Quick & Dirty

The theft of a small, unknown Van Gogh painting from a Park Avenue penthouse propels bestseller Woods’s suspenseful 43rd novel featuring wealthy, well-connected New York attorney Stone Barrington (after Indecent Exposure). During the robbery, the painting’s owner, Mark Tillman, took a fatal plunge off the penthouse terrace. Was he pushed, or was it an accident? And might Tillman’s attractive widow, Morgan, somehow be involved? Since Stone and Morgan become lovers soon after they meet, Stone is inclined to believe her innocent of any wrongdoing. That a couple living in the Hamptons, both artists, visited Tillman at his Manhattan residence the afternoon of his death complicates the case. Arthur Masi, the expert who heads the NYPD art squad, assists Stone in his quest to recover the stolen Van Gogh in time to spare the painting’s insurer from making a huge payout. The excitement builds as the deadline approaches, though the surprise twist ending raises more questions than it answers. Agent: Anne Sibbald, Janklow & Nesbit. (Oct.)