Quick & Dirty

Stone Barrington #43

by Stuart Woods

Stone Barrington returns in the action-packed new adventure from #1 New York Times-bestselling author Stuart Woods. 

Stone Barrington is the master of keeping calm and collected under fire, but his latest case will challenge even his tireless aplomb. . .

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

329 pages, ebook

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..."?

[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.

[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 ✨

[Sarah Edman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy Stuart Woods fast moving yet improbable books where our hero can go from place to place in NYC in minutes, drink throughout the day yet get many jobs completed while acting like a hound dog and abusing his relationship with the Chief of Police. If you expect deep relationships and plausibility look elsewhere. If you want to be entertained, read on.

[Dianem · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ii like stuart woods books. Quick easy reads.

[Daniel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Stone gets involved in the world of art forgery. It's the same story line of all the other Stone Barrington novels. He meets a beautiful woman that has major problems and is involved in a murder. Naturally she can't wait to sleep with Stone. Stone is pushing 70 and has a drinking problem but can still go all night. He still chases bad guys and can take a bop on the head and survive but can hit a younger man and do so much more damage. There is no more originality in these novels and Woods has made Stone into a superman.

[ML · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a downer of a book. Basically Stone tries to get a stolen Van Gogh painting through out the whole book. He chased his tail and it was far from entertaining. 🙄🙄

Stone became involved with a widow named Morgan. I’m still not convinced she wasn’t a murderer. Stone has horrible taste in women.

The end was a real downer.

[Greg Courtney · Rating 1 out of 5]

Can Barrington get through a day without getting laid by a beautiful woman that he just met? Getting boring. Never have I seen a man make so much money by doing so little. Mr. Woods is stuck in a rut. Needs to update his characters.

[Roger Smith · Rating 1 out of 5]

Needlessly intricate plot. Every time the stolen painting is within Barrington's grasp it manages to slip away. The hero spends most of his time having sex, eating and drinking. The characters are flat cardboard figures. Hard to find appealing.

[David Rice · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think they are using AI software to write this stuff.

Really breezy and weak. I'm not sure a human is writing this stuff anymore. Weak story. Weak characters. Why do I keep reading this junk?

[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.

[Paula · Rating 1 out of 5]

This will be my last Stone Barrington novel. Found it boring. I did not like most of the characters, including Stone. All vapid & selfish. The only character I cared at all for was "Art" Massey-the NYC detective that specialized in art crimes. A waste of time.

[M · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a complete waste of time,for reasons that will be apparent to anyone who reads this utter crap! Normally I enjoy Stone’s adventures,they are quick reads good to kill time on a flight or at the gym. Glad I didn’t buy this one,borrowed from my library.

[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.

[Shirley Conley · Rating 1 out of 5]

Playaway edition so many loose ends you will need many more books to tie them all up. Love the playaway format. You can listen while walking without restraint.

[Jay · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not the best work.

[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!

[Sheena Loud · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was not a fan of Stuart’s writing style. This book was all dialogue and zero details. It took me several chapters to even figure out the main character was a lawyer…

[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.