Dismas Hardy, Abe Glitsky, and Wyatt Hunt return in a compelling and timely legal thriller filled with blackmail, political intrigue, and multiple ...
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Jan 24, 2012
Johnny
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I’m not a criminal attorney, so this may not be right. What are the three essentials for a murder case? Are they motive, means, and opportunity? Theoretically, one doesn’t even need definitive physical evidence to point to a defendant’s guilt provided these three factors are demonstrated convincingly enough. In A Plague of Secrets, my latest foray into the San Francisco world of erstwhile cop and assistant D.A. turned defense attorney Dismas Hardy and erstwhile social worker turned private inves
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Aug 09, 2010
David
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Jul 02, 2009
Becky
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A Plague of Secrets opens with a tragic accident. San Francisco police Lieutenant Abe Glitsky's three year old son is hit by a car and sustains a serious head inujury. Abe's good friend, defense lawyer Dismas Hardy and his wife step in to help care for Abe and Treya's other child. The book is not about the accident, but its cause and its aftermath inform Glitsky's actions throughout the novel, and probably will continue to do so beyond its pages as well.
What the book is about is More...
What the book is about is More...
Sep 10, 2010
Carrie
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This is one of my current favorites. I love John Lescroart and have been reading his books for years. I love the Dismas Hardy and Abe Glitsky characters in particular and the stories with them as the main characters (not so much the Hunt Club books). Anyway, the last few novels have been a bit too heavy in detail just for the sake of detail (to me, anyway), but this book is a return to the really great, earlier books that tell a really great, page-turning story. I am so glad. I will now go out a
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Feb 01, 2010
Min
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Loved this book! Of course, I always love Lescroart's work (especially the Dismas Hardy series), but this book was better than usual. From the jacket copy, I wasn't sure I would like it, but it got off the ground quickly and it kept me reading nearly straight through.
The manager of a successful Bay Area coffee shop is murdered, and it's soon discovered that he was using the coffee shop to sell marijuana to numerous customers. One thing leads to another and soon enough, the owner o More...
The manager of a successful Bay Area coffee shop is murdered, and it's soon discovered that he was using the coffee shop to sell marijuana to numerous customers. One thing leads to another and soon enough, the owner o More...
Oct 22, 2009
Caitlin
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In the world of legal thrillers John Grisham usually gets all the hype, but John Lescroart and Robert Tannenbaum are much better writers. A Plague of Secrets is Lescroart's twentieth book in his Dismas Hardy series; that's pretty impressive.
I like this series, set in San Francisco, partly because it's set in San Francisco, but also because the recurring characters & their lives are interesting. After twenty books in the series, I really care about these people, they feel fleshed ou More...
I like this series, set in San Francisco, partly because it's set in San Francisco, but also because the recurring characters & their lives are interesting. After twenty books in the series, I really care about these people, they feel fleshed ou More...
Apr 16, 2011
Cheryl
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OK, so I'm jumping into the author without having read his prior 19 books which could be part of the problem. I had some issues trying to follow the characters (wait...who's wife is she?) and since I was reading it on my kindle, didn't have the patience to backtrack and figure it out. I remember thinking at one point that I should map everyone out with their relationships and jobs, but decided that this was more effort than I wanted to exert for a mystery/thriller novel. Historical fiction, m
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Feb 26, 2011
Kevin
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When I picked this book up at a local tourist hot-spot in Virginia I didn't figure I would be picking up a new favorite book.
The book starts out with the murder of Dylan Vogler, the manager of a coffee shop in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Fransisco. Just by knowing the setting of this book, you may be able to guess one of the themes of this book, the "victim less crime" as the author calls it. Despite having different opinions on the matter than the author, this was st More...
The book starts out with the murder of Dylan Vogler, the manager of a coffee shop in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Fransisco. Just by knowing the setting of this book, you may be able to guess one of the themes of this book, the "victim less crime" as the author calls it. Despite having different opinions on the matter than the author, this was st More...
Jan 31, 2010
Laurie
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Jul 16, 2009
Stephanie
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I didn't see the end coming on this one. Might re-read to see where I slept, or what happened...actually I DIDN'T sleep last night much, and read between 1 and 5 AM which is when I finished it, so that may be why I didn't pick up on any clues? Anwyay, I loved it.
Diz is still Diz and there really isn't anything re Frannie in this one, but lots of other regular characters, with interesting bits that make us know them more and possibly understand what is making them tick...like the acci More...
Diz is still Diz and there really isn't anything re Frannie in this one, but lots of other regular characters, with interesting bits that make us know them more and possibly understand what is making them tick...like the acci More...
Aug 03, 2011
Ed
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It's good having Dismas Hardy back. He gets better with age. It also feels good to read a story that harks back to San Francisco in the 60s and 70s, years I remember with great affection as chaotic as they were.
The story begins at Bay Beans West, a coffee shop in the center of the Haight-Ashbury district, the epicenter of the now vanished hippie culture. It's very popular and its manager, Dylan Vogler, can take credit for a lot of its success. Problem is, he's found shot to dea More...
