The Scarlet Ruse — John D. MacDonald

McGee was too busy with his beloved houseboat, The Busted Flush, to pay attention to the little old man with his missing postage stamps.

Except that they weren't ordinary stamps. No indeed. They were rare stamps. Four hundred thousand dollars' worth. Even so, McGee was not all that turned on until a generously endowed amazon named Mary Alice McDermit made her grand entrance.

She was a six-foot knockout who knew a helluva lot about rare stamps and the ways of a boat bum's vulnerable heart.

But it wasn't McGee's heart that was in danger. It was all of him. Hide and hair complete.

Because a syndicate killer wanted to cancel McGee--permanently. A killer who knew some-thing about stamps--and even more about McGee.