Poison by John Lescroart

Attorney Dismas Hardy has vowed to himself and to his family that he’d take no more murder clients after being shot twice a year earlier due to his involvement in a murder trial.  He has made this life decision well known to his legal partners, to his best friend policeman, Abe Glisksy, to his private investigator, Wyatt Hunt and to everyone else he cared about in his life.  Then Abby Jarvis, a former client calls from jail after being arrested for the murder of her boss, Grant Carver (aka Wagner in the advance uncorrected copy.)  Hardy had represented Abby eleven years earlier on a DUI/ vehicular manslaughter charge.  After some jail time, Abby was hired as a bookkeeper by Grant Carver who ran a successful family business that included four of his grown children.  One of the siblings and Abby’s best friend, Gloria had protested the original forensic finding of heart failure as Grant’s cause of death and that sparked further investigation.  In a second scanning of Grant’s body, the poison, aconite was found in his system.  An examination of the company’s financial books showed Abby had been receiving some ‘under the table’ compensation for years and that compounded with her legal record and her mention in Grant’s will led to her arrest.  Abby acknowledged an ongoing secret romantic relationship with Grant that exposed Grant as father to her young daughter.  Abby swore that the extra compensation was with Grant’s blessing as child support for her daughter as well as hush money.  No one openly knew of Abby and Grant’s intimate involvement.

Hardy puts his P.I. Wyatt Hunt to work in hopes of finding other suspects… like one of the grown siblings not quite being treated fairly or Grant’s former girlfriend, Stacy or Grant’s adopted son, Joey who was not involved in the family business.  Before Wyatt can make significant progress, David Chang, a casual friend of Hardy’s son is shot and killed.  Then when Stacy is shot and killed in the same manner, even the police suspect someone other than Abby must be involved.  Could all three of these murders be connected, if so, how?  As the truth is unraveled, Hardy once again has knowledge of a murderer who could put him and his family in danger.  Should he excuse himself from the case as he had promised his wife or take the risk and see that his client is cleared?

I’ve been reading Lescroart’s Dismas Hardy novels since 1989’s Dead Irish.  Over the years, the author has expanded his protagonists to include family members, friends and business associates of Hardy.  But Lescroart’s work is at its best with Hardy front and center in the plot as he is in Poison.  For Hardy’s well-being, he needs to slow down his work load and assign the big murder cases to his associates but for the reader’s sake, we need his direct involvement.  Please Mr. Lescroart, more Dismas Hardy.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster for the advance look.