Book Lists

Best Selling Books by John Lescroart

John Lescroart is the author of The First Law (2004), The Mercy Rule (2019), Guilt (2019), Poison (2018), Hard Evidence (2002), The Second Chair (2004).

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The First Law

release date: Jan 06, 2004
The First Law
In this thrilling novel from the acclaimed Dismas Hardy series, Hardy’s friend and client finds himself the prime suspect in a homicide investigation. While Dismas Hardy has built a solid legal practice and a happy family, his friend John Holiday, a proprietor of a rundown local bar, has not followed the same path. Despite this, Hardy has remained Holiday’s attorney and confidant, and when Holiday is suspected of murder, Hardy and Glitsky find ample reason to question Holiday’s guilt. But Hardy’s case falls on hostile ears, and to avoid arrest, Holiday turns fugitive. The police now believe three things: that Hardy is a liar protecting Holiday, that Holiday is a cold-blooded killer, and that Glitsky is a bad cop on the wrong side of the law. As the suspense reaches fever pitch, Hardy, Glitsky, and even their families may be caught in the crossfire and directly threatened—and this time, the police won’t be on their side.

The Mercy Rule

release date: Jun 25, 2019
The Mercy Rule
“A stylish whodunit . . . Lescroart [is] in his best form yet.”—People Once Dismas Hardy was a cop. Now he spends his days in a lawyer’s suit, billing hours to a corporate client in a downtown San Francisco office. Hardy’s wife and kids like it that way. Then one client changes everything. Graham Russo, a former baseball star, is charged with murdering his dying father. Was it suicide, the last desperate act of a dying man? Was it murder? Or mercy? Now, as a carnival of reporters, activists, cops, lovers, and families throng around the case, Dismas Hardy is going to trial with a client he doesn’t trust, a key witness he cannot believe, and a system that almost destroyed him once. For Dismas, this case will challenge everything he believes about the law, about his family, and about himself. Because a chilling truth is beginning to emerge about an old man’s lonely death. And what Dismas knows could put him next in line to die. . . . Praise for The Mercy Rule “Very entertaining . . . a large and emotionally sprawling novel.”—Chicago Tribune “As usual in a Lescroart novel, character dominates plot as the author proves, yet again, that resonant drama can be found in family.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer “An edge-of-the-seat legal thriller that has it all—hot-button issues, deception, greed, corruption, and a labyrinthine plot that will keep you guessing until the very last page.”—Faye Kellerman

Guilt

release date: Jun 25, 2019
Guilt
“A great thriller: breakneck pacing, electrifying courtroom scenes, and a cast of richly crafted characters.”—People Mark Dooher is a prosperous San Francisco attorney and a prominent Catholic, the last person anyone would suspect of a brutal crime. But Dooher, a paragon of success and a master of all he touches, is about to be indicted for murder. Charged with savagely killing his own wife, Dooher is fighting for his reputation and his life in a high-profile case that is drawing dozens of lives into its wake—from former spouses to former friends, from a beautiful, naive young attorney to a defense lawyer whose own salvation depends on getting his client off. Now, as the trial builds to a crescendo, as evidence is sifted and witnesses discredited, as a good cop tries to pick up the pieces of his shattered life and a D.A. risks her career, the truth about Mark Dooher is about to explode. For in a trial that will change the lives of everyone it touches, there is one thing that no one knows—until it is much too late. . . . Praise for Guilt “A well-paced legal thriller . . . one of the best in this flourishing genre to come along in a while.”—The Washington Post Book World “Begin [Guilt] over a weekend . . . If you start during the workweek, you will be up very late, and your pleasure will be tainted with, well, guilt.”—The Philadelphia Inquirer “A wonderful novel . . . reminiscent of Scott Turow. John Lescroart isn’t a lawyer, but he writes like one.”—Dayton Daily News “Crackling legal action . . . robust and intelligent entertainment.”—Publishers Weekly

Poison

release date: Feb 13, 2018
Poison
From the bestselling author whose prose “matches the best of John Grisham and Scott Turow” (Providence Journal) comes a gripping thriller featuring attorney Dismas Hardy as he investigates the murder of a wealthy man whose heirs are all potential suspects. Finally recovered from two gunshot wounds, Dismas Hardy is looking forward to easing into retirement and reconnecting with his family. But he is pulled back into the courtroom when Grant Wagner, the steely owner of a successful family business, is murdered. The prime suspect is Wagner’s bookkeeper Abby Jarvis, a former client of Hardy’s, who had been receiving large sums of cash under-the-table from the company—but she insists that she’s innocent. Preparing for trial, Dismas investigates the Wagner clan and discovers dark, twisted secrets, jealous siblings, gold-digging girlfriends, betrayals, and blackmail. The closer he gets to the Wagners, the clearer it becomes that Dismas has a target painted on his back. With razor-sharp dialogue and whip-smart plotting, Poison once again demonstrates that “Lescroart is a master craftsman” (Associated Press).

