Product Description

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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #158141 in Books
• Published on: 2001-02-01
• Released on: 2001-02-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 464 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780451202857
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Amazon.com 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 Publishers Weekly
Secrets and lies are the leitmotifs in Lescroart's 11th novel--a crisp, engaging thriller that could well be subtitled "This Time It's Personal." San Francisco lawyer Dismas Hardy has 72 hours to solve a murder that happened three weeks ago. Time is crucial because his wife, Frannie, has been jailed for contempt after refusing to reveal a secret (confided to her by her friend Ron Beaumont) to the grand jury investigating the murder of Beaumont's wife, Bree. The secret involves Ron's past--he kidnapped his own children rather than leave them in the custody of his abusive first wife, Dawn--and if Frannie spills the truth to the grand jury, Ron plans to skip town and go into hiding again with his kids. There are other secrets, too--related to Bree's powerful political position as an adviser, and rumored lover, to gubernatorial candidate Damon Kerry and as "a player in the big-money oil business." The murder investigation stalled when Carl Griffin, the detective assigned to the case, was shot to death days after Bree was killed. But throughout all the intriguing power plays, it's the close-to-home secrets affecting Hardy and his marriage that resonate most. The tug of competing loyalties and the sense that everyone has something to hide add depth and energy to a plot that has already been galvanized by Hardy's race to exonerate his wife, and solve the murder, in record time. The novel's pacing is reminiscent of classic Ross Macdonald, where a week's worth of events are condensed into a few hours. This winning thriller is the fifth starring Hardy, and it tops Lescroart's last one, The Mercy Rule, raising expectations for his next one. Agent, Barney Karpfinger. Simultaneous BBD audio. (Jan.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Although attorney Dismas Hardy's professional career has varied since his 1989 debut in Dead Irish, his life has never lacked dramatic suspense or personal turmoil. Here, in his fifth outing, Dismas is taken by surprise when his wife, Frannie, becomes the focal point of a grand jury investigation into the murder of scientist- turned-political consultant Bree Beaumont. Dismas has fewer than four days to track down and expose Bree's killer while he tries to come to terms with the disparity between his family's needs and his work-centered life. Lescroart orchestrates a cadre of multi-dimensional characters through a plot full of political subterfuge and action without losing track of the subtlety of modern personal relationships. Grisham's and Turow's readers should be steered toward this one.
-ANancy McNicol, Hagaman Memorial Lib., East Haven, CT
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

This series is terrific - and this latest entry is the best!
As a long-time Dismas Hardy and Abe Glitzky fan, this series just gets better and better. I just read the whole book during a snow day when I had better things to do, and I just couldn't put it down. The characters are familiar, and they've grown over the years, and Lescroart is so good at making it clear why real people can't live happily ever after... Dismas has come a long way, and his character continues to have depth and be interesting to observe. But best of all - this is a great thriller, a real page turner. Lots of twists and turns, and interesting political and social issues are represented all over the place. He has a nice touch writing about kids, about marriage, about relationships - okay, some of the stuff here is a little far-fetched but it's a mystery novel, that's why we read them. For new readers, start at the beginning of this series and work your way to the present - it will be worth it!

This is one fine read - and that's "nothing but the truth"
I had forgotten how much I enjoyed this author until I ran out of books on a recent vacation in Bermuda and bought this one, even at the inflated island prices. Dismas Hardy is a central character that you can admire, identify with and root for as he contends with (1) a wife who's sense of values is refreshing in these times which have caused her to be jailed for contempt(2) an ambitious prosecutor and a venal DA (3) a cllient who appears to hold at least one of the keys to his wife's jail cell (4) a judge who holds the other key and (5) his old friend, homicide detective Abe Glitzky as he tries to solve the problem of the murder of his client's wife. This author has mastered the art of making conversation come alive on the printed page and you keep turning the pages well into the night. I was happy to be on vacation so that I could enjoy it in large doses. I recommend it without qualification.

Mystery in THE city - GREAT!
I found this to be one of the best mysteries I've read in quite awhile. Set in one of my favorite cities - San Francisco - it not only captures the flavor of the city, but it is also populated with well-rounded and interesting characters; people you can care about.

This book keeps you in suspense, and then neatly "ties up" all of the story aspects in the end (I enjoy "neat" and logical endings). This is a "must" for anyone who enjoys a good mystery