Maxima Library

Dismas Hardy is an ex-cop and bartender at the Little Shamrock, owned by his friend Moses McGuire. When Moses asks him to investigate the alleged suicide of his brother-in-law, Eddie Cochran, Dismas obliges. Though Dismas's probing suggests that Eddie was involved in a drug deal, he begins to uncover a dangerous entanglement much closer to home.

Ex-cop, part-time investigator, and sometime bartender Dismas Hardy returns to face a death threat as he investigates the bloody disappearance of his friend Rusty Ingraham, an investigation that exposes foot-dragging police, corruption and an enforcer named Johnny LaGuardia.

This crackling, authentically drawn courtroom drama finds San Francisco's assistant D.A. Dismas Hardy immersed in not one but two murder trials when he discovers the severed hand of a billionaire inside the belly of a dying shark later represents the murder suspect.

Sal Russo's body is found, with a "Do Not Resuscitate" note. Dismas Hardy finds himself as Graham Russo's defence. How long can Russo protest innocence, when it's discovered Sal wasn't penniless, and all San Fransisco is intent on making the apparent mercy killing media issue of the year?

Lawyer Dismas Hardy is thrown into a panic when his wife fails to turn up to collect their children from school. He discovers that she is being held in jail for contempt of court because she's refusing to divulge in a grand jury trial a confidence given to her by a friend, Ron Beaumont.

"A particularly strong plot." – Los Angeles Times

"Topical and full of intrigue." – Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Doctor Eric Kensing is living in fear that he is about to be indicted for the death of a patient. That patient was his boss, Tim Markham. But Kensing and Markham aren't just connected by work – Kensing's wife is one of Markham 's many lovers. It's not looking good for Kensing, so he enlists the help of lawyer Dismas Hardy. Some say Kensing is not worth saving, although others say that Kensing is a special doctor, prepared to do anything to save a patient's life, even defying proper medical procedure. Despite all the damning evidence, Hardy becomes increasingly sure that Kensing is innocent. Against mounting pressure for an arrest, Hardy knows that the only way to save Kensing is to find the real murderer. And like Kensing, he seems to be working within a system that is set up to thwart him and any attempt at real justice…

In the latest installment of the Glitsky-Hardy crime-solving series (The 13th Juror; The Second Chair; etc.), San Francisco-based Lescroart again demonstrates his mastery of how things work in the city by the bay. Arson investigators at a Victorian townhouse fire do not call in Abe Glitsky or Dismas Hardy when they discover two bodies believed to be the remains of influential businessman Paul Hanover and his girlfriend, Missy D'Amiens. Glitsky, now deputy chief of inspectors, doesn't handle individual cases, and attorney Dismas Hardy has long since left the police force. Sgt. Dan Cuneo takes charge, quickly jumping to conclusions and slowly rekindling his grudge against the detecting duo. Unhappy with Cuneo's approach, the mayor puts Glitsky on the job, while Hardy is hired by Hanover's daughter-in-law, who was also Hardy's college sweetheart and is now a murder defendant with no alibi but plenty of motive. Parallel inquiries uncover contradictory evidence as well as loose ends: at the time of his death, Hanover was up for a federal appointment, his company was up for a city contract and his girlfriend has a mysterious past. Lescroart draws the reader in with a step-by-step description of the fire, mesmerizes with an account of the intricacies of the auto-towing business and winds up with a disturbing parable of intrigue abroad, adding the wistful touch of a new baby in the Glitsky household. Lescroart may be testing the waters for fiction with an international flavor. For now, the winningly ironic author remains more credible on urban and legal ground than spy craft, but his authentic voice, methodical presentation and ability to juggle red herrings until all pieces fall into place will keep fans following wherever his cop-lawyer friends-heroes lead.

The master of the legal thriller delivers a brilliantly suspenseful novel of deadly secrets, privileged youth, and uncertain justice…

Dismas Hardy is finally on top: As a managing partner at his thriving, newly reorganized law firm, he's a rainmaker and fix-it guy for clients leery of taking their chances in a courtroom. Now Hardy's up-and-coming associate, Amy Wu, brings him a high-profile case: Andrew Bartlett, the seventeen-year-old son of a prominent San Francisco family, has been arrested for the double slaying of his girlfriend and his English teacher. The D.A. wants to try him as an adult. Determined to get the case into juvenile court and overwhelmed by the mounting evidence against her client, Wu asks Hardy to sit second chair for her in Bartlett's defense.

As the Bartlett case moves swiftly to trial, another series of murders grip the city. An unseen killer seems to be shooting citizens wantonly, and as fear and anxiety build around The Executioner (as he is quickly dubbed in the ensuing media frenzy), Abe Glitsky, the newly promoted deputy chief of the Investigations Bureau, leads the desperate hunt to stop him.

With the city on the verge of panic, Hardy and Glitsky are locked in a race against time-to save a client and to catch a murderer. But nothing is what it seems, and as both men's cases twist and turn to their shocking conclusions, the very foundations of San Francisco's legal system will be shaken to the core.

Filled with action, suspense, crackling dialogue, complex characters, and realistic portrayals of police procedures and courtroom strategies, The Suspect is a powerful novel where crime and punishment meet family secrets and the aspirations of the human heart. Listeners will be thrilled to find their favorite characters – Gina Roake, Wyatt Hunt, and Dismas Hardy – in John Lescroart's new suspense-filled blockbuster.

The first victim is Dylan Vogler, a charming ex-convict who manages the Bay Beans West coffee shop in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district. When his body is found, inspectors discover that his knapsack is filled with high-grade marijuana. It soon becomes clear that San Francisco's A-list flocked to Bay Beans West not only for their caffeine fix.

But how much did Maya Townshend – the beautiful socialite niece of the city's mayor, and the absentee owner of the shop – know about what was going on inside her business? And how intimate had she really been with Dylan, her old college friend?

As another of Maya's acquaintances falls victim to murder, and as the names of the dead men's celebrity, political, and even law-enforcement customers come to light, tabloid-fueled controversy takes the investigation into the realms of conspiracy and cover-up. Prosecutors close in on Maya, who has a deep secret of her own – a secret she needs to protect at all costs during her very public trial, where not only her future but the entire political landscape of San Francisco hangs in the balance, hostage to an explosive secret that Dismas Hardy is privilegebound to protect.