Dead in the Water

Stuart Woods has created no better known or loved character than the ex-cop, Manhattan attorney, and investigator, Stone Barrington, whose work treads the thin line between the respectable practice of law and the dark side of humanity.

In "Dead in the Water, " Stone has barely arrived in St. Marks, a lovely Caribbean island nation, on a sailing vacation when something very strange happens: A beautiful young woman sails into the harbor, entirely alone on a large yacht. Before long she is under the intense scrutiny of local authorities in the very considerable person of Sir Winston Sutherland, the minister of Justice. The problem is, though she arrived alone, she had departed the other side of the Atlantic in the company of her husband, a well-known writer, who is no longer in evidence.

Evidence is what fascinates Stone Barrington, and before many pages have been turned, he is all that stands between the apparently innocent Allison Manning and the patently evil intent of Sir Winston, whose motives are unclear. What is clear is that the St. Marks' system of justice bears little resemblance to the American courts to which Stone is accustomed and that his smallest error could prove fatal to his client

Inextricably caught in a swirling storm of island madness and murder, made worse by a hurricane of sensational press coverage, Stone can hardly find the time to indulge his usual romantic inclinations, but he learns that, even under the intense illumination of a Caribbean sun, nothing is what it seems to be, and no one can be trusted.

"Dead in the Water" is a roller-coaster ride teeming with plot twists, which have made the novels of Stuart Woods "New York Times" bestsellersand international hits.

DIRT
"Blackmail, murder, suspense, love -- what else could you want in a book?"
-- "Cosmopolitan"
"This slickly entertaining suspense displays Woods at the top of his game...Subtly reminiscent of the waggish P.G. Wodehouse, Woods delivers a marvelously sophisticated, thoroughly modern, old-fashioned read."
-- "Publishers Weekly, " starred review