New York Dead by Stuart Woods

Back in the US after 2 weeks in Senegal then Zurich and finished my 3rd book on the trip. Previously reported on The Watchman and Echo Park. This was New York Dead by Stuart Woods, long time New York Times best selling author.

Woods is, for me, like comfort food...tasty, but not all that fulfilling. WC Don might call this one of those airplane books. Easy to read, fast paced, a reliable crime story, a decent waste of time, but hardly anything resembling great fiction. when it comes to crime fiction, my tastes run more toward Pelecanos or Price.

One of the continuing characters of Woods is Stone Barrington (who names their kid that?). I'd read a couple more recent stories, but I chose this earlier copyright looking for some backstory on Barrington. Seems this guy finished law school, but went to the New York City police academy instead of the bar. worked 15y as a cop, then unceremoniously retired on a disability pension before going back to take and pass the bar. In this story, our hero is walking, a little tipsy, back from dinner, looks up to see a body falling into a construction site pile of sand. The jumper was the next network TV news anchor. Problem is that after the EMS people leave the scene, the body disappears and no one can find her. With his partner, Stone (turns out his mom's maiden name was Stone and he dropped using his first name, thus the moniker). In parallel, NYC also has a serial killer of taxi drivers. The case gets closed when a prime suspect unexpectedly commits suicide, but Barrington thinks there is more to this case. As he moves to work on contract with a legal firm, little clues seem to hint that maybe the jumper actually survived the fall and is in hiding.

Like I said, nothing spectacular, but when I've look at my nightstand and see no book, I know I can check out a Woods book from the library and get a satisfying read. He actually has 2 continuing characters, Barrington and Holly Barker, an ex-MP now police chief of a small town on the coast of Florida. I actually prefer the Holly Barker series, but there are only about 4 of them (they all have the word Orchid in the title)and maybe a dozen of more Barrington novels. Now I've read maybe 6 books by Woods and will read more, but they are strictly fillers. safe bets all.

East Coast Don