Rick Barron, a sharp, capable detective on the Beverly Hills force, finds himself demoted after he makes a mistake and has a run-in with a superior officer. But he soon lands a job other cops only dream about: the security detail for Centurion Pictures, one of the hottest studios in Hollywood's golden age of the late 1930s. How he lands that new post is quite something. As protector of the studio's interests, Barron looks after the elite of filmdom's stars - among them Clete Barrow, a British leading man with a penchant for parties, and Glenna Gleason, a peach of a talent on the verge of stardom. Rick's easy charm has society columnists dubbing him "the Prince of Beverly Hills," the white knight for movie stars. Then he stumbles across a murder cover-up and a blackmail scam that threaten the studio's business. They may have origins with some unsavory characters. When two suspicious deaths begin to look like a double murder, and an attempt is made on someone who has become an intimate friend, Barron knows he is up against wise guys whose stakes are nothing less than do-or-die. It's a dicey war of nerves. Librarian's note: this is one of two volumes in the author's Rick Barron series: 1. The Prince of Beverley Hills (2004), and 2. Beverley Hills Dead (2008).

Are you ready for a glimpse of Hollywood in 1947 and 1948, just after the Second World War? "Beverly Hills Dead" picks up several years after the first volume in the series, "The Prince of Beverly Hills," which was also set in Hollywood, but just before the start of the same war. Rick Barron, a former cop, has risen to the head of production at Centurion Studios, and he's at the top of his game. Tensions are high in Hollywood. When Rick's friend Sidney Brooks, a successful screenwriter, receives a subpoena from Congress to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), Rick isn't surprised. The witch hunt is spreading, and those under investigation are Rick's closest friends - even his wife, the glamorous starlet Glenna Gleason. It's a fast paced and sexy thriller full of the nail-biting twists and turns that Stuart Woods fans enjoy. Librarian's note: this is one of two volumes in the author's Rick Barron series: 1. The Prince of Beverley Hills (2004), and 2. Beverley Hills Dead (2008).