The Missing Piece by John Lescroart

Wes Ferrell is a former district attorney in San Francisco who now practices as a defense attorney with his buddy, Dismas Hardy.  Ferrell struggles with his role because his years as DA have convinced him that everyone charged with a crime is probably guilty.  He wonders if he is harming his clients by not trying harder or doing an injustice to society by trying at all.  What he really longs for is an innocent client. 

Then Paul Riley, a criminal who Ferrell had prosecuted eleven years earlier for rape and murder is released from prison through the efforts of the Exoneration Initiative.  This group sponsors inmates who can be proven innocent and springs them from prison.  Soon after his release, Riley is murdered and Doug Rush, the father of the woman that Riley was accused of murdering, is the chief suspect.  Rush hires Ferrell as his defense attorney.  Of course, Ferrell assumes Rush is guilty but when Rush is murdered Ferrell can’t help but wonder.  Now feeling guilty for his assumption of the worst from his client, Ferrell hires Abe Glitsky, retired head of homicide now P.I. to investigate.  Glitsky’s poking around results is two other murders and an attempt on his own life.  Now Glitisky can’t let it go and uncovers several potential perpetrators but none seem to have motive to commit all four murders.  A complex ‘who-done-it’ follows.

This is Lescroart’s nineteenth Dismas Hardy novel and I’ve enjoyed every one.  The author has created an interesting cast of characters and is a great storyteller.  I look forward to the next.

Thanks to Netgalley and Atria Books for the advance read.

The Rule of Law by John Lescroart

Dismas Hardy is now in his sixties and is looking to slow down his day to day activity at his San Francisco based law firm.  His pal, Wes Farrell has lost his re-election bid for DA and his friend, Gina Roake who is the former fiancée to Hardy’s now deceased partner, wants to return to the practice of law after a hiatus to write novels.  Hardy takes his two colleagues into his law firm and looks forward to less stressful managing partner duties as opposed to high drama defense lawyering. 

But that is not to be.  Hardy’s long time secretary Phyllis, known for her efficient work habits but private personal life, takes some unexplained days off.  The day she returns she is arrested in Hardy’s office for allegedly being an accessory to murder.  Phyllis apparently is a member of an underground railroad that helps undocumented immigrants acclimate into American society.  One such person she helps is accused of murdering a smuggler.  The new DA, Ron Jameson is delighted to tweak Wes Farrell, the former DA and Hardy for his association with Farrell by rushing to judgement in arresting Phyllis.

But Jameson has some skeletons in his own closet.  Hardy works with his best friend and former head of homicide, Abe Glitsky to dig around in the new DA’s past.  This proves to be more dangerous than anticipated.

The book is fast paced and interesting with lots of legal maneuvering.  The plot comes close to the plausibility line but the drama and unexpected twists keep you engaged.  Long time Lescroart fans should not miss this one.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance look.

Poison by John Lescroart

Attorney Dismas Hardy has vowed to himself and to his family that he’d take no more murder clients after being shot twice a year earlier due to his involvement in a murder trial.  He has made this life decision well known to his legal partners, to his best friend policeman, Abe Glisksy, to his private investigator, Wyatt Hunt and to everyone else he cared about in his life.  Then Abby Jarvis, a former client calls from jail after being arrested for the murder of her boss, Grant Carver (aka Wagner in the advance uncorrected copy.)  Hardy had represented Abby eleven years earlier on a DUI/ vehicular manslaughter charge.  After some jail time, Abby was hired as a bookkeeper by Grant Carver who ran a successful family business that included four of his grown children.  One of the siblings and Abby’s best friend, Gloria had protested the original forensic finding of heart failure as Grant’s cause of death and that sparked further investigation.  In a second scanning of Grant’s body, the poison, aconite was found in his system.  An examination of the company’s financial books showed Abby had been receiving some ‘under the table’ compensation for years and that compounded with her legal record and her mention in Grant’s will led to her arrest.  Abby acknowledged an ongoing secret romantic relationship with Grant that exposed Grant as father to her young daughter.  Abby swore that the extra compensation was with Grant’s blessing as child support for her daughter as well as hush money.  No one openly knew of Abby and Grant’s intimate involvement.

Hardy puts his P.I. Wyatt Hunt to work in hopes of finding other suspects… like one of the grown siblings not quite being treated fairly or Grant’s former girlfriend, Stacy or Grant’s adopted son, Joey who was not involved in the family business.  Before Wyatt can make significant progress, David Chang, a casual friend of Hardy’s son is shot and killed.  Then when Stacy is shot and killed in the same manner, even the police suspect someone other than Abby must be involved.  Could all three of these murders be connected, if so, how?  As the truth is unraveled, Hardy once again has knowledge of a murderer who could put him and his family in danger.  Should he excuse himself from the case as he had promised his wife or take the risk and see that his client is cleared?

