And 47 Miles of Rope — Warren Murphy

Devlin Tracy is a private investigator specializing in insurance fraud; the bigger the fraud, the bigger his payday. This time, the action is in Las Vegas, and he's playing for seven-figure stakes. It's a complicated job, but that's why they wanted Trace.

Problem: One of Garrison Fidelity's policyholders has been killed, and a million dollars worth of jewels have gone missing. Complication: They're missing from the safe of an often-topless contessa whose poolside entourage includes a bogus baron, a drug-dealing playboy, an up-and-coming starlet with pure animal magnetism, a meek manservant, a Greek gardener, and various other hangers-on. Further complication: prostitutes, pimps, parents, producers, and the police. It's already a circus, but can Trace get the bread?

And 47 Miles of Rope is the second in the Trace series of suspense novels, featuring the charmingly hardboiled insurance investigator.