One dead hooker. One dead one-night stand. One dead Palm Beach socialite. Lipstick traces, computer-printed death threats and more suspects than an Agatha Christie novel add up to a taut, well-developed, highly recommended erotic thriller.

In a very dynamic performance, Jim Belushi plays a cop (what else?) who talks to us from the grave via flashback. A nice touch that worked well in 1940's film noir. Belushi's testimony can put a mobster away in the death of a hooker, but Belushi's one-night fling, a waitress, winds up with the same m.o. as a hooker—nude and dead, with a lipstick-sealed note. Since the mob guy's already in jail, the parade of suspects begin. Is it Belushi's cop partner Tony Goldwyn? Is it his lady friend Lorraine Bracco (looking sexier than she has ever looked)? Is it his brother (William Russ) who's running for state senator? Is it Belushi?

The film is full of dodges, bluffs, red herrings, smoke bombs, mirrors and misdirections with a couple of spicy skin-heavy love scenes thrown in for good measure (though I suspect that Bracco had a body double). No more needs to be said since this is one of those dodge and weave plots that keeps you guessing to the last minute. Traces of Red is a film that grabs you from the get-go and never lets up with clever scripting and intriguing characters. A good suggestion is to begin an erotic thrillers' section and put this one on the top of your want list.