I’ve been reading Lescroart’s Dismas Hardy novels since 1989’s Dead Irish.  Over the years, the author has expanded his protagonists to include family members, friends and business associates of Hardy.  But Lescroart’s work is at its best with Hardy front and center in the plot as he is in Poison.  For Hardy’s well-being, he needs to slow down his work load and assign the big murder cases to his associates but for the reader’s sake, we need his direct involvement.  Please Mr. Lescroart, more Dismas Hardy.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for the advance look.

Fatal by John Lescroart

John Lescroart deviates from his successful Dismas Hardy and Abe Glisky series to write this stand-alone novel also based in his beloved San Francisco.

Kate and Ron lead a typical yuppie lifestyle.  Ron is a successful attorney and Kate is a stay at home mom.  They frequently attend dinners and social events with like-minded friends.  Kate is a natural beauty and has worked to keep fit.  She has maintained a life-long friendship with Beth, now a homicide detective.  One day while out walking with Beth, Kate reveals a sexual fantasy she has had about Peter, an attorney in one of Kate and Ron’s social circles.  Beth warns Kate not to act on her fantasy and Kate assures Beth, it’s only a fantasy.  But on a whim Kate books a downtown hotel room and calls Peter’s office.  She lures him to her hotel room and seduces him.  Initially, they agree this is a one time encounter but the event changes Peter’s outlook.  He has been dissatisfied and views his fling with Kate as a sign to lead his life differently.  He leaves his wife and family, and after Kate’s repeated rejection, patterns his life after an alley cat.  He moves into a rooming house for single college students and begins his nightly prowls.  Among his many sexual conquests are his secretary and his landlord.

Meanwhile, Kate continues on as if nothing has happened.  Then her life takes a turn.  She’s out with Beth one day when a terrorist group attacks the downtown restaurant where they are lunching.  The terrorists randomly shoot and kill many innocent people.  Beth is shot twice in the legs and Kate is shot in the chest.  They both survive but only with surgery and months of therapy both physical and mental.  Beth is on medical leave from her job for three months.  Her first case upon returning is to investigate the murder of a downtown lawyer named Peter Ash.  She doesn’t immediately make the connection that the murder victim is her best friend’s fantasy from six months earlier.

So the who-done-it begins.  With Peter’s abrupt change in life style, the list of potential suspects is long.  A disgruntled client or law partner, a jilted lover, spouse or boyfriend of a one night stand, the victim’s wife or teenage son, or some random killer… all must be investigated.  And then there is Kate, her best friend who ignited Peter’s path to destruction.  She couldn’t have done it because she was recuperating from being shot but could her actions have caused Peter’s demise?

This book has many flaws but I enjoyed it nonetheless.  The plot is contrived at times and the coincidences too convenient.  The characters are too many for much in depth development.  But sorting through the plethora of suspects and measuring their motives and opportunities for murder with a seasoned detective is a treat.  John Lescroart is still in my top ten list of favorite authors.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced look.

The Fall by John Lescoart

The Fall is John Lescroart’s latest in his Dismas Hardy/ Abe Glitsky legal thriller series.  The series has been so successful for so long that Diz and Abe are now in their sixties and the second generation is coming on board.  Hardy’s adopted daughter Rebecca, aka The Beck, has graduated from law school and has joined Hardy’s law firm.  The Beck’s first big murder trial falls in her lap soon after she passes the bar.  Anlya Paulson, a seventeen year old African American foster child falls to her death from a pedestrian bridge in downtown San Francisco.  A mayoral want-to-be has been vocal about the disproportionately high unsolved murder rate of African American victims, placing the blame on the police department and the district attorney.  So Devin Juhle, Chief of Homicide and Wes Farrell, District Attorney are keen to solve Anlya’s murder posthaste.

 

Greg Treadway, an all around do-gooder, teaches seventh grade in an underprivileged San Francisco neighborhood for Teach for America and volunteers at CASA, court-appointed special advocate program for foster kids.  Anlya’s twin brother, Max is an advocate of Greg’s under the CASA program.  Greg knows Anlya through Max.  Treadway coincidently is in the Little Shamrock, a bar co-owned by Hardy when news of Anlya’s violent death comes on the TV.  Greg appears shocked and tells Hardy and The Beck that he knows the girl and had seen her the night of her death.  The lawyers counsel Greg to call the police and two detectives meet him at the bar for an interview.  Treadway describes his involvement with Anlya as platonic and as a friend and mentor.  In his interview he fails to mention the argument he and Anlya had at the restaurant that night and quickly is pegged as the primary suspect in her murder.

