Trace - Uns Comem Os Figos...

Trace #4

by Warren Murphy

Trace Series Book 4

Thomas Collins made his living wheeling-dealing San Francisco real estate-but he lived for sex, with every woman within his very long reach. There was his wife, who had grown afraid to be beautiful...his step-daughter, whom he wanted to teach things she could never learn in college...his secretary, who earned her bonuses the hard way...and the hooker, who gave the best value in town.

But now Thomas Collins was missing, a big money policy on his life was up for grabs, and insurance investigator Devlin Tracy had to find him or his company faced a huge payoff. Trace couldn't afford to let even his gorgeous girlfriend Chico slow him down as he went through Collins' list of lovelies to find out how deadly too much sex could be...and what woman was one too murderously many...

Genres: Mystery

212 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Warren Murphy was an American author, most famous as the co-creator of The Destroyer series, the basis for the film Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins. He worked as a reporter and editor and after service during the Korean War, he drifted into politics.

Murphy also wrote the screenplay for Lethal Weapon 2. He is the author of the Trace and Digger series. With Molly Cochran, he completed two books of a planned trilogy revolving around the character The Grandmaster, The Grandmaster (1984) and High Priest (1989). Murphy also shares writing credits with Cochran on The Forever King and several novels under the name Dev Stryker. The first Grandmaster book earned Murphy and Cochran a 1985 Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original, and Murphy's Pigs Get Fat took the same honor the following year.

His solo novels include Jericho Day, The Red Moon, The Ceiling of Hell, The Sure Thing and Honor Among Thieves. Over his career, Murphy sold over 60 million books.

He started his own publishing house, Ballybunion, to have a vehicle to start The Destroyer spin-off books. Ballybunion has reprinted The Assassin's Handbook, as well as the original works Assassin's Handbook 2, The Movie That Never Was (a screenplay he and Richard Sapir wrote for a Destroyer movie that was never optioned), The Way of the Assassin (the wisdom of Chiun), and New Blood, a collection of short stories written by fans of the series.

He served on the board of the Mystery Writers of America, and was a member of the Private Eye Writers of America, the International Association of Crime Writers, the American Crime Writers League and the Screenwriters Guild.

Reviews

[Gilbert Stack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trace and Chico are back trying to determine if a missing man is actually dead so that an insurance policy has to be paid out on him. When Trace finds the body, he decides that rather than report it to the police right away, it makes more sense to figure out who killed him first. There are lots of possible culprits because the dead man, Collins, slept with any woman he could coax into bed with himself—an expensive pastime which he funded through…well I don’t want to give everything away. This is another good one!

[Jack Heath]

Synopsis: Tom Collins was a San Fran real estate mogul who lived for sex. He was missing and insurance investigator Devlin Tracy must find him.

[Alejandro Ortega Neri · Rating 5 out of 5]

"El alcohol debería ser expuesto con orgullo, como el tótem del hombre civilizado que vivía una vida civilizada. Las personas que guardaban el alcohol debajo del fregadero eran pequeños bebedores perniciosos y sucios que pensaban que en el fondo el alcohol era algo vergonzoso. La lejía debía estar debajo del fregadero; el alcohol debería estar sobre la encimera, a plena vista"

Warren Murphy - Los marranos engordan

Cuenta Paco Taibo II que buscó por meses a Warren Murphy para publicarlo en español pero era difícil encontrarlo porque constantemente cambiaba de agente. Cuando por fin lo encontró, Murphy le dijo a Taibo que su error había sido no buscarlo en los bares.

Es la primera vez que lo leo y ese alcoholismo no anónimo rezuma en sus novelas y en su detective Devlin Trace, un personaje que junto a su pareja y ayudante, Michiko, son une delicia: absurdos, burlones y con diálogos maravillosos.

[George · Rating 2 out of 5]

#4 in the Devlin Tracy insurance investigation mystery series.

1985 and grumpy & snarky insurance investigator Devlin Trace Tracy is in San Francisco on vacation attending a Japanese American convention with his girlfriend and her Japanese mother when he is asked to investigate the disappearance of Thomas Collins. Collins, a commercial real estate agent with an insatiable sexual appetite and total sleaze, is a policy holder of Fidelity Insurance Company that has Trace on retainer

While the mystery is good, I was constantly distracted by the snarky, grouchy I'll be a pain in the butt just because I want to Tracy character.

[Taco Beta · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this book -my first in this series- there is a lot of witty dailogue, a nice mystery and the story is over before you know it. Particularly the dialogue between Devlin Tracy (Trace) and his girlfriend Chico is a joy to read. Even though the story is a bit one dimensional, and a lot of characters have the same kind of sarcasm filled sense of humor, that didn't make the book any less enjoyable. A quick, entertaining, but light read.

[K.S. Brooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recommend Pigs Get Fat to any author wanting to learn how to write suspense. Warren Murphy is a master.

[James Hein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another enjoyable palate cleanser before moving to a larger book.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just the normal fun, fast read from Murphy's Trace. Loved it.