Quick & Dirty

Stone Barrington #43

by Stuart Woods

Stone Barrington gets entangled in the intricate and rarefied art business in the latest thriller by #1 New York Times-bestselling author Stuart Woods.

When a slam-bang of a crime brings a beautiful new client into Stone Barrington's office, little does he know his association with her will pull him into a far more serpentine mystery in the exclusive world of art. It's a business where a rare find could make a career--and a collection--and mistakes in judgment are costly. And under its genteel and high-minded veneer lurks an assortment of grifters and malfeasants eager to cash in on the game.

In the upscale world of New York City's luxury penthouses and grand Hamptons estates, it will take a man of Stone Barrington's careful discernment and well-honed instincts to get to the truth without ruffling the wrong feathers . . . because when it comes to priceless and irreplaceable works of art, the money and reputations at stake are worth killing for.

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

323 pages, Hardcover

First published October 24, 2017

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

[(NurseLisa) Square Granny from Ohio · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5/5 stars - I am so disappointed and frustrated with what this series has sunk to become. I used to be a rabid fan of Woods' works, preordained EVERYTHING the second word was released....I hold a special place in my heart for Stone and Dino and the gang, but PUH-LEEEASE. The story lines have become almost pointless and the gratuitous, UNSAFE, pointless, and ridiculously unrealistic pseudo-sex has taken over, imho.
Dear Mr. Woods,
Sir, you are NOT an erotic romance/thriller writer; PLEASE KNOCK THAT SHIT OFF. it's embarrassing to you and your fans and it is STUPID STUPID STUPID. Please bring back our classy guy in the Stone Barrington character...I certainly miss him.
*mic drop and painful eye roll*

[Tim · Rating 2 out of 5]

A mostly pointless story around forged art with limited interest. 4 of 10 stars

[Skip · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much better than #42. Stone gets involved with a hedge fund widow, whose husband did a swan dive off their balcony. A Van Gogh painting has disappeared and Arthur Steele's insurance company hires Stone to find it before they have to pay. In the background is a story about art forgery, provenance, shady art dealers, NYPD's art expert, and some shenanigans in the building of the hedge fund couple. A lot of people die in this one, some even of natural causes...

[Raymond · Rating 4 out of 5]

I consider the Stone Barrington books to be a guilty pleasure. They are quick reads and I can fantasize about being super wealthy and super promiscuous. Able to have sex many times a night with amazingly beautiful women. Able to fly my own jet across country or across the Atlantic to live in luxury and have more sex with more beautiful women. This book, however, has a decent plot and is surprisingly good.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stone Barrington meets Morgan Tillman, a hedge fund millionare's widow. Her husband fell to his death over a year ago and Stone's friend Police Commissioner Dino likes Morgan for the murder. Of course, Stone gets involved with her. A Van Gogh painting is missing from her lavish apartment and Stone is persuaded to find it, even though it's possibly a fake that is insured for $60 million.

This is #43 in the series and if you like Stone Barrington books, this one is typical of the 40+ others. I read this one in December and since #44 is almost here, I thought I better get around to writing a review. Quick and Dirty is a quick read without a lot of substance. Stone didn't fly anywhere in his airplane in this one and there wasn't as much action or excitement as some in the past. Basically an art caper where the thieves always seem to be a step ahead.

[Mahoghani 23 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Art......who knows which piece of art is real? There's a Van Gogh picture missing from the home of a friend of Stone Barrington. He's been hired by the insurance company to locate the portrait within two weeks time. Along with the missing portrait, there's a death and mystery to what may have happened.

It reads like an old detective story with short chapters and mini cliffhangers. Barrington always seem in charge and very serious; something of a ladies man. The characters are a mixture of upper class, police, ruffians, mobsters....enough to keep you entertained. The plot and title are a little confusing. Still an okay read.

[Will · Rating 4 out of 5]

SUBJECTIVE READER REVIEW WITH PLOT SPOILERS FOLLOWS:

In the grand scheme of things, 'Quick & Dirty' is brain candy, but it also comes with redeeming characteristics. As I've found of all Stuart Woods' reads, his writing style is 'pliable', well-spread in the formatting and the ever-present subliminal quest for sex is most reassuring. 'Quick & Dirty' has an interesting storyline, and it was not predictable regards the ending. Stone meets a new hot client who becomes yet another paramour, and surprise, surprise; she doesn't jilt him by the end of the book!

