The Mercy Rule (Dismas Hardy) | John Lescroart | OPENING A LESCROAT BOOK IS LIKE MEETING OLD FRIENDS

The Mercy Rule (Dismas Hardy) | John Lescroart | Good mystery; good characters

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The Mercy Rule (Di...

	The Mercy Rule (Dismas Hardy) John Lescroart Island Books, 1999 - 640 pages average customer review:based on 33 reviews view larger image
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Justice...

Once Dismas Hardy was a cop. Now he spends his days in a lawyer's suit, billing hours to a corporate client in a downtown San Francisco office. Hardy's wife and kids like it that way. Then one client changes everything.

Compassion...

Graham Russo, a former baseball star, is charged with murdering his dying father. Was it suicide, the last desperate act of a dying man? Was it murder? Or mercy?

Murder...

Now, as a carnival of reporters, activists, cops, lovers, and families throng around the case, Dismas Hardy is going to trial with a client he doesn't trust, a key witness he cannot believe, and a system that almost destroyed him once. For Dismas, this case will challenge everything he believes about the law, about his family, and about himself. Because a chilling truth is beginning to emerge about an old man's lonely death. And what Dismas knows could put him next in line to die. . . .

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OPENING A LESCROAT BOOK IS LIKE MEETING OLD FRIENDS

Lescroat has that ability to make his primary characters believeable and earthy. In the "Dismas" books one feels like they are returning to old friends who have encountered some problems along the way. The only problem is that Dismas always seems to get involved in MURDER! And when that happens you can rest assured that Dismas looks under every stone until he finds the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

"The Mercy Rule" was a great 'who dunnit' with quite a few possibilities on the list of suspects but the author holds us in suspense until the enth degree - as we rule out each suspect and turn the pages faster and faster to learn the identity of the true killer.

Even with murder, mystery and mayhem, Lescroat instills a sense of duty, family loyalty and love in his novels and he shows no exception with The Mercy Rule. A great read.

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Good mystery; good characters

The good thing about a Lescroart mystery is not so much the mystery as the characters who intersect the mystery. Murder's the name but the players are the game. Here Lescroart touches on an emotionally charged issue, euthanasia or mercy killing. There's a nice analogy with the game of baseball, perhaps unintentional, which is that in the early levels of the game the adolescent players learn 'the slaughter rule,' allowing a team which has no chance of winning having fallen behind an insurmountable lead, to exit with some self respect intact.

Hence we have Sal Russo, years ago a bright guy married to his sweetheart, knowing all along she is from a different life, years later preparing to die alone, the target of an agonizing tumor complicated by the onset of alzeimers. He is reunited by his oldest son, Graham, who tried his own (and his father's) dream of playing in the big game, only to fall short. Sal dies under mysterious circumstances with a DNR (do not revive) warning in plain view.

That Graham is arrested, then released, then indicted for murder, reflects the indecision the politicians, their constituents and the police have on this painful topic. Do the terminally ill have control over the time that they cross the river, or do we let events rob them of their remaining dignity?

Dismas Hardy is again the reluctant guardian at the gate, not wanting murder as a crime he defends, all the while knowing it's where his true strength . . . and definition lies.

If there is an irritant, it is the tedious relationship he has with his wife, Frannie. So many alter egos of the novelist's heroes love their partner for what they do, yet make life difficult for them because they do it. Kudos as an aside to Lucy Chenier, Elvis Pike's lover, who got up and left.

But with that one comment, a multi-latered book for the reader who wants social issues, murder most foul, great complicated characters and unexpected twists. Not a fast read but a very good job.

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Thoughtful and engrossing legal thriller

Lescroart is not an author I recommend to people seeking an easy,lightweight and disposable read.His San Francisco set legal tales tend to be quite complex,and multi-layered with an emphasis on issues and characterization as well as plot.
The Mercy Rule is no exception to the pattern.Its centre piece is the trial of Graham Russo,lawyer turned wanna be baseball player,who is accused of killing Salvatore ,his father and stealing his money and vintage baseball card collection.Salvatore was terminally ill with an inoperable brain tumour as well as in the grip of Alzheimer's.Some -including liberal SF District Attorney,Sharon Pratt,see it as a mercy killing-assissted suicide-and refuse to proseecute.The State of Califirnia takes a different view and put Graham on trial.
His defence is entrusted to Lescroart regular character,Dismas Hardy.The trial ,crisply and dranatically presented,is compelling reading but occupies only around 30%of the book and the verdict is delivered with around 60 pages of the book left.The coda sees Hardy digging into events leading up to Salvatore,s death
The build up to the trial is fascinating with the whole issue of assisted suicide and the conflicting views it gives rise to dealy with fairly and impartially.The investigation is complicated by the developinhg relationship between Graham and the homicide detective Sarah Lee who has been assigned to the case and we identify with Dismas Hardy in his desire to be a defence attorney when the main source of income is in borin but financially rewarding corporate law issues

The downside to the Lescroart method is a certain leisureliness of pace and the book ,nearer 500 than 400 pages,does have its longeurs but overall its rewarding and full of inside information on legal processes and political wheeling and dealing,something which seems to be an inevitable part of the legal process in America

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The Mercy Rule

Dismas Hardy, at his best. A regular guy, working hard at his craft, to support his family. The usual Abe Glinsky, Frannie, children and cast of characters. Deep development of the victim, the accused, policemen, politicians and dysfunctional, families. Was it murder or mercy? A question, we may all, at some point, have to answer. Excellent courtroom drama.

Wonderful characters, intriguing mystery

One thing I enjoy about Lescroart's mysteries is that it's tough to read them in one sitting. In "Mercy Rule," Lescroart serves up a buffet of conflicts: Dismas has internal conflicts about the direction of his career and the effects the demands of his work has on his family and marriage. Det. Evans has an ethical conflict between a romantic relationship and the requirements of her work. Dismas and Glitsky have a falling out when Dismas pushes the boundaries of friendship to save his client. And, there's a circus-full of political and legal conflict about the ethics of assisted suicide.

It all adds up to dramatic tension that cannot be zipped through in one night.

I also found the mystery to be very satisfying. It was both hinted at and hidden within the book. At the conclusion, it didn't seem forced or contrived. The killer's motive was clear and seemed "real."

One final thing I enjoyed is that it's fairly clean (PG-13). Although two characters hop into the sack fairly quickly, "Mercy Rule" isn't full of sadistic violence or gratuitous sex.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

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recommendations

Dismas Hardy and/or Abe Glitsky Novels by John Lescroart
John Grisham, Scott Turow - and better
Dismas Hardy Series by John Lescroart