A Plague of Secrets

May 11, 2009
A brisk pace, sharp dialogue and believable characters propel bestseller Lescroart's 13th thriller to feature San Francisco defense attorney Dismas Hardy (after Betrayal
). When someone shoots Dylan Volger in an alley near the coffee shop he managed, Bay Beans West, the cops discover a load of marijuana in the victim's backpack, a crop of weed growing in his attic and a customer list that includes a judge and several local officials. Suspicion centers on Hardy's client and Bay Beans West's owner, Maya Townshend, who's the sister of a city supervisor and the mayor's niece. That Maya was paying Volger an unusually high salary of $90,000 suggests he was blackmailing her. An arrogant U.S. attorney decides to turn the trial into a “career-making moment,” invoking a little-known law to prosecute Maya. Lescroart skillfully juggles myriad plot threads, including one involving homicide detective Abe Glitsky, a series regular, whose young son is in a coma after a car accident.

June 1, 2009
Not even pot-tolerant San Francisco can ignore the complications that follow the murder of a dealer who seems to have been keeping half the town high.

Dylan Vogler earned $90,000 a year managing Haight-Ashbury's Bay Beans West, twice as much as he would have made at Starbucks, but not enough to keep him from growing and selling high-grade cannabis to a select list of about 70 clients. When he's shot to death outside the coffeehouse clutching a backpack full of weed, everyone who ever knew him goes into a defensive crouch. Inspectors Darrel Bracco and Debra Schiff wonder why BBW owner Maya Townshend would deny knowing anything about his dealing and insist that the only reason for his sky-high salary was to keep a good employee happy. When they learn that Vogler treated his boss like a hired hand; link both of them to a dicey shared past; and place her at the crime scene right around the time of the murder, they promote Townshend to a person of interest. Striking an unholy alliance with a U.S. Attorney eager for publicity, Bracco and Schiff threaten to seize both Townshend's coffee shop and her wealthy husband's real-estate holdings as drug proceeds. When another friend from her shady school days is found murdered, they stick her in the pokey. By this time, Townshend has retained Dismas Hardy as her counsel, and her problems have become his. In fact, given a client whose every utterance is either ambiguous or an out-and-out fib, Hardy doesn't see how he can possibly get her off. There'll be a walloping big courtroom surprise, but as has become customary in Hardy's recent cases (Betrayal, 2008, etc.), this one doesn't come to a full boil until afterwards, in an ill-advised shootout that punishes the guilty and then some.

Less issue-driven than usual, more of a whodunit—and a sharp one at that.

(COPYRIGHT (2009) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

June 1, 2009
Lescroart does not disappoint with his latest novel, the 20th he's penned and the 13th to feature lawyer Dismas Hardy, again paired with head of San Francisco homicide Abe Glitsky. When the police arrest politically connected small-business owner Maya Townshend for the murder of one of her employees, Dismas must beat the clock to find the real killer. With Maya less than forthcoming about aspects of her past and her connection to the victim, investigator Wyatt Hunt and his Hunt Club must work to uncover things that are buried deep in the past. The novel, part setup of the crime and part courtroom thriller, maintains a steady pace with tight writing and characters that ring true. While affable Dismas carries the lead, Glitsky deals with his son's near-fatal injury, for which he blames himselfa subplot that could have been further explored. But this is a quibble about a terrific read. VERDICT John Grisham fans will love the courtroom drama and straight-to-the-facts style. The publisher is rightly committed to making this best-selling author a household name. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ" 3/1/09.]Amanda Scott, Cambridge Springs P.L., PA

Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from April 15, 2009
Now pay attention, because were only going to run through this once. The manager of a San Francisco coffee shop is found murdered. The dead man was dealing drugs out of the coffee shop, and one of his clients was Wes Farrell, law partner of frequent Lescroart protagonist Dismas Hardy. Another of the victims drug clients was an associate of private investigator Wyatt Hunt, also a regular Lescroart protagonist. Oh, and the detectives who catch the murder case are Debra Schiff and Darrel Bracco, more returning characters. Were not through yet. Still another popular Lescroart character appears in a dramatic and heartrending subplot. This is by far Lescroarts most complicated novel, elaborately plotted and featuring enough characters from other books that you almost need a scorecard to keep them straight. Readers unfamiliar with the authors previous novels might feel a bit lost, but fans of his tightly written legal thrillers will have a great time. Its worth noting, too, that although Lescroart seems to be having a lot of fun rounding up his characters from previous books, he is also treating us to one of his best and most suspenseful stories. This isnt merely a gimmick book; its also a first-rate mystery.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)