Smolder — Stone Barrington Novel #65 — is first in the long series written completely by Brett Battles.

The original Barrington author, Stuart Woods, died in 2022 at age-84. Battles has taken over.

I’m impressed at how similar this book is to the Stuart Woods style. I really couldn’t tell the difference. Battles reread the entire series in order to stay consistent.

An entertaining plot.

I was interested to see that Battles had self-published most of his own novels. This one is published by Putnam’s.

Stuart Woods had been working on a new novel in his popular series of books about cop-turned-lawyer Stone Barrington when he died. Would Battles be willing to come on and write the rest of the book?

… I said, ‘Well, yes, please, I would love to do that,’” says Battles, who immediately got to work on what would be published as 2023’s “Near Miss.” …

Battles, a novelist with more than 40 books to his credit, including his Jonathan Quinn thriller series, had served as a co-writer on a Stuart Woods’ novel, “Obsession,” …

How Stuart Woods’ character Stone Barrington lives on in Brett Battles’ ‘Smolder’

Finally enjoying some downtime in Santa Fe, Stone Barrington agrees to attend an art exhibit with a dear friend. There, he encounters an intriguing woman who is on the trail of a ring of art thieves. Always one to please, Stone offers his help.

From Santa Fe to Los Angeles, it quickly becomes clear that her investigation has links to Stone—particularly to rare Matilda Stone art, his mother’s paintings. And when old grudges come to light, Stone is forced to reckon with a familiar enemy.