Hard Evidence

release date: Jun 01, 2002
Hard Evidence
This Dimas Hardy thriller is “a compelling combination of courtroom drama and whodunit...Sparked with crackling dialogue and vivid scenes of its San Francisco setting.”—Richmond Times-Dispatch When the bullet-ridden body of a Silicon Valley billionaire washes up on shore, assistant D.A. Dismas Hardy finds himself the prosecutor in San Francisco’s murder trial of the century. The suspect: a Japanese call girl with a long list of prominent clients. But when a bizarre series of events blows the case wide open, Hardy finds himself on the other side of the law—as a lawyer for the defense...

The Second Chair

release date: Dec 28, 2004
The Second Chair
#1 New York Times bestselling author John Lescroart weaves together a story of a privileged youth on trial for murder and an entire city on the brink of panic in this suspensful and stylish Dismas Hardy legal thriller. Although he appears to have reached the top, Dismas Hardy, rainmaker and managing partner of his thriving San Francisco law firm, has lost his faith in the justice system. When his young associate, Amy Wu, brings in a high profile, controversial double murder case, he decides to sit second chair—in defense of a wealthy, privileged young man even he has trouble believing. At the same time, Hardy’s friend Abe Glitsky has just been promoted to deputy chief of the Investigations Bureau, and has trouble of his own. Hounded by a hostile media, distanced from day-to-day police work, Glitsky must struggle against a wave of violence that has put the city on the verge of panic. As the tension builds around them, Hardy and Amy’s search for the truth will take them down a perilous path, and force Hardy to face his own demons in order to clear his client—and save himself.

The Ophelia Cut

release date: May 07, 2013
The Ophelia Cut
Krimi. Popular and pretty, Brittany has always moved easily from one boyfriend to the next, but her most recent ex, a young man named Rick Jessup, can''t seem to get over her. His abuse escalates, culminating in a terrible night when Brittany is raped. Within twenty-four hours, Rick Jessup is dead

Dead Irish

release date: Feb 01, 2005
Dead Irish
THE FIRST NOVEL IN THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING DISMAS HARDY SERIES! In his new life as a bartender at the Little Shamrock, Dismas Hardy is just hoping for a little peace. He’s left both the police force and his law career behind. Unfortunately it’s not as easy to leave behind the memory of a shattering personal loss—but for the time being, he can always take the edge off with a stiff drink and round of darts. But when the news of Eddie Cochran’s death reaches him, Hardy is propelled back into all the things he was trying to escape. And forced to untangle a web of old secrets and raw passions, for the sake of Eddie’s pregnant widow, Frannie—and for the others whose lives may still be at risk...

The Keeper

release date: Mar 31, 2015
The Keeper
From New York Times bestselling author John Lescroart, a riveting novel featuring Dismas Hardy and Abe Glitsky on the hunt for clues about a woman who has gone missing. On the evening before Thanksgiving, Hal Chase, a guard in the San Francisco County Jail, drives to the airport to pick up his step-brother for the weekend. When they return, Hal’s wife, Katie, has disappeared without a clue. By the time Dismas Hardy hears about this, Katie has been missing for five days. The case strikes close to home because Katie had been seeing Hardy’s wife, a marriage counselor. By this time, the original Missing Persons case has become a suspected homicide, and Hal is the prime suspect. And the lawyer he wants for his defense is none other than Hardy himself. Hardy calls on his friend, former homicide detective Abe Glitsky, to look into the case. At first it seems like the police might have it right; the Chases’ marriage was fraught with problems; Hal’s alibi is suspect; the life insurance policy on Katie was huge. But Glitsky’s mission is to identify other possible suspects, and there proves to be no shortage of them: Patti Orosco—rich, beautiful, dangerous, and Hal’s former lover; the still unknown person who had a recent affair with Katie; even Hal’s own step-mother Ruth, resentful of Katie’s gatekeeping against her grandchildren. And as Glitsky probes further, he learns of an incident at the San Francisco jail, where Hal works—only one of many questionable inmate deaths that have taken place there. Then, when Katie’s body is found not three blocks from the Chase home, Homicide arrests Hal and he finds himself an inmate in the very jail where he used to work, a place full of secrets he knows all too well. Against this backdrop of conspiracy and corruption, ambiguous motives and suspicious alibis, an obsessed Glitsky closes in on the elusive truth. As other deaths begin to pile up he realizes, perhaps too late, that the next victim might be himself.