The Beck feels guilty for not specifically advising Greg to tell the whole truth to the detectives, even though he wasn’t her client at the time.  She agrees to represent Greg believing the police would soon find a better suspect… but they never do.  Under political pressure to solve the case quickly, the DA calls the grand jury and Greg is arrested.  Thinking they found the killer, the police stop investigating.  But Anlya lead a troubled life in her short seventeen years and was associated with many dangerous people.  Several of the girls at the foster home where she most recently lived were involved in a prostitution ring.  Anlya had stayed out of the life and encouraged the other girls to stay away much to the ire of a short tempered pimp.  Anlya had also been raped by her mother’s boyfriend when she was fourteen.  This creep had been incarcerated for another crime but managed to escape, change his identity and was currently living on the streets near Anlya.  So as the trial begins, The Beck has several alternative theories but nothing specific enough to free her client.  As the prosecuting attorney presents his case, Wyatt Hunt, the Hardy firm’s PI is still trying to solve Anlya’s murder or at least find some plausible alternative suspect to save Greg Treadway from a conviction.  Abe Glitsky, now an investigator for the DA’s office and Hardy’s best friend, played a role in investigating Anlya’s death but has moved on to other cases supposedly unrelated to Anlya’s murder… supposedly.

Lescroart’s novels are always interestingly complex and The Fall is no exception.  His characters are so intertwined it’s a challenge to tell friend from foe.  Hardy is a defense attorney whose best friend, Abe Glitsky is the former chief of detectives who now works for the DA.  The DA is Hardy’s former partner and Hardy’s wife is the DA’s administrative assistant.  Often on opposing sides, these people’s personal relationships have endured many tests.  It’s fun to witness their personal interactions when they are at odds professionally.  The plot too is multifaceted and complex.  The clients, witnesses, and their acquaintances are often connected in surprising ways and are many times not who they appear to be.  One would expect plausibility to suffer in this environment but Lescroart pulls it off credibly and masterfully.  The Fall is one of his best yet.

Thanks to Net Galley for an advance look at one of my favorite author’s latest work.

Betrayal by John Lescroart

A simple pleasure is when you stumble across a book written by an author in your power rotation that you have previously overlooked… such is the case for me with John Lescroart’s Betrayal, the 12th in his Dismas Hardy/ Abe Glisky series.

Hardy is asked by a judge to clean up the caseload of an attorney, Charlie Bowen who has recently disappeared.  Most of the work is routine but one case involves the appeal of Evan Scholler, a local police officer and National Guard reservist convicted of killing Ron Nolan, an ex-Navy SEAL and private contractor employee.

 

Scholler and Nolan first meet each other in Iraq.  Nolan has been discharged from the Navy and is working for Allstrong Security, a company that works for the U.S. government to protect building contractors as Iraq’s infrastructure is being rebuilt. Scholler’s unit is assigned to protect Allstrong’s personnel from Iraqi insurgents.  At this time in Iraq, a private company like Allstrong stands to make millions of dollars in government contracts for little effort.  But Allstrong’s tactics are many times not legitimate.  Ron Nolan, for example, seems to specialize in solving Allstrong’s problems by using his Navy SEAL training to intimidate or eliminate anyone in their path, whether in Iraq or in the U.S.

 

But Evan is unaware of this about Nolan and they become pals and drinking buddies while off duty in Iraq.  Scholler confides in Nolan that his ex-girlfriend, Tara is not answering his letters.  The couple broke up over differences in opinion of the U.S. involvement in Iraq and Evan’s sense of duty, but he still wants to stay in contact with her.  Nolan who is headed back the San Francisco on Allstrong business (wet work) agrees to check in on Tara and hand deliver Evan’s latest letter.  Nolan delivers the letter but uses the opportunity to begin a romantic relationship of his own with Tara.  Upon returning to Iraq, Nolan causes an incident which nearly wipes out Scholler’s unit and leaves Evan with a serious head injury.  Tara by now has lost contact with Evan and knows about him only from the lies Nolan is feeding her.

