When Elephants Forget

Trace #3

by Warren Murphy

As far as Trace was concerned, New York was a lousy place to visit, and an even worse place to make a living. But the insurance company that employed him had sent him to Manhattan to check out a death in a Family that made the Mafia look like the Waltons. And to add an extra twist of trouble, Trace's girlfriend, Chico, came along to keep him on the straight and narrow while she explored the far-out kicks of fun city. In a town where every woman seemed available at the price of peril...where a blizzard of cocaine was burying users and pushers alike...and where the answer to the most polite question was a quick kick in the teeth...the freest free-lance investigator of them all found the Big Apple pure poison when he cut to the core of a crime that nobody wanted solved.

Genres: Mystery, Detective

Nook

First published January 1, 1984

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]

This is an excellent mystery surrounding the murder of the son of a low-level mafia type. To make matters just a little bit odd, the college age son who was murdered was wearing a Richard Nixon mask at the time of his death. Trace has to figure out what the heck happened and do so in New York City which is way too close to New Jersey where his wife and children (“what’s his name and the girl”) live. He’s also saddled with his father who dreams of setting up a detective agency with his son (just so that dad has an excuse to get out of the house and away from Trace’s mother a little while each day).

It's an excellent mystery which Trace (with a little help from dad and a lot of help from Chico) unravels in another excellent ending.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is book #3 in the humorous detective series based on Trace, an aging insurance investigator with a smart Eurasian girlfriend who helps solves the cases with him. A very funny, light series that I enjoy tremendously and "When Elephants Forget" is no exception.

Trace is called to New York City, which he hates because it is too close to his ex-wife and his two kids, "What's-his-name and the girl". But Chico offers to go along with him and they meet with
Trace's father, who wants to go into the detective business together, which Trace hates the idea of.

Meanwhile, he is supposed to be looking into the death of a college student, the son of a low level hoodlum who has a $1,000,000 policy on him. Found dead in a road side stop, wearing a Richard Nixon mask of all things.

So Trace needs to figure out who the killer is, all the while avoiding tying himself down even more with a detective agency. And trying to get healthier. It's all quite complicated and quite
humorous.

Another solid entry in the Trace series, which is just too much fun. He's always dreaming up crazy ideas to try and market, as a commentary on the sad plight of most folks, really. But he gets the
job done, at least with the help of Chico and his father, and they do finally escape back to Las Vegas.

[Glen · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent mystery by Warren Murphy.

Trace goes to New York to avoid his mother. He take Chico, his girlfriend with him. Chico wants Trace to cut down all of his vices, so Trace is miserable, plus he hates New York, and his father wants him to join a PI firm.

There's a mystery in there somewhere, and as usual, Trace flails about aimlessly until Chico solves it.

Great stuff.

[James Hein · Rating 4 out of 5]

A better mystery book than the other two in that I had not guessed the ending until it was revealed, unlike the first two books.

Definitely going to book 4