Archy McNally

The above is a character created by the late Lawrence Sanders. He has been 'taken up' by Vincent Lardo. I believe there have been about a dozen books written about Archy, who is a PI, the wastral son of a wealthy and prominent Lawyer. He lives at home and actually works for his father's law firm, undertaking 'discreet enquiries' for and about Dad's clients, who are the rich and famous members of the high society of Palm Beach.

All very light weight and probably forgettable - except he has one huge saving grace - he could be modelled on, or been the model for, our very own Lord Ellpus!

I have only just begun to read one of the books in the series, McNally's Folly. I haven't stopped chuckling yet.

The book opens -

"What could be nicer than holding the hand of a beautiful young lady with the lights turned low? Why, holding the hand of a beautiful young lady with the lights turned off, that's what. And when the young lady is none other than Elizabeth Fitzwilliams - 'Fitz' to her intimates, whose number, according to Palm Beach gossip, is legion - the experience can be quite uplifting, if you get my drift.

I was restrained, literally and figuratively, from joining the ranks of Fitz's intimates by that pillar of Palm Beach society, the formidable Penelope Tremaine - 'Penny' to her intimates, whose pedigrees make up for their numerical paucity - who was holding my other hand."

.....

"My office, in the McNally Building on Royal Palm Way, is slightly larger than a duplex coffin. I can only assume that my father relegated me to this minuscule closet to show those he employs that he, Prescott McNally, is not an adherent of nepotism. Though deprived of a window, he did permit me an air-conditioning vent; he has not, as yet, installed a razor-sharp pendulum in the ceiling, swinging in an ever widening and descending arc. Father is a devotee of Dickens, not Poe, and I am thankful for small blessings."

Any A2Kers familiar with these stories? War and Peace they are not, but seem to promise a bit of fun. Am I just being whimsical or can anyone else see LE here?