After months in rehab and numerous operations, Evan returns home and is reinstated on the police force.  Meanwhile, Nolan is transferred to Allstrong’s state side office and his relationship with Tara continues.  But when Tara realizes what a liar Nolan is, she breaks off their relationship and starts seeing Evan again.  Then an innocent Iraqi couple is murdered in San Francisco and Evan suspects Nolan is responsible but has no proof.  He breaks into Nolan’s condo and finds the evidence he needs to implicate Nolan.  Unable to use the illegally attained goods, Evan reports his suspicions about Nolan to the FBI.  Upon questioning, Nolan manages to point suspicion for the murders toward Scholler.  Evan, in a drunken stupor, goes to Nolan’s condo to confront him and a fight ensues.  Evan remembers nothing from that point until three days later when Nolan is found beaten and shot to death.  Ultimately, Evan is sentenced to life in prison for Nolan’s murder.  Now three years after Evan is incarcerated, it is up to Hardy and Glisky to unearth the truth about Evan Scholler and Ron Nolan and what could be as many as eight unsolved murders.

Only about a third of Lescroart’s Betrayal is devoted to his favorite protagonists, Dismas Hardy and Abe Glisky.  That leaves two thirds of the book for the author to show off his story telling skills… and show off he does.  From the most treacherous war torn streets of Iraq to the intensity of the courtrooms in the San Francisco Bay area, Lescroart leads us through an alluring tale of love, war, murder, betrayal, revenge and justice… a very satisfying read.

The Keeper by John Lescroart

In The Keeper John Lescroart returns to the foundation that fosters his success. He features the original characters of his quarter century old series... Dismas Hardy, defense attorney and Abe Glitsky, now retired homicide detective plus many of their cronies in the tight knit fraternity that comprises the San Francisco legal system.

  

Hal Chase is a guard at San Francisco county jail.  On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving he leaves home to pick up his step brother at the airport but the flight is delayed.  When he returns four hours later his wife, Katie is missing.  By Monday morning the police decide this is a likely murder and homicide detectives visit Chase.  Hal realizes he is a suspect with a hole in his alibi and hires Dismas Hardy to represent him, against what... he isn’t sure yet.  Hardy concludes the police have stopped investigating Katie’s disappearance and he figures the best outcome would be to simply find her.  He hires his best friend, the now retired homicide detective Abe Glitsky to find Hal’s wife.  Abe fights all his cop instincts that ‘the husband did it’ and investigates as objectively as his training will allow.  He learns that Katie had been seeing a marriage counselor (coincidentally Hardy’s wife Frannie), Hal had recently ended an affair with Katie’s friend, the rich and beautiful Patti, and Hal was an alibi witness for a deputy sheriff who is a person of interest in more than one suspicious death in the county jail.  Oddly the more Abe learns, the more he believes Hal is innocent.

 

Katie’s body is found in the underbrush in a park near her home.  With no evidence that Hal committed the crime the grand jury is convened to point the finger of guilt his way.  Hal is arrested and put in jail, the same jail where he is employed.

Meanwhile the DA, Wes Farrell has assigned an investigator to uncover the suspected conspiracy in the county jail.  The investigator makes some significant progress but is murdered by a supposed robber before her findings are made known.  Farrell asks Glitsky to become his new investigator and with Hardy’s blessing Abe accepts the job.  By now Glitsky is obsessed… not only with clearing Hal Chase but with slamming the door on the corruption in the county jail.  Of course this makes him a threat to possibly more than one murderer.  The keeper, the book’s namesake refers to a keeper of secrets… old secrets worth killing for.

I’m a longtime fan of Lescroart but have to admit I’m sometimes disappointed when he brings in new younger characters. The Keeper is Lescroart at his best featuring cornerstone characters, Dismas Hardy and Abe Glitsky.  While fans require no further character development for this well-defined duo, we get a deeper look at Abe with his handling of retirement and concern for his young family.  But mostly we get to share that adrenaline rush from his obsession as he closes in on his prey.  This old dog can still sniff out the rotten smell of deceit and learn some new tricks along the way.  Let’s hope the author sees it that way too and creates the next Hardy-Glitsky adventure.

The Ophelia Cut by John Lescroart

In The Ophelia Cut, John Lescroart returns to his successful formula featuring San Francisco defense attorney Dismas Hardy, Hardy's brother-in-law Moses McGuire, and his best friend homicide lieutenant Abe Glisky.  These three and Hardy's law partner, Gino Rourke participated in a murder (in a previous book) they rationalize as justified.  Now six years later they have kept this agonizing secret that if revealed could destroy their lives.  McGuire is particularly haunted by their crime.  As a recovering alcoholic, he has sworn off drinking in fear that when drunk he may divulge too much.

