When Dylan, the manager of the successful Bay Beans West Coffee Shop, is found shot dead with a backpack full of marijuana, the evidence points toward the cafe's owner, Maya Townshead, as the killer. When another body is found and Maya is linked to that killing as well, she is charged with murder. Lescroart's stalwart San Francisco attorney, Dismas Hardy, is brought in as Maya's defense lawyer, and as he digs into the case, he uncovers secrets from Maya's past that, once revealed, may prove her innocence or may just as easily send her to prison. David Colacci's clear, deliberate delivery keeps the complicated story moving smoothly forward, while his gift for vocal characterizations shines in the author's expertly written courtroom scenes. A Dutton hardcover (Reviews, May 11). (July)
A Plague of Secrets (Dismas Hardy Series #13)
Narrated by David Colacci
John LescroartUnabridged — 13 hours, 26 minutes
A Plague of Secrets (Dismas Hardy Series #13)
Narrated by David Colacci
John LescroartUnabridged — 13 hours, 26 minutes
Overview
In a multiple murder case plagued by lies and deception, there is one terrible secret that defense attorney Dismas Hardy is duty-bound to protect. Even if the price is his client's life.
When Dylan Vogler, the charming manager of the popular Bay Beans West coffee shop in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district, is gunned down near the store, inspectors are shocked to discover that his knapsack is overflowing with high-grade marijuana. It soon becomes clear that San Francisco's A-list flocked to Bay Beans West for more than a pricy caffeine fix.
Maya Townshend is the absentee owner of the shop-and the beautiful and extremely wealthy socialite niece of the city's mayor. When she becomes Dismas Hardy's client, he thinks it will be a simple hand-holding exercise until the police identify a suspect. But then another of Maya's past acquaintances turns up murdered, and the newspapers begin to reveal the names of the coffee shop's celebrity, political, and even law-enforcement clientele. Hardy begins to question how much his client knew about what was actually going on inside her business-and whether she was also Vogler's lover.
All the while Hardy's best friend, homicide lieutenant Abe Glitsky, sick with worry over his severely injured youngest child, barely functions at his job. Without his supervision, his inspectors are prey to the machinations of the many power brokers with interests in the case. Ambitious prosecutors close in on Maya, and as her trial gets under way, Hardy discovers that his client harbors an explosive secret. A secret that Dismas Hardy is privilege-bound to protect.
Perceptive, fast-paced, and masterfully plotted, A Plague of Secrets represents John Lescroart working at the absolute top of his game.
Editorial Reviews
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 himself—a 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, LJ3/1/09.]—Amanda Scott, Cambridge Springs P.L., PA
—Amanda Scott
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 thatpunishes the guilty and then some. Less issue-driven than usual, more of a whodunit-and a sharp one at that.
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940172407536 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Brilliance Audio |
| Publication date: | 06/30/2009 |
| Series: | Dismas Hardy Series , #13 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
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