Bright Orange for the Shroud: A Travis McGee Novel

If you have been reading Spillane's Mike Hammer and Westlake's Parker, turning to MacDonald's Travis McGee is a bit like going from Van Halen to Jimmy Buffett. McGee is a guy who lives on a houseboat ("The Busted Flush") on the Gulf Coast waterways of Florida. He putters about and fishes and only works when he needs a stake. These novels have a relaxed pace that takes some getting used to.

Reading these Travis McGee books is more like listening to a guy on a boat on a lazy afternoon spin his yarn. He meanders as he talks to tell you about the type of characters the people he's talking about are. He talks about the fishing off Marcos Island and Naples. He bemoans the fact that modern American cities are designed for cars not people, not even Ybor City which is being converted into some fake New Orleans.

In "Bright Orange For The Shroud," McGee is planning a lazy summer, getting by on the few bucks he has, when Arthur Wilkinson stumbles onto his boat. Arthur used to have a nearby boat where there was always an endless party and he had a cushy inheritance. Had is the operative word before little Wilma Ferner got a hold of him, married him, twisted him around and around her finger till his balls were practically in a jar on her nightstand. Wilma had a lush body and a husky voice. She was always on, always putting on her act, and all the gals were wary of her.

And, he had his money before she introduced him to a bunch of land option swindlers who milked every last cent out of him and left him as nothing but a rotting husk of a man. That's when Wilma had disappeared.

McGee finds someone to nurse Arthur back to health and, meanwhile, sets off like a white knight to con the swindlers and get Arthur's money back.

When he meets the conman, McGee explains "you could feel the impact of his warmth, interest, kindliness, importance. You could be this man's lifelong friend after ten minutes."

This novel keeps the Florida boating feel throughout. It is a more complete work than "Nightmare in Pink." Worth a read just to journey onto the houseboat and listen to the waves lap at the sides of the boat.

No better way to celebrate the 100th anniversary of MacDonald's birth than with his most famous creation, Travis McGee. This book has all you expect from McGee: a friend in need, the potential of money that Travis can split if he recovers it, an evil enemy, the houseboat "Busted Flush," and a Florida setting that is rapidly changing due to the rapacious greed of developers.

This was my first read of MacDonald. Overall I really liked the book but there is just too much psyphoanal mumbo
jumbo. Usually it is short enough to just skip down a few paragraphs. Good story and great character development.

I now believe that Travis McGee, like all great detectives, exists outside of time. How can a novel written over 30 years ago speak to us so directly without reference to its era?
In BRIGHT ORANGE FOR THE SHROUD, knight errant McGee rights wrongs committed by an impromptu consortium which exists to defraud and destroy its victim utterly. McGee flushes out the book's ultra-villain, Boo Waxwell, and does what he can to rectify the wrongs done to an innocent man. All, I might add, without reference to the Cold War, Carnaby Street, Hippies, or anything else which would have identified the book as a product of the Sizties.
MacDonald's villains are the seven deadly sins, with an occasional personification of evil from the swamps like rapist-murderer-extortionist Waxwell thrown in. A wonderful read which I highly recommend.

Travis McGee promised himself a trouble-free summer. But when the local nice guy turned up after having been nearly destroyed by a professional black widow, McGee reluctantly agrees to help. A tennis-playing brunette with a slightly shifty husband turns out to be more bait than anyone expected, and McGee goes hunting for True Evil in the form of this book's villain.
One of MacDonald's best McGee books, filled with the Florida detail and cynicism that are the series' trademarks. What makes it special is the almost unwilling belief in good that the main character nurtures in the face of so much human failing. One of those stories where nearly everything clicks.

Not my favorite Travis McGee plot by any stretch but it's a capable, entertaining read. The real joy in his novels is in their descriptions of the Florida landscape and the witty dialogue. This one delivers on those points despite, as other reviewers' have noted, an unsatisfying ending.

I've read almost every title in the McGee series, and this is surely one of McGee's more disturbing adventures. As in 'A Fearful Yellow Eye', one of the villains is a rapist, so the reader should be prepared to read about that particular evil. (But it is just one aspect to the story, though.)

I concur with other reviewers -- the plot is straightforward. And the characters -- particularly the protagonists -- are easy to identify with and enjoy.

One thing was missing, however: MacDonald, through the worldview of McGee, usually works in a few mini-essays into the narrative. These insightful asides are usually about people, politics, or life in general. I don't recall any from this particular McGee mystery.

I picked up "Bright Orange for the Shroud" based on a recommendation from the store. But I didn't need such encouragement: I am a big fan of John D. MacDonald and, especially, the Travis McGee series. My favorite MacDonald book is "A Flash of Green", but I've always come back to the McGee series. This one, full of that shifty Florida culture, its tennis court bombshell, and gallons of flowing booze, is archetypal MacDonald. And, as I say in each review, I sure hope more people out there are reading MacDonald's works.

A good story, but can be tedious before reaching its climax. Lots of description of the Florida Keys and Everglades. I will read other books by this author but I prefer a faster pace. Lee Child wrote the introduction to this book. Child keeps a story moving and if you like the Travis McGee character, you will love Jack Reacher.

Some villains look just as bad as they truly are, evil, brutal, and coarse. Travis faces one such in this tragic farce, the first of the series to not hold a love interest for our hero. McGee lives to love another day.

Enjoyable book in the Travis McGee series by John D. McDonald. Lots of late '60s Florida lore. A real nasty bad guy from the swamps is finally taken care of by McGee. Usual babes. Fun to reread after about 50 years.

All the ingredients of a great McGee tale are present here, including the essential South Florida locale. It's hard to believe these stories were penned almost thirty years ago, and the rare "tells" that crop up are pretty funny. The typical is a wardrobe description replete with dacron sailcloth slacks, white denim jackets with wooden buttons, and the omnipresent pale yellow ascot. Of course, money matters are a giveaway. Like a wealthy murder victims toney "$30,000 home".
That said, few authors nail a modern detective yarn quite like John D. Read this book, or any other in the series, and you'll see what I mean.