Joint review with Woods' L.A. DeadStone Barrington is a cop-turned-lawyer and private investigator who needs to be much more selective in his choice of bedmates. I read these two books out of sequence. They can be read independently, but to get the full flavor of the hole Stone has dug for himself, one should really read Dead in the Water, which I have not read, then L.A. Dead, followed by Cold Paradise. In the beginning of L.A. Dead, Stone is off to Italy about to marry the beautiful Dolce, daughter of a Mafia don, who is also father-in-law to Dino, Stone's ex-partner, now a homicide lieutenant in New York City -- and also one of my favorite characters; he has so much more common sense than Stone. Anyway, after the Italian civil ceremony, but before the finalizing (or so Stone thinks) religious ceremony, the wedding party is notified that Vance Calder has been shot. Vance is the husband of Stone's former love-of-his-life, Arrington Calder, who is the prime suspect. So, with his prospective father-in-law's blessing (he's an amazingly helpful and understanding guy) off trots Stone to California to defend his former lover. To make a long — but fun — story short, Stone manages to piss off just about everyone, while sleeping with assorted movie stars and rekindling his affair with Arrington, much to the consternation and anger of Dolce, who annoyingly keeps checking into expensive hotels and announcing that she is Mrs. Stone Barrington, which, according to Italian law, she is. Anyway, Dolce keeps popping up at inconvenient times, popping away at his numerous new girlfriends with assorted guns. Stone gets Arrington off the hook, of course. Cut to Palm Beach, where Stone has been hired in Cold Paradise by the enormously wealthy Thad Shames to find a woman he just met at a party, whose name he does not know, but whom he wishes to marry. Unlikely as it may seem, the woman turns out to be Allison Manning, a woman supposed to be dead (from Dead in the Water), and also with whom Stone has had an affair (it's difficult to imagine a woman he has not bedded). To make things complicated, Allison wants to get out of her earlier marriage to Paul Manning, a man who supposedly had been hanged for having murdered three people in Dead in the Water. Stone also helps her perpetrate a minor insurance fraud -- read sophisticated legal maneuver. And then, guess who should show up but Dolce, escaped from a mental institution where Stone had conveniently left her (again with the help of her Mafia father). In the meantime, Stone lives a life of luxury on Thad's incredible yacht while bedding Thad's secretary. And then Arrington shows up, too, now married to someone else again. Well, I guess it's all in fun. Dino, in particular, is a wonderful character, but the coincidences stretch one's credulity beyond the breaking point.
My brother turned me onto Stuart Woods a couple summers ago when he passed on to me a box full of books he was done with (some of which I have not yet gotten around to reading), and I have enjoyed the ones I read, so I was happy to pick up four more of his books at a recent library book sale (at $3 a bagful, which I could not resist). I was then even happier to find that three of the four were Stone Barrington novels and in sequence, so reading the three of them one after the other was like reading a major-size book! I have read a couple other Stone Barrington novels, and I find them interesting as portrayals of how the moneyed people live, not to mention the inevitable fascination of young women throwing themselves at the main character. Because I have read those other books, unfortunately, I already know what is going to happen to some of the characters in this sequence, but I did not find that overly disturbing as Woods writes each novel as a compact full story.This novel starts with Stone, a former policeman/detective turned lawyer who works as a consultant for a large New York law firm, handling the cases the firm’s lawyers wish to avoid, being hired by an eccentric billionaire to go find the woman of his dreams, whom he had met at a party the preceding week before coming to NYC to publicize a new high-tech firm he was starting up. Stone flies down to Palm Springs, Florida, where that meeting had taken place, and finds the girl the very next day-recognizing her as a woman he had been involved with two years previously in an adventure I presumed is covered in a novel I have not yet read. In that prior life, Stone had defended her from a charge of having been involved with her deceased husband in an insurance scam, but the he lost the trial and she had been executed, which is shy he was surprised to find her sitting in a restaurant in Palm Springs where he was lunching with his new employer’s girl-Friday, with whom he was already becoming involved. If this is not enough complexity, in walks the girl of Stone’s dreams, whom he has already lost twice in prior adventures, including the novel preceding this one, L.A. Dead. Meanwhile, the dream girl’s husband, supposedly killed at sea and then subsequently executed for having murdered three people, also turns up, now gunning for both his former wife and also for Stone.Like all of Woods’ books, this is well-written fast-turning adventures, and a good read.
What do You think about Cold Paradise (2002)?
This is the 7th book in the Stone Barrington series (I recommend reading from the beginning).Cop-turned-lawyer Stone Barrington, becomes reacquainted with a case he thought was buried years ago, and must settle romantic entanglements that haunt him still. Allison Manning, the beautiful and enigmatic woman Stone defended against a murder charge in Dead in the Water, mysteriously reappears to request his help with a set of problems she has never resolved, which involve millions of dollars. She fears, too, that somebody might be stalking her, but she's not sure who - or why. She knows of no one better than Stone, who has both the legal experience and the investigative instincts to guarantee her safety.
—Bob0link
What is wrong with me??? I keep buying these books [no I'm not even smart enough to borrow them or check them out from the library!]. After this book,I was ready to give them up but I do need something to clear my mind every once in awhile. I keep thinking one of these books will show me why women keep throwing themselves in Stone's bed! I'm still reading them and I've never discovered why all these women find Stone charming, but they are either gotten better or my reading tastes have declined!!! This was one of the worst of his books
—Kay
Palm Beach is the most glamorous scene-of-the-crime yet for cop-turned-investigator Stone Barrington, who becomes reacquainted with a case he thought was buried years ago and must settle romantic entanglements that haunt him still.Stone's ex-wife escapes her father and is finally taken back to him.Allison Manning and Paul Manning are responsible for murders. They are caught.
—Nancy
