Archy McNally Series by Lawrence Sanders, Boyd Gaines

Sex, lies, blackmail. Archy McNally is a freewheeling playboy who specializes in "Discreet Inquiries" for the rich and not-so-discreet. Beneath the glaring sun of Palm Beach - and behind the lowest crimes of high society - he is paid to keep family skeletons in the closet. But when it comes to sex and scandal, he has a few secrets of his own.

Just when you thought you knew all the dirt about Palm Beach ... Archy McNally returns to confront glitz, ghosts and gore in McNally's Luck, Lawrence Sanders's masterful new thriller. With McNally's Secret, Sanders fans were introduced to a south Florida sleuth whose high spirits and nose for clues endeared him to readers. Now diehard playboy Archy McNally is back, in a kinky caper the likes of which south Florida's elite has never seen... moreJust when you thought you knew all the dirt about Palm Beach ... Archy McNally returns to confront glitz, ghosts and gore in McNally's Luck, Lawrence Sanders's masterful new thriller. With McNally's Secret, Sanders fans were introduced to a south Florida sleuth whose high spirits and nose for clues endeared him to readers. Now diehard playboy Archy McNally is back, in a kinky caper the likes of which south Florida's elite has never seen. McNally's Luck begins as a search for a purloined pet but quickly becomes far more lethal. As investigator for his father's prestigious law firm, McNally regularly sees a side of elegant Palm Beach that's best described as seamy. But even he is shocked by the Pandora's box of lust and larceny slowly opening before him. On the heels of the catnapping, a prominent woman is brutally murdered, and in some cryptic way, the acts are linked. As he fits the many pieces of the puzzle into a single, lurid truth, Archy crosses paths with mediums, murderers, impostors and adulterers - and learns at an eerie seance that there are scandals even death can't hide. Intricate, unguessable, and sensual as a sultry Florida afternoon, McNally's Luck is blue-chip Lawrence Sanders. less

Called in by patriarch Griswold Forsythe, II, to discover which relative is stealing family valuables piece by piece, eccentric discreet detective Archy McNally plunges to the perilous depths of Palm Beach high society.

As an investigator for his father's Palm Beach law firm, Archy McNally has discreetly handled scores of unusual cases for the firm's upscale clientele. But when Sunny Fogarty, the attractive comptroller for Whitcomb Funeral Homes, approaches them regarding an unexplained rise in her company's fortunes, Archy has a most peculiar situation.

Hiram Gottschalk is a wealthy widower with a paranoid son and heir, twisted twin daughters, and shady employees. Owner of bird store Parrots Unlimited, he hires Archy McNally and sidekick Binky for protection. But he is stabbed in his sleep; two clerks are killed in the Everglades. Who has the motive?

Palm Beach private investigator Archy McNally takes on the murder of a socialite and uncovers a thorny tangle of blackmail and deceit, south Florida style.Playboy Geoffrey Williams is dead. But it's not a search for the killer that brings Archy McNally to the case; the lovely Melva Williams readily admits to the crime passionnel. After finding Geoff in a precarious position with an attractive young lady, she pulled the trigger on husband number two... morePalm Beach private investigator Archy McNally takes on the murder of a socialite and uncovers a thorny tangle of blackmail and deceit, south Florida style.Playboy Geoffrey Williams is dead. But it's not a search for the killer that brings Archy McNally to the case; the lovely Melva Williams readily admits to the crime passionnel. After finding Geoff in a precarious position with an attractive young lady, she pulled the trigger on husband number two. It sounds like an open-and-shut case for McNally & Sons' Department of Discreet Inquiries until Melva asks Archy to shield her daughter, Veronica, from the press and paparazzi. Gallant Archy takes the case -- and escorts grown-up and gorgeous Veronica home to the McNally manse. Rumors fly, and some of them may be true.Veronica is no damsel in distress though, and she's certainly not sorry her stepfather is in the grave. When her story doesn't match Melva's, which doesn't match Geoff's, Archy realizes he does indeed have a dilemma on his hands. Someone's lying, and the one person who knows the truth -- Geoff's perky playmate -- has gotten away.A delectable combination of high society and high jinks, and featuring some of the most eccentric characters to populate Florida's Gold Coast, McNally's Dilemma is as witty and charming as Archy McNally himself. less