The story begins at Bay Beans West, a coffee shop in the center of the Haight-Ashbury district, the epicenter of the now vanished hippie culture. It's very popular and its manager, Dylan Vogler, can take credit for a lot of its success. Problem is, he's found shot to dea More...
Aug 17, 2011
Jelan
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To me, the definition of a "guilty pleasure" book is that it can't make me feel too guilty. It must be a pleasurable page-turner that holds my interest but doesn't insult my intelligence. It can't require mental gymnastics or arouse too much moral indignation, but it also can't let me just read on autopilot. By this definition, A Plague of Secrets if a wonderful "guilty pleasure" book. Nicely written, interesting characters, sufficient plot twists and turns. I can't say
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Sep 24, 2010
Kathie
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I am a fan of John Lescroart and his recurring characters, Dismas Hardy, Abe Glitsky, and Wyatt Hunt.
In this work a coffee shop manager is discovered murdered outside his San Francisco shop with a backpack full of marijuana. The coffee shop owner, Maya Townshead is linked to the murder and soon linked to a second murder.
Dismus Hardy is hired as Maya’s defense attorney. Maya is the wife of a wealthy real estate executive, niece of a well-known actress, and of the Sa More...
In this work a coffee shop manager is discovered murdered outside his San Francisco shop with a backpack full of marijuana. The coffee shop owner, Maya Townshead is linked to the murder and soon linked to a second murder.
Dismus Hardy is hired as Maya’s defense attorney. Maya is the wife of a wealthy real estate executive, niece of a well-known actress, and of the Sa More...
May 01, 2009
Russell
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Plague of Secrets by John Lescroart
Reviewed by Russell Ilg
John Lescroart has taking the art of legal thrillers to new highest. John
characters are by far the best in the industry I have the feeling that I am
right there sitting in the connor watching the whole drama unfold. Dismas
and Abe are like old friends I have known my whole life and can not wait to
great carried away in the best thriller of the year. The story unfolds as a
run away fright train a More...
Reviewed by Russell Ilg
John Lescroart has taking the art of legal thrillers to new highest. John
characters are by far the best in the industry I have the feeling that I am
right there sitting in the connor watching the whole drama unfold. Dismas
and Abe are like old friends I have known my whole life and can not wait to
great carried away in the best thriller of the year. The story unfolds as a
run away fright train a More...
Oct 15, 2011
Eric
rated it:
Lescroart tells a convoluted tale full of lies, deception and secrets going back decades. Maya Townshend, owner of a popular coffee shop in san Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district is charged with the murder of her manager who is found with his knapsack full of high grade marijuana.
Maya and her husband enlist lawyer Dismas Hardy to defend her before a judge with a axe to grind about Hardy. Throughout the book, Hardy's investigative team uncovers secret after secret. The end reveals on More...
Maya and her husband enlist lawyer Dismas Hardy to defend her before a judge with a axe to grind about Hardy. Throughout the book, Hardy's investigative team uncovers secret after secret. The end reveals on More...
Jul 14, 2009
Cora
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Being a huge fan, and having read most of his earlier books, I found this book which is four-hundred-thirteen pages long, at times to be moving at an excruciatingly slow pace that I actually thought about putting it down. There is more action in the last thirty pages than in the entire three-hundred-eighty-three previous pages put together. There are a number of mini-plots that are set up... but never culminated. This is not one of Lescroart's best works. "A Plague of Secrets" lacks th
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Apr 14, 2010
L
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Talk about secrets! The book is chock-full of them. This is a great read. I like Dismas Hardy & his relationship with Abe Glitsky. (f course they would be in serious trouble without their wives; that buddy thing only goes so far, you know?)
And isn't about time someone planted some of the murder and mayhem at a trendy coffee shop? I mean, come on--all that caffeine? Hardy has an impossible case, complete with, well, let's say over-eager, lazy police and a judge you'll love to hate.
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And isn't about time someone planted some of the murder and mayhem at a trendy coffee shop? I mean, come on--all that caffeine? Hardy has an impossible case, complete with, well, let's say over-eager, lazy police and a judge you'll love to hate.
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Aug 09, 2009
Wynne
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I first discovered Abe Glitsky and Dismas Hardy at Dome Lake so it was fitting to find this newest story up there and to lose myself in the book for a quick read. Abe's son is hit by a car and through his grief and guilt he is temporarily detached from his responsiblities of running the homicide department. A murder takes place in the alley behind a ridiculously popular coffee shop on Haight street in SF. His detectives in their zealousness fail to investigate carefully and so eventually there i
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Jul 04, 2011
VR
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In Lescroart's 13th Dismas Hardy novel, Maya Townsend, a politically connected socialite is linked to the murder of an employee. Along with the dead body, police find a backpack full of weed. Seems the victim was selling more than lattes out of Maya's coffee shop, and his clientele included some of San Francisco highest rollers. Dismas Hardy to the defense! If you enjoy legal thrillers, I highly recommend Lescroart's Hardy series with one caveat. While there's nothing wrong with A PLAGUE OF SECR
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Nov 16, 2009
KarenC
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Lescroart returns to form in his latest Dismas Hardy/Abe Glistsky novel. Abe is a late participant in the case, but a necessary character. Wyatt Hunt returns as the investigator to help Hardy and his client. Resolution of the case is reminiscent of the old Perry Mason series.