A Plague of Secrets

release date: Jun 30, 2009
A Plague of Secrets
Dismas Hardy, Abe Glitsky, and Wyatt Hunt return When high-grade marijuana is found on a coffee-shop manager murdered in San Francisco, it suggests that the shop''s owner, Maya Townshend, may be behind more than a caffeine fix. But when another murder exposes a drug-buying A-list celebrity and political clientele, a tabloid-fueled controversy takes the investigation into the realms of conspiracy and cover up.

The Motive

release date: Dec 27, 2005
The Motive
With their park view and old-fashioned detail, the Victorian houses on San Francisco''s Steiner Street were highly valuable. But with their wooden construction, they were also highly vulnerable. So when Paul Hanover''s multimillion-dollar home went up in flames, it was all over very quickly. And when the bodies of Hanover and his girlfriend were found in the charred debris, it appeared that the end came even more quickly for them-judging from the bullet holes in their heads. But this isn''t just any double homicide. Hanover was a friend-and donor-to the mayor, who wants answers. And in trying to provide them, Abe Glitsky and Dismas Hardy will face an old lover and an old enemy-and follow a trail of evidence that stretches far beyond their usual jurisdiction.

The Hearing

release date: Feb 01, 2002
The Hearing
Hardy''s best friend, Lieutenant Abe Glitsky, has kept a secret from him...and everyone else. Hardy never knew that Abe had a daughter-until she was shot dead. It seems obvious that the heroin addict hovering over her body with a gun is the guilty party, and Glitsky has few qualms about sweating a confession out of him. But there is more to this murder-much more. And as both Hardy and Glitsky risk their lives to uncover the truth, others are working hard to stop them.

Betrayal

release date: Feb 26, 2008
Betrayal
New York Times bestselling author John Lescroart presents an ambitious thriller featuring San Francisco defense attorney Dismas Hardy. “Betrayal is provocative…a tour de force of a legal thriller.”—The Providence Journal Dismas Hardy agrees to take an appeal to overturn the murder conviction of National Guard reservist Evan Scholler. Scholler had plenty of reasons for revenge—but as Dismas delves into the case, he begins to uncover a terrible truth that drops him right into the complicated world of government conspiracy, assassination, and betrayal...

The Vig

release date: Jan 01, 1998
The Vig
Former police officer and prosecutor Dismas Hardy must match wits and bullets with killers and conmen on both sides of the law in search of the truth behind a friend''s disappearance--a man who owed money to the mafia. Reprint.

Nothing but the Truth

release date: Feb 01, 2001
Nothing but the Truth
From the acclaimed New York Times bestselling author of Guilt and The 13th Juror comes an electrifying new thriller--a novel in which San Francisco defense attorney Dismas Hardy faces the case of his career. This time his family is involved--and for Hardy, a devoted husband and father, the stakes have never been higher. Dismas knows his wife, Frannie, is the most reliable of mothers. When she fails to pick up their children from school one afternoon, he''s convinced something terrible has happened. It has: Frannie Hardy is in jail. Called before the grand jury in a murder investigation, she refused to reveal a secret entrusted to her by a man whose children attend the same school as hers, a friend who is accused of killing his wife. But now he has disappeared. Hardy knows there''s only one way to get Frannie out of jail: clear her friend of murder. That is, if he can be found. As he moves through a labyrinthine world of big business and San Francisco politics, looking for a man he half hopes never to find, a furious and frustrated Hardy is struggling to understand why his impeccably faithful wife is being so loyal to another man. What kind of truth could keep a wife from her husband, a mother from her children--could hold Hardy so powerless before the wrath of the law? With an unparalleled ability to illuminate the complexities of relationships while weaving a story of breathtaking suspense, Lescroart has never been in finer form. And Nothing But the Truth is his finest hour.

