Bel-Air Dead

Stone Barrington #20

by Stuart Woods

Stone Barrington receives a rather unexpected phone call from Arrington Calder, the ex-girlfriend with whom he has a son. Arrington's much older husband, the actor Vance Calder, has just died, leaving her a fortune in Centurioon Studios stock. Arrington has plans for the money and asks Stone to represent her in the sale of the company. But when he arrives at her home in Bel-Air to finalize the deal, things take a nasty turn. It seems many of Hollywood's rich and beautiful have Arrington and Centurion in their sights, and Stone finds himself dragged into a surprising deadly web of intrigue.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Suspense, Thriller, Mystery Thriller, Crime, Detective

395 pages, Hardcover

First published April 26, 2011

About the author

Stuart Woods was an American novelist best known for Chiefs and his long-running Stone Barrington series. A Georgia native, he initially pursued a career in advertising before relocating to England and Ireland, where he developed a passion for sailing. His love for the sport led him to write his first published work, Blue Water, Green Skipper, about his experiences in a transatlantic yacht race.
His debut novel, Chiefs, was inspired by a family story about his grandfather, a police chief. The book, a gripping crime saga spanning several decades, won the Edgar Award for Best First Novel and was later adapted into a television miniseries. It launched Woods' career as a novelist, leading to a prolific output of thrillers.
Woods' most famous creation, Stone Barrington, is a former NYPD detective turned high-profile lawyer who navigates elite circles while solving crimes. The series became a bestseller and remained a staple of his career, often featuring crossover characters from his other books, such as CIA operative Holly Barker and defense lawyer Ed Eagle.
Beyond writing, Woods was an experienced pilot and yachtsman. He maintained homes in Florida, Maine, and New Mexico, where he lived with his wife and their Labrador, Fred. His literary career spanned decades, with dozens of bestsellers to his name.

Reviews

[Diane Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great series! suspense,mystery,friendship and a very entertaining storyline all in this well written series (paperback!)

[S.L. Pierce · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terrible. Stone Barrington is just a shell of a person now. The book is pretty much about Stone managing massive amounts of money for Arrington. Oh and eating expensive food, flying planes, and driving cars. Not to mention how the women in his books have become completely devoid of personality. Only there to service the men of the book. Unless they are lesbians, of course. Then they are bad guys. If this were a first time author he wouldn't be selling at all. Terrible! It makes me sad because I used to love Stuart Woods but his last say 10 books or so seem like they were written by a child. I haven't bought his stuff in years. You'd think I would learn but I saw it at the library and thought I'd give him another chance. Nothing's changed. Or rather, everything has changed. For the worse.

[Kay · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just what I expected from Woods and his Stone Barrington novels. I would never rate this as a mystery because the only mystery is why I would continue reading them! However, that is what section the library puts them in so I go with it also. His shallow 'James Bond' type character is becoming more boring each book. This is the only time I wish I'd lose my memory so I couldn't remember how good his early books were!!! The only really good thing I can say about his 'Stone' books are they can be read in less than a day.

[Jack Heath · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars. It starts simply. Stone Barrington is asked by Arrington Calder, the extremely wealthy young widow of former Hollywood star Vance Calder, to go to California to vote her shares in Centurion Studios. As her proxy. The object? To ensure the Board turns down a takeover bid for its valuable land in Bel-Air. Terry Prince, the land developer in question, appears to have drug connections in South America. When Stone begins to upset his plans, people begin to become dead! But it's far from certain that Prince is responsible. Barrington's emotions are up as he becomes a partner in Woodman and Weld, but down as this case moves toward an uncertain conclusion. Many of the old gang make appearances: Dino, Ed Eagle, Rick Barron now in his 90s and serving as Chair of the Board at Centurion, Jim Long, Barbara Eagle, and a mysterious young woman with a cold! Feels like a family reunion. Get set for some big money. I wish I could be invited to one of those phenomenal L.A. parties. Just once in a lifetime would be nice! The book? Most enjoyable. PS: an interesting side-note develops about the paternity of Arrington's son Peter. Was it Vance or Stone? (Ja2018/Oc2025)

[Shelley · Rating 2 out of 5]

*Rating 2.5 Stars*
*Genre: Mystery/Suspense

*Review*

Here it is 3:00am and I’ve just finished the twentieth Stone Barrington novel and I really wonder if I am stupid or maybe brain damaged. Truly, there must be some obsessive gene in my body that forces me to borrow these books and continue to read them right? Oh yes, 2.5 as a rating for this story is truly being generous and that’s only because the twisted ending to this book.

