Review of "The Missing Piece: A Dismas Hardy Novel" by John Lescroart

 

In this 19th book in the Dismas Hardy series, the attorney gets involved when a released prisoner is murdered. The book can be read as a standalone but familiarity with the characters is a bonus.



*****

Eleven years ago, Paul Riley was convicted of the rape and murder of a young woman named Dana Rush. Riley's case was subsequently taken up by the Exoneration Initiative (EI), which helps people who were wrongly convicted. The EI got a confession from another convict, and Riley was released from prison.



Since then Riley has moved into a garage apartment on his father's property, got a job in a restaurant, and taken up his old vocation - burglary. One evening, Riley comes home with a good haul of jewelry and money and gets shot in the head.



Riley's dad tells the police he heard the shot and saw Doug Rush, the father of the raped girl Dana Rush, leaving the property. The police take the ID seriously because Doug - who STILL believed Riley was guilty - railed against his release and threatened to kill him.

The police arrest Doug Rush and botch the job by kicking and beating him while he's helpless on the ground. A video of the assault is uploaded to the internet and the police are vilified for brutality. This being the case the police want a quick conviction, so they look a tad less bad.



Meanwhile Doug hires Wes Farrell - a former District Attorney who's now a defense lawyer in Dismas Hardy's law firm - to represent him. Being on the prosecution side has infiltrated Wes's psyche and he believes all defendants are guilty, including Doug. As things play out, Doug forfeits his million-dollar bail by not showing up for his preliminary hearing, and Wes feels somewhat vindicated in his opinion.



Then Doug is found murdered and the police, who are embarrassed by the whole business, drag their feet on the investigation. Wes Farrell and Dismas Hardy - whose law firm got a $100,000 retainer from Doug - feel they owe him a debt. So the lawyers enlist the help of private detective Abe Glitzky, who was once Head of Homicide for the San Francisco Police Department. Abe sets out to discover who killed Doug, believing it's the same man who shot Paul Riley. So two birds with one stone.



During Abe's investigation he speaks to various people, including Doug's neighbor, Doug's lady friend, the members of Doug's motorcycle club, and people associated with Paul Riley.



Additional deaths blur the picture, and at one point Abe, a happily married man, gets the come-on from an interviewee, which made me laugh. 😄 Abe also contacts a lawyer at the EI, who admits the EI doesn't always get it right and some guilty convicts have been sprung from prison.

Though this is a Dismas Hardy book, the novel is mostly a police procedural focused on Abe Glitzky. I like police procedurals and Abe is an appealing character, so that's fine with me.

Thanks to Netgalley, John Lescroart, and Atria Books for a copy of the book. 

Rating: 3.5 stars