The Fall
A Novel
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- ¥510
発行者による作品情報
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.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
San Francisco attorney Dismas Hardy's grown daughter, Rebecca, plays a central role in bestseller Lescroart's subpar 19th series legal thriller (after 2014's The Keeper). When 17-year-old Anlya Paulson, an African-American, dies after falling from an overpass into the path of a motorist, the police quickly conclude that she was pushed to her death. Rebecca, who now works for her father's law firm, happens to be with middle school teacher Greg Treadway, in the bar her father owns, when word of the tragedy reaches Greg. Greg, who had dinner with Anlya on the last night of her life, becomes the prime suspect. The police and DA's office are under political pressure to move quickly because of accusations that the authorities aren't pursuing killers of African-Americans hard enough, and Greg, who is white, is soon arrested and facing trial. Rebecca, also white, is convinced he's innocent and decides to defend him. That defense, of course, involves some amateur sleuthing to identify the real killer, complete with coincidences that strain belief and an action-packed resolution outside of the courtroom.
