Palm Beach in July is usually a dull place, so when the romance novelist Sabrina Wright comes to town, the gossip columns are on high alert. Ms. Wright is in pursuit of her husband, who was in pursuit of her daughter, who came to PB in quest of her biological father. The father is reputed to be someone of high standing in Palm Beach society, and at the time he paid a substantial amount of money in exchange for Sabrina’s silence. She didn’t reveal the identity of the father, merely his existence, but that’s enough to have everyone on all sides clamouring for Archy’s assistance to smooth things over. But murder won’t smooth anything over…

This is not a plot that ages well, and I had to derive enjoyment more from Archy’s narration and the side plot involving Binky Watrous, the thorn in his side who thinks he’s Archy’s friend. The book also suffers a bit for Archy’s parents being away on a cruise, but the story picks up more when they come home. I did like seeing more of Jamie and Ursi, though; Archy hangs out with them more when his parents aren’t around.

This book is a 3 for nostalgia purposes. If this were a first-time read, it would probably be a 2.5. ( )

Love Lawrence Sanders as an author and enjoyed this book as much as I enjoyed his others. He is a wonderful author and if you haven't experienced him yet, do it now! The great thing about his books is you can read them in any order. It really doesn't feel as though you've missed anything like a regular series will. Enjoy! ( )

Spring break was very lucrative for this female writer. Inpregnated by having one sex fling each with the 3 boys of wealthy families made her a very wealthy woman. She knew each young man would pay her versus having family know. As the years went by and their futures grew, she blackmailed continually, knowing they had important careers and families they could ill afford to have destroyed. When her daughter found out, she & her step father plotted her mother's murder in hopes to gain wealth. ( )