The Oath

release date: Jan 07, 2003
The Oath
When HMO executive Tim Markham is hit by a car during a morning jog through his exclusive San Francisco neighborhood, he has the bad luck to be transported to one of his own hospitals . . . and winds up dead in his ICU bed. But in spite of the rumors about his company''s substandard care, this death appears to be a case of malice, not of malpractice—especially after Markham''s entire family is gunned down in their home. Lt. Abe Glitsky has strong suspicions about a doctor with opportunity, means, and motives to spare. But working up a case against Eric Kensing might not be easy, especially when Glitsky has to rely on two bumbling rookies to gather the evidence. When defense attorney Dismas Hardy takes Kensing on as a client, both Glitsky and Hardy have to worry not only about losing the case, but about losing a best friend as well. And as the investigation leads to something bigger than they expected, they may both be in danger of losing their lives as well. . .

Rasputin's Revenge

release date: Nov 04, 2003
Rasputin's Revenge
Auguste Lupa, reputed son of Sherlock Holmes, the greatest detective of all time—and possessor of a brilliant deductive mind in his own right—is summoned to the court of the Czar. There, with a bit of assistance from none other than Holmes and Watson, he untangles a chilling plot that holds the Winter Palace in a lethal grip…Don''t miss this historical mystery from the New York Times bestselling author of the Dismas Hardy series. "It was good to have Holmes and Watson drop in on the action...There''s a lot of Sherlock in his son."—Abilene Reporter-News "The perfect vehicle for mystery fans who relish a good detective story.” —Macon Telegraph and News Praise for John Lescroart''s Dismas Hardy novels "Today’s best legal thriller series.”—Lee Child “Grisham and Turow remain the two best-known writers in the genre. There is, however, a third novelist at work today who deserves to be considered alongside Turow and Grisham. His name is John Lescroart.”—Chicago Sun-Times “Lescroart''s books are high entertainment, with accurate legal and police procedures leading the action.”—Sacramento Bee “A gifted writer….I read him with great pleasure.”—Richard North Patterson “Blistering courtroom sequences.…the undisputed king of the legal thriller.”—Providence Sunday Journal “Unfolds like a classic Law & Order.”—Entertainment Weekly John Lescroart is the New York Times bestselling author of numerous legal thrillers and mysteries, most of them set in contemporary San Francisco. Among his novels are The Fall, The Keeper, The Ophelia Cut, The Hunt Club, The Second Chair, The First Law, Nothing But the Truth, and Dead Irish, as well as two novels featuring Auguste Lupa, the reputed son of Sherlock Holmes.

The Rule of Law

release date: Jan 22, 2019
The Rule of Law
Attorney Dismas Hardy is called to defend the least likely suspect of his career: his longtime, trusted assistant who is suddenly being charged as an accessory to murder in this instant New York Times bestseller from “the undisputed master of the courtroom thriller” (The Providence Journal). Dismas Hardy knows something is amiss with his trusted secretary, Phyllis. Her strange behavior and sudden disappearances concern him, especially when he learns that her convict brother—a man who had served twenty-five years in prison for armed robbery and attempted murder—has just been released. Things take a shocking turn when Phyllis is suddenly arrested for allegedly being an accessory to the murder of Hector Valdez, a coyote who’d been smuggling women into this country from El Salvador and Mexico. That is, until recently, when he was shot to death—on the very same day that Phyllis first disappeared from work. The connection between Phyllis, her brother, and Hector’s murder is not something Dismas can easily understand, but if his cherished colleague has any chance of going free, he needs to put all the pieces together—and fast. A whip-smart, engrossing novel filled with shocking twists and turns, “The Rule of Law is vintage Lescroart, drawing on parallels between real-life and hot-button issues while also providing top-notch entertainment” (The Real Book Spy).

A Certain Justice

release date: Feb 07, 2006
A Certain Justice
When the angry white mob poured out of the bar on San Francisco''s Geary Street and surrounded an innocent black man, Kevin Shea was the only one who tried to stop them. He failed, and now, thanks to a deceptive news photo taken during the melee, he is wanted for the murder himself-and the real culprits have threatened his life if he says a word. As riots rage and politicians posture, Lieutenant Abe Glitsky finds himself under pressure to bring Shea in at all costs. And as respect for the law crumbles-even among those sworn to uphold it-true justice is the only thing that can prevent the death of another innocent man.