McGuire has a beautiful 23-year-old daughter who has poor taste in men. Brittany prefers the mysterious stranger to the stable long lasting relationship.  Consequently she dates and rejects many potential partners. Her most recent conquest, Rick Jessup proves to be a misogynist and has a history of violence toward women.  He is chief of staff to an ambitious yet devious city supervisor, Liam Goodman.  Goodman's leading campaign contributor is an organized crime boss who has a growing distaste for the egotistical Jessup.  So Jessup has enemies in both his personal and professional lives.  When Brittany dumps him, Jessup takes offense an sets her up for date rape.  One day later Jessup is found dead in his apartment.

Moses McGuire, Brittany's father becomes the prime suspect and is quickly arrested. Quickly because the chief of police learns person of interest Moses McGuire is a personal acquaintance of her homicide chief, Abe Glisky and of the district attorney, Wes Farrell.  The police chief circumvents normal procedure and manipulates the system for an expedited arrest.

Dismas Hardy of course becomes McGuire's defense attorney and the trial begins. Brittany is called as a prosecution witness to demonstrate her rape as motive for her father's alleged crime.  She cuts her hair extremely short for the court appearance down playing her image as the beautiful bombshell heart-breaker (thus the book's title.)  As the overwhelming evidence against McGuire is introduced, Hardy focuses on planting reasonable doubt in the minds of the jurors.  His investigator Wyatt Hunt finds Jessup has made several enemies capable of murder but introducing such evidence into the courtroom gets complicated by legal procedure and disappearing witnesses.  Hardy, who has a reputation of pulling a rabbit out of the hat at the last minute to win acquittal for his clients, becomes stymied with his friend's life at stake.

Lescroart does a brilliant job in keeping it fresh and intriguing in his 14th novel with this same cast of characters. Flawed and human as they are, they face morally complex situations that continually intertwine and circle back to one another. Meanwhile whether you agree with each character's action or not, you somehow empathize and find yourself their advocate...quite an accomplishment for the author I'd say.

The Hunter by John Lescroart

The Hunter by John Lescroart features Wyatt Hunt, the single but successful San Francisco private investigator. Wyatt's early childhood years were difficult as he was placed in California’s foster care system at a very young age. He has only a vague memory of his birth parents. At age six he was adopted by a loving couple named Bob and Charlene Hunt but still bears emotional scars and has underlying abandonment issues. Now in his early 40’s, Wyatt receives an anonymous text message- “Do you know how your mother died?”    Suddenly he is compelled to search for his birth parents.  His emotional well being depends on it.

Wyatt discovers his birth mother was murdered 40 years earlier and his father was accused and tried twice for the crime but was never convicted.  The jury each time was unable to return a guilty verdict.  By interviewing people his parents had known Wyatt learns of his mother’s involvement with Reverend Jim Jones, the cult leader who committed suicide with his followers in the late 1970’s.  Wyatt is soon convinced his birth father was innocent as his investigation prompts a killer to commit further acts of violence.  One of Wyatt’s employees as well as a friend of his birth parents is murdered.  Desperate to find the killer, yet sworn off the current murder cases by the San Francisco police, Wyatt travels outside the city in search of more information about his birth parents.  He reunites with his grandmother in Indiana and finds his birth father voluntarily exiled in Mexico.  Meanwhile, Wyatt develops a new romantic relationship with Tamara, a long time friend and employee.  His abandonment issues have interfered with his previous relationships but Tamara sees him through his emotional crisis.

I’ve read most of Lescroart’s books and have to say this one is just ok…not his best. I thought the plot was a little slow to develop.  Plus no one wants to read about a grown man crying.  Maybe it’s because Wyatt Hunt is not my favorite Lescroart character. I favor the noble but well connected attorney, Dismas Hardy and the grumpy but well intended police lieutenant, Abe Glitsky. I miss those guys.

The Motive by John Lescroart

This is a book I did not finish. I got 100 pages in and it just did not capture my attention for further reading. The first chapter was great as it described a huge arson in a San Francisco Victorian home, a block of Fillmore where Jessica lived for four years. But, the book was downhill from there. The characters were too stereotypic, and there were too many details in the attempt at character development. I was reading it at the beach in a So Cal heat wave, taking swims in the water and catching a few small waves for body surfing. With the air temp in the 90s and the water in the mid 70s, you would have thought that atmosphere was condusive to enjoying about anything. I'm throwing this one away. Where did I get that recommendation? I guess I can't blame EC Don since I could not find it in the blog.

West Coast Don