'Quick nd Dirty' involves the shady world of art forgery, and Woods goes straight to the top with a van Gogh mystery painting as the piece de resistance. Since it's never been catalogued, provenance becomes a soup sandwich, and former hedge fund billionaire Mark Tillman had it in his possession, duly insured by the Steele Group for sixty million. Its disappearance becomes the crucible of the storyline for the book. The fact that it disappeared simultaneous to Mark Tillman's unresolved death gives the story dual subplots of interest.

Characters playing a role in the disappearance include a bellman, a local fence and bar owner, an art gallery owner and a mafia Don. Things don't always flow smoothly, as Stone takes a sap against the head and is hospitalized--in the same room as art forger Angelo Farina, who dies after admitting forging the whole thing! Of course, knowing that doesn't call off the dogs, as there's still the matter of the missing van Gogh--that only Stone knows is a forgery. So the last third of the book is dedicated to tracing a fake van Gogh out of and back into Manhattan, the insurance guy finally taking possession as Stone returns the fake to paramour Morgan Tillman's Park Avenue penthouse wall. This after insurance magnate Arthur Steele pays five million to the thief and twelve million to Stone, reporting to his Board of Directors that it was a bargain considering the van Gogh was insured for sixty million. This might well go down as the worst bamboozling Stone's pulled on one of his 'allies' in recorded memory.

[Tracie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although Stone Barrington always lives close to the edge, I think he crossed the line in Quick and Dirty. I was disappointed to find him so shady.

[M. Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stone Barrington is still a smooth operator..an entertaining art theft👍🏻

[Janice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading Stuart woods, especially the stone Barrington books, is like watching a soap opera...you must suspend all elements of reality. Don't think too much, or the story falls apart. But if you want a quick read, with no substance, this is it. This particular book was full of plot holes and unanswered questions. Stone meets a new rich woman and, of course, falls into bed with her. Nothing new there. The police and art expert were dolts. At least there weren't any international terrorists trying to kill him, unless they were wielding the sledgehammers? So many unanswered plot threads that I wondered if this will be continued in the next book? If so, shouldn't there have been a "to be continued..."?

[Kym Gamble · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Stone Barrington novels are good solid mysteries. This one was no exception. A stolen painting, a man who does reproductions of the originals, a wife who just wants her painting back. These and other twists and turns make this book a high 4-star book. I really am coming to like the continuing characters and yet, the books can be read on their own (not in order). This one I didn't see the ending coming. There are some not-so-gross, sex scenes in it so they probably wouldn't be good for little ones but adults can read them and not feel like they have to keep them away from prying eyes. Barrington is an interesting main character and his entourage keeps you guessing. I even found myself laughing at points.

[Jenny Clark · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was just alright. I find it hard to believe that a 40 something man would just fall into bed with any woman, as Stone does, and the fact that the commissioner of police does not think to take the I phone down to the morgue to have the deceased owners thumb pressed to it is unthinkable.
Had it not been for those two things, this would probably have gotten 3, but as it is...

[Carol Irvin · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 and 1/2 Stars ✨

[Alan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Banal fluff. A tiny bit more effort please!! From relative quality to utter drivel in such a few novels.

[Dianem · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ii like stuart woods books. Quick easy reads.

[Garry Thompson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy to read, but a waste of time. Stone drinks, finds a new flame, has sex... Stone makes more money. The only surprise is the lack of sex with Holly. The three-star rating is a push. I don't know why I continue to read these books.

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good Stone Barrington book much better than #42. The plot of stolen art is wonderful, great mystery and surprising twist.

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading the series because a friend gave me the books. All of Stuart Woods are a fast read, not a huge fan!

[Paula Staten O'Connell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh...once again, typical Stone. He drinks a lot and meets an available, beautiful woman with a voracious sexual appetite who throws herself at him. Does Woods' publisher not have someone who at least looks over the books to make sure the characters names don't change? I believe it was this book (though it could have been the previous one), yet again a character's name is changed for no particular reason--Charlie Fox becomes Charlie Ford. Could someone type up a list of character names for Stuart so he doesn't get confused, please? Also, we have another airplane (or air-o-plane, according to narrator Tony Roberts) with the tail number N123TF, which is Stone's tail number. I know that Woods has said that does that on purpose, but it's still dumb.

There is quite a bit of laziness in this book. First: there's a group of ninja-esque people running around NYC bashing the windows out of high-end cars with sledgehammers. They focused on figuring that out for a while, and then just simply gave up on it. Um...huh? I get that in real life, crimes go unsolved all the time, but this is a work of fiction and I expect the MYSTERIES to get solved in a MYSTERY novel. If you aren't going to bother to solve it, why invent something so terribly random?!?

