed), and other sacred cows. Archy is subtle and quippy enough that his snips stayed on this-side-of-the-edge of hardcore satire. It's that balance toward compassion which keeps me cozily in the story, that plot and character measure of retaining the mood-of-mystery and warmth-of-humor at a level to repel the painful slashes inherent in heavy sarcasm (all for a good cause, of course).

If you'd like a variety of perfectly succinct plot summaries or more details on RISK, you'll find other reviews here which provide those grandly and graciously.

And, for the never-ready diehards like me; If you want a burning brand of "in-plot" detail, feel free to read my reviews of other novels in the original 7:

-- SECRET begins the McNally saga, with sage revelations and Palm Beach essence.

-- LUCK continues and nurtures the reader capture & dunk.

-- RISK adds quirk and spice to the solutions (including zany mixed drinks from an old recipe bk).

-- CAPER draws dark and dungeness (maybe crabs, and dungeons, too).

-- TRIAL does whatever it does (it's next on my list).

-- PUZZLE does the parrot, the Florida Key.

-- GAMBLE saunters and sautes pricey Faberge eggs.

As noted above, I have one more (McNally's TRIAL) of Sanders's original 7 novels to read and review. I have not yet read any of Vincent Lardo's novels continuing Archy's shenanigans after Sander's demise, but I have a feeling they take this balance a Quantum to the true-mystery-genre side of this fulcrum of which I'm speaking. I see the wisdom of this fulcrum location. The commercial market for a P.I. (even a sort of one) mystery series is much more generous than the market for classic satire. Healthy reasons endure for this good taste in the masses seeking to escape into enthralling fiction, rather than be soul-shredded by it (possibly with cutting-edge esthetics, but ... here's the key ... without the grace of anesthetics).

Don't get me wrong. I can appreciate satire and have a taste for it when well done, as in the case of all movies in which Robin Williams has participated, and I loved Callista Flockhart's Ally McBeal series. When the balance reaches a certain mixture in a novel, however, usually the "novel" breaks down into something "else" which loses the healthy emotional glue of the STORY format. That something else is palatable if one shifts out of a Right Brain mode of escaping into an entertaining fictional world; into a Left Brain mode of cerebral analysis and appreciation of concept. In a sense, a novel of heavy satire must be read in a mode normally used for playful nonfiction rather than within a mood suitable for "storytelling."

Maybe this is why satire novels have such a hard target.

Sanders proved beyond doubt through his original McNally SEVEN that he was a high master of the art of The Novel, and of the P.I. genre, especially in retaining the precise mixtures and solutions to maintain the cohesiveness of a novel. To escape into fiction (and avoid being force-fed internal perversion or becoming toxic) most readers (especially me) seem to require a plot, setting, and characters worthy ("good" enough) of living within, yet vulnerable (imperfect, prey to glandular persuasions) enough to feel real.

Being a novelist, being entertained by the reading of one ... neither act is as simple as it seems.

Archy McNally and Lawrence Sanders are tightrope walkers, labyrinth travelers of the first water.

To Diamonds-in-the-Rough/Buff, I say "ruff, rooofff, whooff!" Purina, anyone? (Pure-ina?)

Linda G. Shelnutt

P.S. I have one more key to share about what I see as the treasures sought and received in the McNally series. I hope to be able to do justice to that in my review of TRIAL. It involves the sanctity and sacred value of cherished daily routines. It's one of the prime answers I come to whenever I ask myself the "What's it all about" questions. The answer is so beautifully simple it's nearly invisibly woven into the texture of living tapestry. The answer clears the fog as Life's final chapter begins its walk and the walker is too tired to tangle with adventure. Lawrence Sanders did this with his McNally family. It's his legacy.