The McNally books were, as I said, pure fluff. “If Sanders is indeed “lionized,” it’s more for his pre-McNally books.“I just finished reading my first Sanders book– McNally’s Caper–it was atrocious.In 2013, Lardo returned to the gay genre with The Jockstrap Murders. Then again, as one reader pointed out, tongue slightly in cheek: “Lardo has either captured the style perfectly, or he wrote the earlier books, too.” A class-action suits against the publisher was launched by fans who felt they’d been cheated, and settlements and concessions were made. Every subsequent edition and the five subsequent McNally books that Lardo wrote (all of which made the New York Times bestseller lists) listed Lardo’s name right on the cover-albeit in much small sized text than Sanders. Apparently he had been chosen by the family to continue the series. Lawrence Sanders wrote his first novel, The Anderson Tapes, in 1970 at the age of 50 and promptly won the Edgar for best first novel, and went on to become a fixture on bookshelves and spinner racks around the world, selling over fifty million copies of his thrillers.Īfter Sanders’ death in 1998, I asked, half-jokingly, if Sanders had actually written the McNally books, given that they were so much breezier than his usual heavy-handed potboilers.Īnd then the first McNally published post-humously, McNally’s Dilemma (1999), appeared with Sanders’ name, as usual, sprawled across the cover, only to discover–on the copyright page of the first edition in tiny print-that it had been written by Vincent Lardo, a writer with a few gay-themed novels under his belt. Readers are advised to also check out Sanders’ other decidedly less foppish gumshoes, including Samuel Todd, Joshua Bigg, Dora Conti, Timothy Coneor, if you’re in the mood for something a bit pulpier, try out some of his pre- Anderson Tapes stuff with Wolf Lannihan.
Kinky and slinky, this series may be fluff, but dammit! It was fun fluff! Way up.Īrchy is a bumbling but charming buffoon a mild-mannered Shell Scott-type with Woosteresque tendencies, he dresses nice and knows which type of fork to use, while his cases usually involve cocktails, chit-chat and more than a few bizarre murders. Yes, it’s yet another one of Sanders’ detectives catering to the rich and powerful, but in this series, the humour is played up. Laidback bon vivant ARCHIBALD “ARCHY” MCNALLY was the last, but he was also probably the most fun.ĭroll, detached upper class twit Archy works as a private investigator for his stern, august Palm Beach attorney father whose clientele consists of the wealthiest (and twisted) denizens of that exclusive Florida community. The one-man publishing industry that was Lawrence Sanders (No, really! in the 70s and 80s, he was everywhere!), created more than one interesting private eye.
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