Barrington Universe Reading Order#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| Chiefs |
1981 |
Buy |
| Run Before the Wind |
1983 |
Buy |
| Deep Lie |
1986 |
Buy |
| White Cargo |
1988 |
Buy |
| Grass Roots |
1989 |
Buy |
| New York Dead |
1991 |
Buy |
| Santa Fe Rules |
1992 |
Buy |
| Choke |
1995 |
Buy |
| The Run |
1995 |
Buy |
| Dirt |
1996 |
Buy |
| Dead in the Water |
1997 |
Buy |
| Swimming to Catalina |
1998 |
Buy |
| Orchid Beach |
1998 |
Buy |
| Worst Fears Realized |
1999 |
Buy |
| L.A. Dead |
2000 |
Buy |
| Cold Paradise |
2001 |
Buy |
| Orchid Blues |
2001 |
Buy |
| The Short Forever |
2002 |
Buy |
| Blood Orchid |
2002 |
Buy |
| Capital Crimes |
2003 |
Buy |
| Dirty Work |
2003 |
Buy |
| Reckless Abandon |
2004 |
Buy |
| Two Dollar Bill |
2004 |
Buy |
| The Prince of Beverly Hills |
2004 |
Buy |
| Iron Orchid |
2005 |
Buy |
| Short Straw |
2006 |
Buy |
| Dark Harbor |
2006 |
Buy |
| Fresh Disasters |
2007 |
Buy |
| Shoot Him If He Runs |
2007 |
Buy |
| Beverly Hills Dead |
2008 |
Buy |
| Santa Fe Dead |
2008 |
Buy |
| Hot Mahogany |
2008 |
Buy |
| Mounting Fears |
2008 |
Buy |
| Loitering with Intent |
2009 |
Buy |
| Hothouse Orchid |
2009 |
Buy |
| Kisser |
2009 |
Buy |
| Lucid Intervals |
2010 |
Buy |
| Santa Fe Edge |
2010 |
Buy |
| Strategic Moves |
2010 |
Buy |
| Bel-Air Dead |
2011 |
Buy |
| Son of Stone |
2011 |
Buy |
| D.C. Dead |
2011 |
Buy |
| Unnatural Acts |
2012 |
Buy |
| Severe Clear |
2012 |
Buy |
| Collateral Damage |
2012 |
Buy |
| Unintended Consequences |
2013 |
Buy |
| Doing Hard Time |
2013 |
Buy |
| Standup Guy |
2014 |
Buy |
| Carnal Curiosity |
2014 |
Buy |
| Cut and Thrust |
2014 |
Buy |
| Paris Match |
2014 |
Buy |
| Insatiable Appetites |
2015 |
Buy |
| Hot Pursuit |
2015 |
Buy |
| Naked Greed |
2015 |
Buy |
| Foreign Affairs |
2015 |
Buy |
| Scandalous Behavior |
2016 |
Buy |
| Family Jewels |
2016 |
Buy |
| Dishonorable Intentions |
2016 |
Buy |
| Smooth Operator |
2016 |
Buy |
| Sex, Lies & Serious Money |
2016 |
Buy |
| Below the Belt |
2017 |
Buy |
| Fast and Loose |
2017 |
Buy |
| Indecent Exposure |
2017 |
Buy |
| Barely Legal |
2017 |
Buy |
| Quick & Dirty |
2017 |
Buy |
| Unbound |
2018 |
Buy |
| The Money Shot |
2018 |
Buy |
| Shoot First |
2018 |
Buy |
| Turbulence |
2018 |
Buy |
| Desperate Measures |
2018 |
Buy |
| A Delicate Touch |
2018 |
Buy |
| Wild Card |
2019 |
Buy |
| Skin Game |
2019 |
Buy |
| Contraband |
2019 |
Buy |
| Stealth |
2019 |
Buy |
| Treason |
2020 |
Buy |
| Hit List |
2020 |
Buy |
| Bombshell |
2020 |
Buy |
| Choppy Water |
2020 |
Buy |
| Shakeup |
2020 |
Buy |
| Hush-Hush |
2020 |
Buy |
| Double Jeopardy |
2021 |
Buy |
| Jackpot |
2021 |
Buy |
| Class Act |
2021 |
Buy |
| Foul Play |
2021 |
Buy |
| Criminal Mischief |
2021 |
Buy |
| A Safe House |
2022 |
Buy |
| Black Dog |
2022 |
Buy |
| Distant Thunder |
2022 |
Buy |
| Near Miss |
2023 |
Buy |
| Obsession |
2023 |
Buy |