So, once again Stone and Dino are sitting in Elaine’s for their usual meal and drink when Arrington Calder calls up and asks for Stone’s help in selling her shares of stock in Centurion Studios. Seems as though someone is trying to take it over and bulldoze the buildings and land for other reasons. Of course, Stone drops his socks and runs off to Bel-Air where his former fling and mother of his child, Peter, has a home. Arrington, of course, is richer than Bill Gates after she was left all of Vance Calder’s money and shares of stock.

Dino Bacchetti, who by the way is still with the NYPD but refuses to be promoted to Captain or in charge of the Homicide Division, has become a playboy just like Stone. He just drops everything he is doing and flies off with Stone without a care in the world for his so called job. Really? A NYPD Homicide cop can just pick up and run across the country on a whim anytime he wants to without getting into trouble or fired? Dino is like the robin to Stone’s batman. He is there, but not really doing anything special until the end.

Mr. Woods then decides that he needs to try to upsell his other series, minus Holly Barker and Will Lee, by having them put in appearance throughout this story. So, yes, you will read about Rick Barron and Ed Eagle along with Ed’s psychotic ex-wife Barbara who has been on the loose and nobody knows how to stop her. I think this reason alone is why I get so mad and frustrated at Woods writing. He doesn’t know when to say enough with the villains.

Maybe I’m getting angry at this series because things seem to fall into Stone’s lap so easily now that he has become a major player in Strategic Services and Woodman & Weld. He finally becomes partner at Woodman & Weld after all the business he’s brought to the law firm. Whereas previously stories had Stone and his secretary Joan Robertson struggling mightily to pay their bills and taking any case he could find.

Or maybe I don’t understand what it feels like to all of a sudden fall into millions of dollars and become a shareholder of a major movie production studio. Of course I can’t since us middle class broke as hell folk have no idea what any of it truly means since we continually struggle monthly to pay our bills and feed ourselves while others are laughing in the lap of luxury.

So, in summary, the bad guy is working with the Columbian and Mexican cartels in order to scuttle Centurion Studios. Bad guy is determined to also purchase the Calder estate from Arrington so that he can build a hotel in Bel Air. Naturally, Barbara comes along with her former lover and tries to undermine the entire thing. Bad guy tries to kill Stone, and anyone else who stands in his way of taking over the studio. Good buys somehow manage to get enough votes to scuttle the takeover and bad buy is arrested. Bad guy gets double crossed by his executive assistant who is actually a murderer and scoundrel. Scoundrel somehow manages to escape like her mentor Barbara when the police finally grab her for the previous murder she committed.

The only place left for this story to go is to have Stone finally meet Peter and introduce himself as his father. That won’t happen anytime soon. Trust me!

On the sex scene: Stone only sleeps with two women. One of them being Arrington.

[Heather · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was very boring. I feel like there is the same pattern followed in the last 10 or so books in this series. The only thing that changes are the women (rarely thoguh) and the case. I used to love these books, but they should come to end pretty soon. It's also getting a bit disgusting that Stone has "relations" with several different women throughout the same book. I'm sure by this point he has many S.T.I.'s! I wouldn't even recommend this books as a beach read because is it not even worth the space in your suitcase.

[Author Annabelle Leigha · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very easy read, however the big plot twist wasn't so big. :(

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

October 2025 possibly my very favorite Stone story.

June 2024. Final chapters were riveting and nail biting.

July 2023. Fav

10/24/22 still good

Aug 2022
Still good

Aug 2020. still a favorite.
2-24-2018 Still lots of suspense even with this being my 4th reading of the story. The super-wealthy have their own set of problems and concerns. Just the fact that Stone obtains a $200 million line of credit for Arrington is quite mind boggling.
4-21-2016 another favorite of mine
3-14-2015 re-read. still like it.
7-1-2011another stone barrington.
lots of money, lots of characters that have aged from previous books.

:..
::
Aug. 2022. Probably my favorite Stone story

[ML · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stone is in California to vote Arrington’s shares in the movie studio her dead husband was a part of.

It was nice to get Stone out of NYC. Dino came with him for this adventure.

Arrington is in this one almost all the way through. Stone now knows Peter is his and that he is his trustee if anything happens to Arrington. This sets up everything for the next book. Son of Stone.

Stone is finally made partner and Woodman and Weld. Ed Eagle is in this one as well as Barbara who seems to always get away with everything.

