The First Law
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4.3 • 10 Ratings
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
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.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Abe Glitsky, the gruff, hard-nosed homicide cop from San Francisco who typically plays a supporting role in Lescroart's line of legal thrillers (Hard Evidence; The Hearing; etc.), takes center stage in the series's 11th entry. After convalescing for 13 months from a gunshot wound suffered in last year's The Oath, Glitsky finally returns to the force, only to discover that his beloved homicide detail is now under the command of someone else. Glitsky is assigned to head the payroll department. Embittered about his new job and itching to return to real police work, Glitsky starts poking around when one of his father's friends, a pawnshop owner, is shot to death. His superiors warn him to stop trying to horn his way back into homicide, but it soon becomes apparent to Glitsky and the series's usual star, defense attorney Dismas Hardy that the case is far more significant than a simple robbery gone bad; it's part of a string of murders that appear to be connected to a private security company that provides protection for much of the city's business community. Worse, somebody on the police force is trying to cover up the murder spree and frame one of Hardy's clients for it. With his latest, Lescroart again lands in the top tier of crime fiction. On display are his usual strengths a grasp of current social and legal issues, an insider's knowledge of San Francisco and an ability to draw characters with sensitive, nuanced strokes. Even when his plots grow a little far-fetched as this one does toward the end Lescroart's storytelling skills conceal the blemishes.
