The scarlet ruse

by John D. MacDonald

Hardcover, 1973

DDC/MDS

813/.5/4

813/.5/4

Publication

New York : Lippincott & Crowell, 1980 (1973).

Original publication date

1973

Description

Fiction. Mystery. Suspense. Thriller. HTML: Travis McGee is too busy with his houseboat to pay attention to the little old man with the missing postage stamps. Except these are no ordinary stamps. They are rare stamps. Four hundred thousand dollars worth of rare. And if McGee doesn't recognize their value, perhaps Mary Alice McDermit does, a six-foot knockout who knows all the ways to a boat bum's heart. Only it's not McGee's heart that's in danger. Because a syndicate killer has put a contract on McGee. A killer who knows something about stamps . . . and even more about McGee..

Status

Available

Call number

813/.5/4

Series

Travis McGee (14)

Collection

Genres

User reviews

LibraryThing member tripleblessings

Travis McGee helps a little old man to find his valuable stamp collection, while avoiding a hired killer.

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LibraryThing member rmarch2

Wonderful, well-spun tale. A joy to read and a good addition to the Travis McGee series.

LibraryThing member andyray

The scarlet ruse was the heroine's frock and hat left on a boat drifting in a bay. The antagonist would shoot at it, giving away his position, then McGee would take him out. And that's exactly what happened.

LibraryThing member RDHawk6886

It is always good to be back in the company of Travis McGee. THe world always seems more aligned when he is on his boat waxing eloquent with Meyer. The central plot involves a scam with collectible stamps. McGee is ensnared by a nubile amazon of a woman and narrowly escapes death in the end. The

Scarlet Ruse is a facsimile of the nubile amazon propped in a inflatable boat intended to ensnare the cement head villain. AN enjoyable but not upper tier McGee.

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LibraryThing member terrygraap

Another excellent book in the Travis McGee series by John D. MacDonald. McGee helps Mayer with his friend that loses some expensive stamps. McGee locates the thief and almost loses his life.

LibraryThing member datrappert

Once more I followed Travis McGee into the heart of darkness. This, although better written than the previous one (A Tan and Sandy Silence), is a thoroughly depressing, less-than-entertaining wallow into senseless death, a mystery the author apparently doesn't really care about, obtuse explication,

and over-longness! Even the frequent presence of Meyer can't make this one very palatable. At Meyer's request, McGee is called in to investigate the replacement of some valuable stamps with some run-of-the mill ones, but the story loses steam and only recovers near the end--right at the point where McGee is philosophizing about the nature of the male erection--and speeds to an ultra-violent conclusion, mostly driven by McGee's own miscalculations. The best books in the series overcome the awfulness of McGee with some genuine mystery, excellent settings, and some entertaining advice that might come in handy some day, such as if you're attacking by a charging watchdog. This book manages to turn Florida into a very grey place. It's hard to see the series recovering from here. But I'm sure I will press on to the end (or my end)!

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LibraryThing member HenriMoreaux

After being a bit disappointed with the last book in the series, Tan and Sandy Silence, I was immensely pleased to see MacDonald is back on form here in The Scarlet Ruse. A good mystery, organised crime, stamp collecting and murders - what more could you want?

The plot moves along methodically and

logically keeping you interested and trying to guess whose responsible, then when you think you've got it all worked out another leaf unfolds changing things substantially.

The ending was a bit more sombre than usual, but that's not a bad thing, I would say it brought more depth to the character.

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LibraryThing member lamour

Travis McGee is asked by his friend, Meyer, to look into a problem that an elderly stamp dealer named Fedderman. Frdderman thought he had been relieved of thousands of dollars worth of rare postage stamps but could not figure out how it had been done. Travis is not interested until he meets

Fedderman's beautiful employee, Mary Alice McDermit.

Travis is also having to find another mooring site for the houseboat on which he lives as the city commissioners have passed legislation banning permenant residents living on boats in city marinas.

The stamp switch involves gangsters trying to launder money via buying and selling rare stamps. Things become complicated and dangerous for Travis.

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LibraryThing member waldhaus1

Travis always manages to find trouble despite his careful pondering of danger. He seems to find threats to his life coming from unexpected directions. And of course there are always the woman. Part of what makes the series fun is Macdonald’s ability to make the characters distinct and believable.

The reader is privy to what is going on in his mind most of the time - but there are always a few twists held back. Meyer’s role as a counterpoint and thought provoker adds to the interest of the stories. The first person point of view adds excitement to the narrative.

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LibraryThing member ikeman100

Another pretty good John D. McDonald thriller. Always enjoyable.

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