Secondly, Stone completely throws all of his morals and ethics out the window.

*SPOILER ALERT*
Stone's always been pretty loose with his morals with anything involving his penis, but now he's done a bunch of shady shit. He offered legal counsel to people who may have stolen and/or forged art that was insured by Steele Insurance--one of his biggest clients and a company of which he is a board member. He "disclosed" his association with Steele before talking to them, then he questioned them and reported everything they said to the police.

Arthur Steele offers Stone $12M to recover the missing painting before Steele has to pay out the $60M insurance claim. At one point, Stone is kidnapped (after barging into a place alone like an idiot after he was repeatedly told not to) and they want $5M for the painting. It turns into a typical shit-show, they call Arthur and Stone nearly gets killed. Then Stone REFUSES to give his CLIENT LEGAL ADVICE unless he agrees to still pay Stone the reward money, even though the BAD GUY has the painting and is asking for EVEN MORE MONEY for it. Not to mention the fact that earlier, Stone has suggested that Arthur should just deduct the bad guy's $5M from the reward money. It's all so stupid...

Also, Dino's guys are normally quick to respond, but somehow his detectives are always hours behind the bad guys. And then the best advice is to "follow the goombas who are looking for him." Nice police work, D.

*SERIOUS SPOILER ALERT*
In the end, Stone discovers that 1) the painting was hidden in plain sight the whole time. 2) both paintings were forgeries. He decides to keep all that information to himself so that he doesn't have to give the reward money back. And, he decides not to go to the Steele board meeting to help defend Arthur's actions, which netted him $10M that he doesn't even need. NOT TO MENTION THE FACT THAT STEELE DOESN'T HAVE THE PAINTING AUTHENTICATED. So, is it still insured for $60M? WTF kind of businesses are these people running?!?

Rant over.

And yes, I've already checked out the next one.

[Scott Butki · Rating 3 out of 5]

#39 - Black Dog and Quick & Dirty by Stuart Woods. This is the 62nd book in Woods' Stone Barrington series. Stone is a former NYPD detective turned lawyer, counsel for a prestigious law firm. This is one of the last books the prolific Woods wrote: This was published in August 2022 and he died on July 22, 2022.

In this novel, Stone has a new client, who is beautiful and incredibly wealthy. He first meets her when she wants to make a new will to reflect issues with her stepson, Edwin Jr., who she describes as "a right little shite." Specifically, she wants a trust set up for him that would pay him $100,000 a month for the rest of her life on the condition he can never ever be in the same house as she. This is partly because she thinks he has been sending anonymous threats. She makes Stone the sole trustee and as soon as he meets with Edwin he knows this is not going to be a good, healthy relationship and such is indeed the case with Eddie making demands of him, trying to pressure Stone on certain decisions, getting in trouble with the law, etc.

Although this is one of the last books in the series I wanted to read at least one book in this series before it ended and I am glad I did. While not exactly deep it was a fun thriller with good, witty repartee. I give it an 8.

This sparked me to read another book in the Stone Barrnington series called Quick & Dirty, the 43rd book in the series. In this one Stone gets a new client, who he almost immediately starts sleeping with. Stone, I realized, sure gets around. Anyway,she lost a Van Gogh in a robbery-murder in which her husband died, although the police are not convinced she didn't just hide the Van Gogh somewhere. Stone gets involved in trying to find the valuable missing painting. Eventually, things get sorted of, kind of.

These books are guilty pleasures but reading the second book made me realize how formulaic these books are. We can all use some guilty pleasures at times but I think I will pass on reading other novels by Woods. I give this one a 7.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stone Barrington is caught up in the art world of New York City as he takes on a new and beautiful widow as a client. Her husband was a very wealthy man, who happened to take a high dive frrom the balcony of their luxury apartment at a very fancy address. At the time of his death the NYPD had her high on their list of suspects, in fact just about the only one. At the time of his death, a very expensive painting also disappeared from their collection in the penthouse-- a van Gogh estimated to be worth $60 million.

Arthur Steele, a partner in the insurance company which insured the painting, offers Stone a finders fee of $12 million if he is able to track down the missing painting, saving his company from such a large payout to the widow. Stone calls in Art Massi, an art expert with the NYPD, to help him with the search and offers him $1 million for his help as Art is more familiar with the underground world involved with art.

What Stone and Art are beginning to consider is if the missing painting could indeed have been a forgery. One of the world's best art forgers lives in the New York area, after leaving his productivity in Europe behind. Angelo Farina's work is so good that many museums in New York and other places sometime question the authenticity of some of their paintings. Stone decides to enlist his help to learn how to spot a forgery. He also asks Farina to paint him a van Gogh painting.