Hunt is a favorite because he garages his Mini Cooper very kindly in part of his renovated warehouse home. His investigation agency is integral to the solution of the case.
Once the trial begins the plot keeps the reader tu
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Nov 03, 2010
K
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Dismas Hardy defends Maya Townshend, the beautiful socialite niece of the San Francisco's mayor, who is suspected of killing a charming ex-convict. A compelling and timely legal thriller filled with blackmail, political intrigue, and multiple murder which also features returning characters Abe Glitsky and Wyatt Hunt and his Hunt Club staff. Add in other past Lescroart characters including Wes Farrell, law partner of Dismas Hardy and the detectives who catch the murder case are Debra Schiff and
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Aug 03, 2009
Richard
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Dismas Hardy wins again! The San Francisco based defense attorney is faced with the equivalent of a locked room murder that he is sure his client did not commit. No, wait, there are two murders. Plus an accidental vehicular homicide many years before. No, if you count the shootout there are four more. Plus a variety of injuries.
There is guilt enough to go around, too, but if you see the exciting conclusion coming on this one, I'd like to know what tipped you off.
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There is guilt enough to go around, too, but if you see the exciting conclusion coming on this one, I'd like to know what tipped you off.
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Feb 28, 2010
Bernie
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If you like legal thrillers then you must know the writings of John Lescroart. In the last couple of novels I have found that his story's are more entertaining than Mr. Grisham's novels. That said, this thriller involves a prominent San Francisco women who owns a flourishing coffee shop that finds her shop manager murdered in the back alley with a backpack full of marijuana. With Dismas Hardy, our defendant attorney, left to untangle the twists and unexpected developments that arise through this
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Nov 27, 2010
Marti
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I decided that I would have to give this John Lescroart book three stars instead of the usual four. It just isn't as crisply done and seems sloppy in some places. I guess that is probably because of the prosecutor's rush to bring the case to trial, and that Dismas Hardy's investigators don't get him some pertinent facts, all of which probably happens in real cases. The accused doesn't always seem sympathetic. The fact of Abe and Treya's son's tragic brain injury is alarming to start the book
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Jul 30, 2010
Chuck
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I have sworn off legal thrillers for awhile but I was forced into the emergency book stash and came up with this one. I learned that this is one of a series but it stands alone very nicely. It features Dismas Hardy, a criminal defense attorney, who takes on as a client a woman who owns a trendy coffee shop. She is accused of a double murder one victim of whom is the manager of her coffee shop. I suggest that you just read and enjoy the ride because any attempt to figure it out on your own wil
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Nov 03, 2010
James
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A Plague of Secrets reunites John Lescroart's main series characters, Dismas Hardy, Abe Glitsky and Wyatt Hunt, along with the cast of minor characters that populates this very engaging series. The book opens with a personal tragedy that afflicts Glitsky, Hardy's best friend and the head of the San Francisco Homicide unit. Not surprisingly, the tragedy will distract Glitsky's attention from his duties in the department, and it probably goes without saying that this will not be a good thing.
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Feb 05, 2011
Linda
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Lescroat's latest book is a full of action and suspense. Being from California, I love reading the mysteries that take place in places that I am familiar with, and San Francisco is one of those places. This book contains mystery, suspense and good characterization, though not as deep as many of his novels. San Francisco is a great place for this adventure, especially as Lescroat weaves in the local color with different food offerings, the scenery and with hilly and curved streets, bayside scene
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Aug 24, 2009
Connie
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When the manager of the Bay Beans Coffee Shop is killed behind the shop early on a Saturday morning, the guilt points to the owner, niece of the San Francisco mayor and newest Dismas Hardy client. With Abe Glitsky out of commission over guilt of his young son's bike accident, proving Maya Townshend's innocence falls to Hardy and his team of investigators. An incite into the drug-promoting lifestyle, but a reasonable book to offer teens.
Dec 19, 2010
Elaine
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Almost finished reading this one. John Lescroart is one of my favorites. I love Dismas Hardy and Abe Glitsky. I also follow the Hunt Club. I haven't seen anything out by John Lescroart for a long time, so it is refreshing to find this one. Good characters and relationship developments. I especially like the friendship between Abe and Dismas. But I don't think I would want to eat at Lou the Greeks. Thanks, Elaine
Jan 30, 2011
Charles
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Characters as well as plot are well developed. He writes simply but holds one's interest as the plot becomes more complex. The only criticism I have is the ending seems too contrived though it does follow accordingly from the plot details. Though a legal thriller it has certain Agatha Christie qualities especially regarding the clues that are there but easily missed. Recommended for leisure reading.