Ed Eagle Reading Order#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| Santa Fe Rules |
1992 |
Buy |
| Short Straw |
2006 |
Buy |
| Santa Fe Dead |
2008 |
Buy |
| Santa Fe Edge |
2010 |
Buy |
Herbie Fisher#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| Barely Legal |
2017 |
Buy |
Holly Barker Reading Order#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| Orchid Beach |
1998 |
Buy |
| Orchid Blues |
2001 |
Buy |
| Blood Orchid |
2002 |
Buy |
| Reckless Abandon |
2004 |
Buy |
| Iron Orchid |
2005 |
Buy |
| Hothouse Orchid |
2009 |
Buy |
Non-Fiction#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| Blue Water, Green Skipper |
1977 |
Buy |
| A romantic’s guide to the country inns of Britain and Ireland |
1979 |
Buy |
| An Extravagant Life |
2022 |
Buy |
Rick Barron Reading Order#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| The Prince of Beverly Hills |
2004 |
Buy |
| Beverly Hills Dead |
2008 |
Buy |
Standalone Novels#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| Under the Lake |
1986 |
Buy |
| White Cargo |
1988 |
Buy |
| Palindrome |
1990 |
Buy |
| L.A. Times |
1993 |
Buy |
| Heat |
1994 |
Buy |
| Dead Eyes |
1994 |
Buy |
| Imperfect Strangers |
1995 |
Buy |
| Choke |
1995 |
Buy |
Stone Barrington Reading Order#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| New York Dead |
1991 |
Buy |
| Dirt |
1996 |
Buy |
| Dead in the Water |
1997 |
Buy |
| Swimming to Catalina |
1998 |
Buy |
| Worst Fears Realized |
1999 |
Buy |
| L.A. Dead |
2000 |
Buy |
| Cold Paradise |
2001 |
Buy |
| Cold Paradise / The Short Forever |
2001 |
N/A |
| The Short Forever |
2002 |
Buy |
| Dirty Work |
2003 |
Buy |
| Reckless Abandon |
2004 |
Buy |
| Two Dollar Bill |
2004 |
Buy |
| Dark Harbor |
2006 |
Buy |
| Fresh Disasters |
2007 |
Buy |
| Shoot Him If He Runs |
2007 |
Buy |
| Hot Mahogany |
2008 |
Buy |
| Loitering with Intent |
2009 |
Buy |
| Kisser |
2009 |
Buy |
| Lucid Intervals |
2010 |
Buy |
| Stone Barrington Adventures |
2010 |
N/A |
| Strategic Moves |
2010 |
Buy |
| Bel-Air Dead |
2011 |
Buy |
| Son of Stone |
2011 |
Buy |
| D.C. Dead |
2011 |
Buy |
| Unnatural Acts |
2012 |
Buy |
| Severe Clear |
2012 |
Buy |
| Collateral Damage |
2012 |
Buy |
| Unintended Consequences |
2013 |
Buy |
| Doing Hard Time |
2013 |
Buy |
| Standup Guy |
2014 |
Buy |
| Carnal Curiosity |
2014 |
Buy |
| Cut and Thrust |
2014 |
Buy |
| The Remains of the Day |
1989 |
N/A |
| Paris Match |
2014 |
Buy |
| Insatiable Appetites |
2015 |
Buy |
| Hot Pursuit |
2015 |
Buy |
| Naked Greed |
2015 |
Buy |
| Foreign Affairs |
2015 |
Buy |
| Scandalous Behavior |
2016 |
Buy |
| Family Jewels |
2016 |
Buy |
| Dishonorable Intentions |
2016 |
Buy |
| Sex, Lies & Serious Money |
2016 |
Buy |
| Below the Belt |
2017 |
Buy |
| Fast and Loose |
2017 |
Buy |
| Indecent Exposure |
2017 |
Buy |
| Quick & Dirty |
2017 |
Buy |
| Unbound |
2018 |
Buy |
| Shoot First |
2018 |
Buy |
| Turbulence |
2018 |
Buy |
| Desperate Measures |
2018 |
Buy |