Will Stone, and Art, be able to find the missing painting for his new client? Will they ruffle the wrong feathers? Will they make it through the investigation involving priceless and irreplaceable works of art without someone getting killed? For the money and reputations at stake are worth killing for.

[Juanita · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5-ish stars. I enjoyed it more than the last installment. We open up with Stone and Holly talking a bit. Things are moving along well with Kate wanting Holly to become the next president. Stone's Bentley is attacked with a sledgehammer when he's riding in it one day, and there are other such attacks on other such expensive cars. This storyline doesn't go anywhere, it's never solved, but it leads to one of the women whose car was attacked seeking Stone's assistance as she feels the police weren't concerned enough. Her name is Morgan Tillman, and of course she's rich and beautiful, as are all women in Stone's world. They start dating, but Morgan has a bit of history. She's widowed, and her former husband, Mark, was killed by a cat burglar in front of her eyes, or so her story goes. The burglar made off with a Van Gogh worth an astronomical sum, thought to be the last painting completed before his death. Stone gets involved, as the Steele Group was the insurer and Arthur asks for his help locating the work as the time is almost up before they must pay the $60M claim. It's a convoluted case, introducing Stone to interesting people such as Arthur Farina, a former well-known, extremely talented forger who winds up dying of natural causes at the end. It turns out that Mark Tillman was going to commit insurance fraud, mailing the Van Gogh to himself via FedEx, and not telling his wife about it. Stone determines Mark's death was an accident and Morgan lied about the painting being stolen as she had noticed it was gone and decided her story needed to explain both the dead husband and the missing painting. They end up recovering it, and all's well that ends well.

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

#43 in the Stone Barrington series (and #63 in the Barrington universe). In the latest installment of my favorite soap opera, Stone is rather reserved - he doesn't bed his latest female acquaintance until page 40, though to be fair, he doesn't meet her until page 26. A possible insurance scam is at the base of the story and it has more plot twists and suspects than usual. One of the twists has Stone coshed and has Stone knocking out the thug threatening him (with a gun) with the cosh, before they share a hospital room. Quick fun read, slightly below average with threads left unanswered and the luxury car window basher plot arc abandoned.

The theft of a small, unknown Van Gogh painting from a Park Avenue penthouse winds up involving attorney Stone Barrington. During the robbery, the painting's owner, Mark Tillman, took a fatal plunge off the penthouse terrace. Was he pushed, or was it an accident? And might Tillman's attractive widow, Morgan, somehow be involved? Since Stone and Morgan become lovers soon after they meet, Stone is inclined to believe her innocent of any wrongdoing. That a couple living in the Hamptons, both artists, visited Tillman at his Manhattan residence the afternoon of his death complicates the case. Arthur Masi, the expert who heads the NYPD art squad, assists Stone in his quest to recover the stolen Van Gogh in time to spare the painting's insurer from making a huge payout. The excitement builds as the deadline approaches, though the surprise twist ending raises more questions than it answers.

[Michele A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Quick & Dirty, Stone finds himself trying to navigate the world of art and a stolen painting. He gets a new client and bed companion, Morgan. Morgan's husband died about 18 months ago and it was claimed by Morgan that his death occurred while their van Gogh painting was being stolen. Arthur Steele represents the insurance company who insured the painting and Stone is on their board of directors, as well as their lawyer. A tale beings to come together where pretty much everyone Stone deals with is hiding, lying or covering up something. I had some issues with some of what Stone did in this book and some of it would have had him disbarred in real life. Representing multiple parties on the same case is not something that can happen in real life. The story was interesting in that it did explain how forged paintings get bought and sold all of the time. Stone and Dino did disagree on Morgan from the beginning and it was nice to see Dino trying to protect Stone. Stone did have quite of bit of work to do on finding the painting and it was nice to see him actually doing something in this book, instead of just having others do most of the work for him. Overall an okay addition to this series.

[Eva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Someone is going around with a sledgehammer smashing in expensive luxury cars around the city. And that's all you ever find out about this particular angle. A pointless plot point that went nowhere.

A wealthy and attractive (aren't they all?!) widow comes to Stone Barrington about how to handle the damage to her luxury car -- and this meeting opens a can of worms that was actually almost refreshing. Instead of running all over the country with his rich and political friends, Stone stays in the city, searching for a missing painting. Once more, there was an excess of gratuitous sex and I can't help thinking Stone might want to get to a doctor and have himself checked for sexually transmitted diseases, because it seems he jumps into bed with every woman he encounters!

