L.A. Dead (2001) is mainly important because this is the one where Stone Barrington marries a fiery Mafia princess in Venice.

His biggest mistake yet.

The celebration is cut short by a frantic phone call from halfway around the world.

A celebrity murder has Los Angeles in an uproar—and a former flame pining for Stone’s help in more ways than one. 

When he lands amid Hollywood’s sun and sin, Stone must plumb the depths of film society to find the killer, before a court trial rips away his last chance at a life he once desperately wanted…

The woman Stone actually loves is accused of murder. Stone must defend her. … But is she guilty?

“inconsequential entertainment”

Fair criticism. These books are junk food. 😀

A good psychological thriller.

A Stranger in the House (2017) has enough twists and turns to keep me interested.

Tom returns home to find his wife, Karen, vanished—her car’s gone and it seems she left in a rush. She even left her purse—complete with phone and ID—behind.

Police knock on the door. Karen’s had a bad car crash and is suffering amnesia from concussion.

Near the crash a murder victim is found. Had Karen something to do with that?

Very good.

By the time Lucas Davenport was called in, the police were up to fifteen bodies and counting. And as if that wasn’t bad enough, when Lucas began to investigate, he made some disturbing discoveries of his own. The victims had been killed over a great many years, one every summer, regular as clockwork. How could this have happened without anybody noticing?

Because one thing was for sure: the killer had to live close by. He was probably even someone they saw every day….

JohnSandford.org

I’m steadily working my way through the MANY prey books.

I’d started with the first books in the Stone Barrington series by Stuart Woods. And found them worth reading.

Funny. Engaging.

Absurd James Bondy escapism.

Stone Barrington, a former NYPD detective turned lawyer, who is of counsel to a prestigious law firm and handles sensitive cases for the firm’s prominent clients, but cases with which the firm nonetheless does not wish to be publicly associated.

As such, Barrington commands exorbitant fees, and a strong cast of recurring characters such as his ex-partner Dino Bacchetti, frequent use of the restaurant Elaine’s on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City as a setting, and Stone’s frequent exploits with women, travel, and fine dining. 

I jumped ahead to try Distant Thunder (#63 / 2022).

Not much had changed with Stone. He’s richer. Yachts. Homes around the world. Fine dinning every night.

But I prefer the earliest books. This one felt lazy. Short. And unresolved.

Some Russian is chasing Stone … for some unexplained reason. Corpses turn out to be someone else — without much explanation.

Meh.

VERY funny. Entertaining and heart warming.

This is the Jesse Q. Sutanto follow-up to her hit novel Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers. (2023)

Vera Wong was a lonely widow in San Francisco. Lonely until  a man was found dead in her teahouse and Vera solved his murder. That was book 1.

She is surrounded by her loved ones, her shop is busy, and her son, Tilly is dating Officer Selena Gray. However, she has become bored and misses the excitement of her last investigation. …

Vera is inquisitive, meddling, intelligent, bold, and funny. She likes acting like a helpless old lady, but doesn’t like being one. She’s also curious, confident, outgoing, and not always politically correct. 

Book Review

“Sometimes, all an old lady wants is a murder to solve. Is that too much to ask for?”

In this one, Vera stumbles on to the story of an online influencer who has disappeared.

She decides it’s likely MURDER so begins a one woman investigation.

The plot doesn’t matter all that much. It’s how Vera feeds everyone she meets and bosses them around in order to improve their lives that keeps you going.

Vera’s an unlikely new friend and ally to one and all.

Sutanto said writing Vera’s character was easy because everything she says are things her parents have said. 😀

Here’s one A.I. representation of Vera.

That’s from a good review on K’s Train of Thoughts.

Worst Fears Realized (1999) is another entertaining murder mystery novel in the Stone Barrington series.

SURE it’s escapism. DEFINITELY Stone beds more beautiful women than James Bond.

But the writing is smart and funny. Especially the dialogue with his ex-partner, Dino Bacchetti.

The pace is fast enough that I’m never bored.

The audio book reader — Richard Ferrone — is excellent. He does the Prey series by John Sandford, as well.

In this one, somebody from Barrington’s past starts killing the women closest to him.

Trying to find a brilliant killer in a sea of old faces is difficult enough without Stone’s former love, Arrington, now Mrs. Vance Calder, resurfacing, too—especially when she sets off her own fireworks coming nose to nose with his latest flame, a Mafia princess as beautiful as she is dangerous.
Amazon

Hidden Prey (2005) is another of the excellent Lucas Davenport murder mysteries.

On the shore of Lake Superior, a man named Rodion Oleshev is found shot dead, three holes in his head and his heart, and though nobody knows why, everybody — the local cops, the FBI, and the Russians themselves — has a theory.

And when it turns out he had very high government connections, that’s when it hits the fan.

A Russian cop flies in from Moscow, Davenport flies in from Minneapolis, law enforcement and press types swarm the crime scene — and, in the middle of it all, there is another murder.

Is there a relationship between the two? What is the Russian cop hiding from Davenport? Is she — yes, it’s a woman — a cop at all? Why was the man shot with fifty-year-old bullets?

Before he can find the answers, Davenport will have to follow a trail back to another place, another time, and battle the shadows he discovers there — shadows that turn out to be both very real and very deadly.