Nothing but the Truth (Dismas Hardy) - Hardcover

Lescroart, John

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0385333536 ISBN 13: 9780385333535

Publisher: Delacorte Press, 2000

Synopsis

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.

About this title

Review:

Fans of John Lescroart's series hero Dismas Hardy, the thoughtful and likable San Francisco lawyer, will welcome this meditation on marriage served up as a murder mystery. In previous outings, Hardy has been a cop, a bartender, and even an assistant prosecutor, so he knows that, "Sometimes the whole truth is the last thing you want to hear." But then his wife Frannie goes to jail for refusing to tell what she knows about the husband of a murdered environmental activist. The Hardy's children are classmates of the victim's youngsters, and Dismas must confront the secrets in his own relationship that have been concealed by the all-too-familiar pressures of trying to balance work and love in the modern family. The plot, which involves oil, gas, ethanol, and gubernatorial politics, doesn't take center stage in this carefully written and deeply compelling novel; the real action is the series of revelations about the crime in question, which uncover the more interesting story of how even a good marriage can deteriorate despite--or perhaps because of--the daily work of trying to keep it going. Lescroart is in Scott Turow territory here, and he explores and conquers it with the same keen talent for describing the distance between private life and public trust. Nothing But the Truth represents a major step forward for Lescroart, who expands the mystery genre with every Dismas Hardy outing. --Jane Adams

From the Back Cover:

Praise for John Lescroart's previous novel, The Mercy Rule:

"A stylish whodunit . . . that finds Lescroart at his best."
--People

"A terrific new novel from John Lescroart, who never wrote a bad page. You won't put it down."
--Larry King, USA Today

"Lescroart has another winner. . . . A taut read."
--San Francisco Chronicle

"Very entertaining . . . a large and emotionally sprawling novel."
--Chicago Tribune

About this edition

• Publisher: Delacorte Press
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0385333536
• ISBN 13: 9780385333535
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 448