Hot on the trail of a stolen painting that may or may not be genuine, Stone gets in deeper than he probably intended as he investigates galleries, fences, and auction houses. In the end, the missing painting is recovered -- but is it the genuine article or a cleverly crafted copy?

Aside from all the excessive sex scenes, this was a rather enjoyable installment in this series.

[Sarah Hearn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting take on the world of high art and forgeries, Stone, once again sleeping (<— euphemism) with anyone who’ll stand still long enough, takes up with a mega-rich woman whose husband had fallen to his death from their 15th floor balcony 18 months previously, and an hitherto unknown Van Gogh was stolen at the same time. Stone is retained by the insurance company who doesn’t want to pay out $60M to find the painting. In so doing, he has run-ins with mobsters, wanna-be mobsters, and just plain-old-unsavoury characters. Will he get the painting back in the time he’s given? He joins forces with a cop from the Art Squad, appropriately named Art Massi, and they manage some pretty good feats of trackery. All the while, Stone’s BFF, Dino maintains that the widow done-him-in for the money and the painting. It’s a good plot, and is well written as usual, although, franchement, I’m getting tired of Stone’s sexual gymnastics. Is the author living vicariously through his creation? Maybe male readers envy Stone and wish to be him, but suspect female readers are more put off than turned on.

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pretty typical Stone Barrington book but like the last one that I read they do not have some of the excitement that earlier novels have had. In this story as usual a rich, beautiful woman comes to Stone looking for some help. A Van Gogh has been stolen from her apartment and she would like it to be relocated. It is insured for 60 million, so the insurance company would love to have it found, also. She is a recent widow after her husband fell to his death during a struggle on the balcony of their apartment with the burglar who stole the painting. Also as usual, Stone spends many nights with the lovely lady and truly he should be getting a little long in the tooth to be having relations with so many different women.

In short, the story is okay and you want to see what the conclusion of the story will be but it is no where near the quality of his early novels. Hopefully, Woods will take a little bit of time off before cranking out the next novel so that he can create another plot as good as his first.

[Barry Martin Vass · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author Stuart Woods is writing about the shadowy world of art forgery in this one; Quick & Dirty is an expression professional forgers use when when copying a well-known painting. When Arthur Steele, a corporate CEO and one of Stone Barrington's biggest clients, schedules an appointment, Stone is somewhat surprised to find that Mr. Steele is interested in his current girlfriend, Morgan Tillman. Turns out that her husband has died some months ago, their van Gogh has gone missing, and Steele's insurance group is on the hook for sixty million if it doesn't turn up soon. Would Stone look into it for a small finder's fee, say twelve million? Well, gosh, wouldn't you? Readers of this series should know exactly what to expect by this point: fast action told mostly through dialogue, a variety of New York City locations, and an abundance of wealthy, intelligent characters. Definitely a fun read!

[Robert Berry · Rating 4 out of 5]

he theft of a small, unknown Van Gogh painting from a Park Avenue penthouse propels bestseller Woods’s suspenseful 43rd novel featuring wealthy, well-connected New York attorney Stone Barrington (after Indecent Exposure). During the robbery, the painting’s owner, Mark Tillman, took a fatal plunge off the penthouse terrace. Was he pushed, or was it an accident? And might Tillman’s attractive widow, Morgan, somehow be involved? Since Stone and Morgan become lovers soon after they meet, Stone is inclined to believe her innocent of any wrongdoing. That a couple living in the Hamptons, both artists, visited Tillman at his Manhattan residence the afternoon of his death complicates the case. Arthur Masi, the expert who heads the NYPD art squad, assists Stone in his quest to recover the stolen Van Gogh in time to spare the painting’s insurer from making a huge payout. The excitement builds as the deadline approaches, though the surprise twist ending raises

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Must admit, they are entertaining....

When a slam-bang of a crime brings a beautiful new client into Stone Barrington's office, little does he know his association with her will pull him into a far more serpentine mystery in the exclusive world of art. It's a business where a rare find could make a career--and a collection--and mistakes in judgment are costly. And under its genteel and high-minded veneer lurks an assortment of grifters and malfeasants eager to cash in on the game.

In the upscale world of New York City's luxury penthouses and grand Hamptons estates, it will take a man of Stone Barrington's careful discernment and well-honed instincts to get to the truth without ruffling the wrong feathers . . . because when it comes to priceless and irreplaceable works of art, the money and reputations at stake are worth killing for.