The Dismas Hardy Novels

**The Barnes & Noble Review**

In John T. Lescroart's [ *Nothing but the Truth* ](http://cart2.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?isbn=0451202856), Dismas Hardy -- embattled hero of an exemplary series of legal thrillers -- found himself embroiled in a complex murder investigation that gradually illuminated some undiscovered fault lines in his own marriage. In his follow-up appearance, *The Hearing,* Hardy has regained a tentative sense of marital harmony but must still contend with the chaos and corruption of the outside world. This time out, chaos takes the form of a brutal murder that comes uncomfortably close to Hardy and his inner circle of friends.

The murder victim is Elaine Wager, a brilliant African-American woman and a leading figure in the San Francisco legal community. Elaine was found shot to death in an alley, with a homeless heroin addict crouching above her, smoking gun in hand. This apparently

open-and-shut case comes to Hardy's attention for two reasons. First, he discovers that Elaine is the daughter of his closest friend, Homicide Lieutenant Abe Glitsky. Second, the alleged killer turns out to be Cole Burgess, ne'er-do-well brother of yet another longtime friend. Hardy, caught in an irresolvable conflict, wants no part of Burgess's defense. But external

circumstances force his hand, and he reluctantly changes his mind.

To begin with, Burgess's taped confession reveals significant inconsistencies and raises a number of inconvenient questions. In addition, District Attorney Sharron Pratt plans to make blatant political use of the killing by pushing, uncharacteristically, for the death penalty. Early on, Hardy makes a crucial strategic decision and throws all his efforts into avoiding a jury trial by winning decisively in the preliminary hearing. He knows his only serious chance lies in offering the presiding magistrate a plausible -- and provable -- alternative culprit. With that in mind, he launches his own

independent investigation into Elaine Wager's death.

What follows is a hugely entertaining, occasionally improbable courtroom thriller in which Hardy -- together with Abe Glitsky and a host of associates old and new -- follows a trail of venality and violence from the bars and bedrooms of San Francisco's bottom feeders to the inner circles of the city's political elite. It's all great fun, and the furious melodrama acquires added depth through Lescroart's carefully shaded characterizations and his ongoing concern with the various ways people handle -- and sometimes fail to handle -- the large and small problems of everyday life. If you haven't encountered Lescroart before, by all means do so now. *The Hearing* is a first-rate, high-adrenaline narrative that offers a number of complex pleasures and marks Lescroart as the best courtroom novelist this side of [Scott Turow](http://cart2.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/results.asp?author_last=Turow&author_first=Scott&match=exact&options=and). *(Bill Sheehan)*

*Bill Sheehan reviews horror, suspense, and science fiction for* Cemetery Dance, The New York Review of Science Fiction, *and other publications. His book-length critical study of the fiction of [Peter Straub](http://cart2.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/results.asp?author_last=Straub&author_first=Peter&match=exact&options=and)*, [At the Foot of the Story Tree](http://cart2.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?isbn=1892284774), *has been published by Subterranean Press ([www.subterraneanpress.com](http://www.subterraneanpress.com)).*