Detective Novels

  • Covington Stone – In Honor of Remington Steele: A Stone Faced Colt by Michael Volpi

    0 out of 5

    Covington Stone owns a failing private investigation agency in LA. He’s a handsome mid-30’s guy, blue collar, smart, comes from old school NYC Hell’s Kitchen tough neighborhood. He recently had a stint in the NYPD before moving to LA and inheriting his uncles PI business.

    He’s ambitious; wants his agency to grow and to have big-ticket clients, with many employees and offices all over the country. He misses New York City, and is constantly grouchy about L.A.

    Problem? He can’t break out of this rut of sleazy, low-end assignments – divorces, cheating spouses, drugs, prostitution, insurance fraud, with each client being more unsavory, unscrupulous, and deadbeat than the last. When he approaches “big ticket clients” like movie stars, high-end attorneys, and big business executives, they always turn their nose down at him.

    Depressed and at his wits end, he attends the “Law Enforcement, Investigations and Security Industry Summit” an annual professional convention in which people in law enforcement, investigation, security, etc, can attend to promote their business, learn new tactics, meet new people, mingle, attend panels, and listen to speakers.

    This seems to deject him more as he meets several people who lucked into the higher end of the industry, getting the kind of assignments he wants. Drowning his sorrows at a nearby pub, a beautiful brunette sits next to him – Kerrie Barnett, former employee of the James Lindsend Detective Agency. There he learns that she was one of Jamie’s Saints.

    She suggests that he get a female partner. Not one for men to ogle, but a beautiful, resourceful, educated woman who will provide him with that ‘in’ with the type of clientele he’s seeking. Covington’s a bit old school macho and thinks that this type of work is too dangerous for a woman, but his conversation with Kerrie makes him rethink that stance.

    After interviewing a whole bunch of girls, they’re either vapid or crazy. He’s about to give up for good, when suddenly, Gilberto DaCosta, a rare gems merchant shows up at his office who said that Kerrie recommended him and his “partner”. Partner?

    Covington nervously plays along trying to figure out what’s going on, pretending he does have that person, and then right before his lie is about to be blown, all of a sudden appears Sarah Colt.

    Forced to solve a jewel heist case, “Sarah” is very secretive about herself and he believes Kerrie sent her. Who was this woman? Was she up to something? Was she hiding something? Was she someone important? Did she have a lot of friends? Or did she upset the wrong people? Or was she dangerous? All Covington could get from the case they were working on together was that Sarah was beautiful, an expert hand to hand combatant, multilingual – she’s got a whole bunch of skills…