Bel-Air Dead
Bel-Air Dead
Number XX of
Stone Barrington
Stuart Woods
Putnam Adult (2011)
Rating: ★★★★☆
Tags: Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
Mysteryttt Suspensettt Thrillerttt
Stone Barrington's latest client is no stranger. Arrington Calder isn't just a former lover, this one-time heartthrob is the mother of Stone's son. Arrington, it seems, has been recently widowed by her actor husband, leaving her as the custodian of a fortune in Hollywood studio stock. Intent on cashing in, his pretty ex asks Stone to handle the dull paperwork involved in the deal. There is nothing dull, however, about what Barrington encounters when he arrives on the Bel-Air scene. A sexy action thriller from the author of Strategic Moves and Lucid Intervals.
Table of Contents
BOOKS BY STUART WOODS
FICTION
Strategic Moves
2
Santa Fe Edge
4
Lucid Intervals
2
Kisser
2
Hothouse Orchid
1
Loitering with Intent
2
Mounting Fears
3
Hot Mahogany
2
Santa Fe Dead
4
Beverly Hills Dead
Shoot Him If He Runs
2
Fresh Disasters
2
Short Straw
4
Dark Harbor
2
Iron Orchid
1
Two Dollar Bill
2
The Prince of Beverly Hills
Reckless Abandon
2
Capital Crimes
3
Dirty Work
2
Blood Orchid
1
The Short Forever
2
Orchid Blues
1
Cold Paradise
2
L.A. Dead
2
The Run
3
Worst Fears Realized
2
Orchid Beach
1
Swimming to Catalina
2
Dead in the Water
2
Dirt
2
Choke
Imperfect Strangers
Heat
Dead Eyes
L.A. Times
Santa Fe Rules
4
New York Dead
2
Palindrome
Grass Roots
3
White Cargo
Deep Lie
3
Under the Lake
Run Before the Wind
3
Chiefs
3
TRAVEL
A Romantic’s Guide to the Country
Inns of Britain and Ireland (1979)
MEMOIR
Blue Water, Green Skipper (1977)
G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS
Publishers Since 1838
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA •
Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario
M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) • Penguin Books Ltd,
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Pearson New Zealand Ltd) • Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd,
24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa
Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
Copyright © 2011 by Stuart Woods
Photograph of Stuart Woods and Elaine Kaufman © Harry Benson
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned,
or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do
not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation
of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
Published simultaneously in Canada
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Woods, Stuart.
Bel-Air dead : a Stone Barrington novel / Stuart Woods.
p. cm.
eISBN : 978-1-101-51391-0
1. Barrington, Stone (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 2. Private investigators—
Fiction. 3. Bel Air (Los Angeles, Calif.)—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3573.O642B
813’.54—dc22
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either
are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and
any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses,
companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
While the author has made every effort to provide accurate telephone numbers and
Internet addresses at the time of publication, neither the publisher nor the author
assumes any responsibility for errors, or for changes that occur after publication.
Further, the publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any
responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
In memory of Elaine Kaufman (1929–2010), who loved writers
1
Elaine’s, late.
Stone Barrington sat with his client, Mike Freeman, of Strategic Services, and his former partner from his NYPD days, Dino Bacchetti, over the ruins of dinner and a bottle of excellent Cabernet.
“That was good,” Mike said. “I never knew how good the food was here, until you started bringing me.”
“Comfort food,” Dino said.
Elaine sat herself down in the spare chair. “Comfort food?” she asked. “Is that some kind of crack?”
“It’s high praise,” Stone said quickly, not wanting to get her started. Elaine’s did not enjoy a high reputation with the food critics of the local media, because they didn’t come often enough to get the good tables, but the regulars knew how good the food was, and that was all she really cared about.
“I’ll take high praise,” Elaine said.
Stone’s cell phone hummed on his belt, and he dug it out of its holster. “Stone Barrington.”
“Stone, it’s Arrington,” she said. Stone and Arrington had once been a very big item, to the extent of his having fathered a son by her.
“Well, hello there,” he said. “I thought I’d never hear from you again.” They had spent one night together in his Maine house, on Islesboro, at Dark Harbor, and then she had taken her leave, saying it was over.