[Vannessa Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Bel-Air Dead we meet Terry Prince who wanted to buy Centurion Studio to tear it down then build a luxury hotel, residents and office park. To do this, he has to have a majority in Centurion stock and will do anything to get what he wants, including murder.

Stuart Woods is an author I enjoy listening to while gardening, sitting in the park people watching or watching tour boats travel across the Potomac River. I’m remain hopeful that Richard Ferrone will return as the voice of the characters

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I heard that Stuart Woods had recently passed away it made me want to pick up the next book in the Stone Barrington series. So that's exactly what I did. It was definitely the best book of probably the previous 5 in the series. I enjoyed it well enough. I'll definitely be looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

[Pierre Tassé (Enjoying Books) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pretty good book given some of his past writings. I enjoyed the trip and the build up to the end of the story. Good way to pass time.

[Joanne Farley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was not actually a bad read. Given the last few books I am really surprised.

[Giovanni Gelati · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hope everybody had a nice holiday weekend! They are way too short aren’t they? They start and then, boom, over. Personally I could have used another week or two off. Anyway moving on here, to get back in the swing of things, I have tried to get a good mix of novels and digital short stories rolling here. Later on today I drop in an Author’s Spotlight on Joann Lewis/Amy Faircloth, the co-authors of “Wicked Good”. Later on in the week, Thursday, I will be featuring author Cody Toye. I also have some neat guests on The G-ZONE , my blogtalk radio show: today –Big Daddy Abel , Weds.-Robert Vendetti, Thurs. –Barbara Briggs Ward, and then Fri.- Robert Elrod. Good stuff, great guests, plenty of surprises, and some really nice reads to be had; so listen in and check out the blog for all of it. Alright, I am going to start the week by grinding an axe. Yes that’s right, I am going to be a bit pointed in this post, but I feel with good reason. Trust me; I am not taking this lightly! To that end this is what actionable steps I have taken: I have emailed the author; I have offered space on my blog to counterpoint and I have offered him the opportunity to be a guest on The G-ZONE to respond to my issues. Here is what is between the covers on this novel:
“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.”
I have given this three stars till I hear back, if I do, from the author. Perhaps I am misunderstood in the way I have read the novel. Maybe the characters have not turned into buffoons; maybe they are just written that way for some reason. I personally don’t lament the death of certain soap operas that are being replaced by reality shows in the daytime, nor will I lose any sleep over not reading a character I have followed for 20 novels. It’s tough, but I don’t feel I am getting return on my reading time, only frustration. When I first read this character, Stone Barrington, he was not written as outlandishly as he is now. Dino was not a simple side note and relegated to being just a marginal part of the novels, he is now but a caricature of himself, very sad. The bad guys are just too cartoonish and really wouldn’t even fit in a bad graphic novel. I am going to stop here, anything else I could write would just be like sacking the quarterback and the entire defense just piling on. Let me then ask you this: do you agree with any of my thoughts and feelings on this once great character and series? Anybody? Or do you stand on the other side and think I am just tossing rocks at glass houses? Feel free to comment and email me if you are up to it.
Things have changed around here. I am now the published author by Trestle Press of “I Have Chrome Balls, Don’t You?” an “In Between The Collaborations”, “Down Low- Dead” with Vincent Zandri, “The Jersey Shore Has Eyes” with Big Daddy Abel”, “G.S.I Gelati’s Scoop Investigations Psychotic Detectives” with Thomas White, “Who Whacked The Blogger” with Benjamin Sobieck,“Thad and The G-Man’s Most Awesome Adventure” with Thad Brown and the soon to be released “Hotel Beaumont” with B.R. Stateham. All the stories are available @ Amazon, Barnes & Nobles and Smashwords. I am also the host of the wildly popular The G-ZONE blogtalk radio show. Thanks for stopping by today; We will see you tomorrow. Have a great day. http://www.gelatisscoop.blogspot.com

[Joanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

In Bel-Air Dead, Stone Barrington and Dino Bachetti fly to California to try to stop the sale of Centurion Studios to Terrance Price, an LA power broker rumored to have gotten his money from his dead brother's drug empire. The sale would mean the end of the studio, one made famous by late actor Vance Calder. Stone represents Calder's widow, Arrington, with whom he shares a son. While this may seem like an interesting plot, it is not. Text is repeated over and over as someone new enters the scene. And it focuses more on Stone's helping Arrington buy a Virignia horse farm, a new jet, selling her current house, buying land around her house in LA, and trying to buy enough stocks to stop the sale of the studio. And if that isn't bad enough, Stone hops from bed to bed, which is getting very, very old. If you are a Stone Barrington fan, you will be disappointed. If you aren't, don't bother.