| A Delicate Touch |
2018 |
Buy |
| Wild Card |
2019 |
Buy |
| Contraband |
2019 |
Buy |
| Stealth |
2019 |
Buy |
| Treason |
2020 |
Buy |
| Hit List |
2020 |
Buy |
| Choppy Water |
2020 |
Buy |
| Shakeup |
2020 |
Buy |
| Hush-Hush |
2020 |
Buy |
| Double Jeopardy |
2021 |
Buy |
| Class Act |
2021 |
Buy |
| Foul Play |
2021 |
Buy |
| Criminal Mischief |
2021 |
Buy |
| A Safe House |
2022 |
Buy |
| Black Dog |
2022 |
Buy |
| Distant Thunder |
2022 |
Buy |
| Near Miss |
2023 |
Buy |
| Smolder |
2024 |
Buy |
| Finders Keepers |
2025 |
Buy |
| Stuart Woods’ Finders Keepers |
2025 |
N/A |
| Deep Water |
2026 |
Buy |
Teddy Fay Reading Order#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| Smooth Operator |
2016 |
Buy |
| The Money Shot |
2018 |
Buy |
| Skin Game |
2019 |
Buy |
| Bombshell |
2020 |
Buy |
| Jackpot |
2021 |
Buy |
| Obsession |
2023 |
Buy |
| Golden Hour |
2024 |
Buy |
| Stuart Woods’ Golden Hour |
2024 |
N/A |
| Blown Away |
2025 |
Buy |
| Stuart Woods’ Blown Away |
2025 |
N/A |
Will Lee Reading Order#
| Title |
Published |
Buy on Amazon |
| Chiefs |
1981 |
Buy |
| Run Before the Wind |
1983 |
Buy |
| Deep Lie |
1986 |
Buy |
| Grass Roots |
1989 |
Buy |
| The Run |
1995 |
Buy |
| Capital Crimes |
2003 |
Buy |
| Mounting Fears |
2008 |
Buy |
Stuart Woods was one of the most prolific thriller writers in American fiction. He published his first book, Blue Water, Green Skipper, in 1977, and went on to write more than 200 novels over the next five decades. His debut novel Chiefs won the Edgar Award and launched the Will Lee series, which followed a Southern family through generations of political life.
Woods is best remembered for the Stone Barrington series, which began with New York Dead in 1991 and grew to over 70 books. Barrington, a New York lawyer with ties to the CIA and various powerful circles, became one of the most recognizable characters in commercial fiction. Woods also created several related series, including the Holly Barker books, the Ed Eagle legal thrillers set in Santa Fe, and the Teddy Fay spy novels. Many of these characters cross paths throughout what fans call the Barrington Universe.
After Woods passed away in 2022, his estate continued the Stone Barrington and Teddy Fay series with new authors carrying on the characters he created.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many books has Stuart Woods written?
Stuart Woods has written 203 books across ten series.
What was Stuart Woods's first book?
Stuart Woods’s first book is Blue Water, Green Skipper, published in 1977.
What is the best order to read Stuart Woods's books?
Most readers start with the Stone Barrington series, beginning with New York Dead (1991). The Will Lee series, starting with Chiefs (1981), is Woods’s earliest work and can be read independently. The Holly Barker, Ed Eagle, and Teddy Fay series all connect to the larger Barrington Universe, so reading Stone Barrington first gives useful context.