The Fall

release date: Jul 18, 2017
The Fall
A “courtroom thriller extraordinaire” (Providence Journal) from “master craftsman” (Associated Press) John Lescroart puts Dismas Hardy and his daughter in the middle of an uncertain murder case where winning the trial could mean losing everything. On a cool night in May, a teenage foster child named Anlya Paulson plummets to her death from a San Francisco overpass. But did she fall…or was she pushed? Homicide inspectors focus their attention on a likeable but naïve middle school teacher and volunteer foster care advocate. At first, his only connection to Anlya’s death is the meal they shared earlier that night. But soon his story falls apart, and Rebecca Hardy, now an associate at her father’s law firm, is drawn into his defense. As the case rushes toward trial, Dismas and Rebecca battle an aggressive prosecutor, a disinterested police force, and their own client, who isn’t faring well in jail. When a dying woman’s last words cast a surprising new light on the evidence and problems develop with a key witness, the father-daughter duo begins to glimpse the intricate web that connects the young victim to the city’s complex political and judicial machine. Proving their case in court, however, will be harder, as Rebecca comes to realize that a trial doesn’t always end with the truth.

The Motive: Dismas Hardy

release date: Jan 01, 2005

The Missing Piece

release date: Mar 29, 2022
The Missing Piece
Series information from author''s website.

Sunburn

release date: Jun 02, 2009
Sunburn
On Spain''s Costa Brava, passion and intrigue are everywhere- especially in the hearts of those who dwell there. As the dictator Franco teeters on the edge of overthrow, two couples are entwined. One is a husband and wife bored with the existence they have drifted into, the other a passionate, combative pair who relish every moment of life. Into this potent mix comes a young American seeking his missing lover-bringing a shadow of danger into the machinations already at work. Soon, loyalty will be tested and blood will be shed as the country of Spain prepares for revolution. And none of them-lovers, fighters, man or woman- will ever be the same.

Closure

release date: Apr 30, 2013
Closure
From two bestselling masters of suspense, a gripping, erotic story about a female assassin whose unsettling past comes back to haunt her… Beautiful twenty-something Lucy Delray has spent two months in therapy when she says to her psychologist, "When I destroy someone...I don’t feel anything." An avenging angel who lures men into her bed and then kills them, she qualifies this shocking confession: "I only kill men who deserve it. Who have done the unforgivable. Who need to be punished." But when Lucy lures an influential man from her childhood back into her life—a painter she befriended when she was only seven years old—the charming temptress may be committing the ultimate crime: letting a long-buried secret interfere with the job at hand…

The Hunt Club (Wyatt Hunt, book 1)

release date: Jun 21, 2012
The Hunt Club (Wyatt Hunt, book 1)
Within the law. Outside the system. The first book in an exciting series from New York Times bestselling crime author John Lescroart, featuring private investigator Wyatt Hunt. Perfect for fans of J.J. Miller and Sheldon Siegel. ''Compulsively readable'' - San Francisco Chronicle A federal judge is murdered, found shot in his home together with the body of his mistress. To homicide inspector Devin Juhle, it looks like a case of a wife''s jealousy and rage. But the judge had some powerful enemies... Meanwhile, Private Investigator Wyatt Hunt finds himself smitten with the beautiful and enigmatic Andrea Parisi, a celebrity television lawyer. But Andrea, too, had a connection to the judge, along with a client that had everything to gain from the judge''s death. And then she suddenly disappears... Andrea becomes Juhle''s prime suspect. Wyatt Hunt thinks she may be a kidnap victim, or worse, another murder victim. And far more than that, she''s someone with whom he believes he may have a future. As the search for Andrea intensifies, Hunt gathers a loose band of friends and associates willing to bend and even break the rules, leading to a chilling confrontation from which none of them might escape. What readers are saying about The Hunt Club: ''As in other Lescroart books, this reading leads you deep into the story... and then turns you around'' ''Another thrilling tale of justice in San Francisco'' ''The Hunt Club is fast-paced, exiting, suspenseful and filled with surprises''

Second Chair

release date: Jan 01, 2001
Second Chair
Lawyer Dismas Hardy is finally on top; he''s a fix-it guy for clients leery of taking their chances in a courtroom. Now Hardy''s up-and-coming associate brings him a high-profile case. But nothing is what it seems, and as the case twists and turns to its shocking conclusions, the very foundations of San Francisco''s legal system will be shaken to the core.
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