[Gary Gallucci · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is book #20 in the series. A notorious real estate developer hopes to purchase a good chuck of a Bel-Air movie studio lot. A major shareholder in the studio is one of Stone Barrington's former lovers and she gets him involved as her agent. Shareholders take sides for and against the sale. Meanwhile, the real estate guy, backed by Mexican cartel money, is murdering people to swing things in his favor. The tension keeps building as it all eventually comes down to a shareholders' vote. Good stuff.

[Tim · Rating 1 out of 5]

This character has fallen so far that I couldn’t wait to finish this trash. Stuart Woods used to care, but he clearly doesn’t anymore unless you enjoy spoiled Barrington who earns millions for nothing and can sleep with whomever, even lesbians if he sets his mind to it. 1 of 10 stars

[Montessahall Montessahall · Rating 1 out of 5]

So BORING!!!! Repetitious in every way: A ridiculous mess of: mind numbing airplane talk, sex, boring characters, poor editing, booze, food, Elaine's, child-like weird dialogue, wingman Dino, too many phone calls, and a thin, super dull plot. Yawn.

[Patti · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think I am done with Stuart Woods books. They have just gone downhill and quite frankly are boring.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

These books featuring Stone Barrington are NOT great literature but good quick fun reads. I could do with less detail of Stone’s sex life. I think the author has a over active fantasy life..

[Dawn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Blech, stupid Arrington. Although since I know what happens to her in the next book, there seemed to be a LOT of foreshadowing in this one. There also seemed to be quite a few loose ends that weren't tied up, so I hope they are addressed in the next one. I love how Dino and Stone and Arrington don't seem to age but the son is somehow now 15.

[Cathi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't like this one because Arrington is in it. There wasn't much of a mystery or anything interesting going on. It was mostly just Stone being Stone, especially with Arrington. Yuck.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve never read a Stone Barrington book before, but someone gave me several of them, so I gave it a try. Not super engaging, but not bad either. I will probably read others in the series.

[Diana S · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ☆☆☆

[Kathy LeJeune · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this series!

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, I love the series. This book was rather slow and dull not the normal action packed story-you could skip it, and still know what’s going on in the next book.

[Denea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent Series these books are sssssooooooo good. Love the Plots

[Rick · Rating 5 out of 5]

a great story dealing with multiple killers and the drug cartel.

[Kelly Faulconer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok.. I know that a lot of people do not know who Stuart Woods is or that a lot of people have not admitted that they were a fan of his to me. Except one of my friends from high school told me yesterday that he’s read some of Stuart woods. That made me so happy. Anyways, this book was a culmination of so many characters meeting up for one big adventure, a.k.a. murder mystery. I loved this book so much!  This takes place after the 17th Stone Barrington novel. This is 2nd for Rick Barron’s series. Arrington Calder, Mike Freeman, Ed Eagle and my fave, Dino Bachetti are in this book. I think Stuart explains the back stories enough that you can read any book in any order. This was an amazing weekend read. Stone is a former NYPD Homicide detective, his old partner, Dino, is now a LT in the 19th precinct. His old flame, Arrington is a widow of a famous movie actor. Mike Freeman, a very wealthy man, owns a security company who can whip up a protection team in minutes . Ed Eagle is one of the most famous defense attorneys in the country and hails from Santa Fe. LOVED IT! I have wondered if I bought a signed copy of a book from Stuart Woods, which one it would be.. I think this is my too contender!!

[Raina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bel-Air Dead is yet another entertaining edition to the Stone Barrington series. It still surprises me that even after TWENTY of these that I have not grown tired of Stone and Dino. While the plots are eminently predictable I still pick them up every time they come out and usually end up finishing it in a day or so. Bel-Air Dead Stone is invited to stay at, Arrington Calder's Bel-Air guest house. She is Stone's of his former lover (along with most every woman he meets) and mother to his only son. She has asked Stone there to have him sway necessary votes in a proxy fight for the survival of Centurion Studios, the independent movie studio close to her deceased husband's heart. Dino, of course, goes along for the ride in Stone's brand new jet, aquired in the previous novel. As always, mayhem ensues. Sadly Stone's secretary, Joan, makes only a cameo appearance by telephone, but several former clients/characters from other books find their way into Bel-Air Dead as Woods revisits a 1940s book about a movie star.