Dead Irish (Dismas Hardy Series #1)

In his new life as a bartender at the Little Shamrock, Dismas Hardy is just hoping for a little peace. He's left both the police force and his law career behind. Unfortunately it's not as easy to leave behind the memory of a shattering personal loss-but for the time being, he can always take the edge off with a stiff drink and round of darts. But when the news of Eddie Cochran's death reaches him, Hardy is propelled back into all the things he was trying to escape. Now he must untangle a web of old secrets and raw passions, for the sake of Eddie's pregnant widow Frannie-and for the others whose lives may still be at risk.

Dismas Hardy is an ex-cop and bartender at the Little Shamrock, owned by his friend Moses McGuire. When Moses asks him to investigate the alleged suicide of his brother-in-law, Eddie Cochran, Dismas obliges. Though Dismas's probing suggests that Eddie was involved in a drug deal, he begins to uncover a dangerous entanglement much closer to home.

In his new life as a bartender at the Little Shamrock, Dismas Hardy is just hoping for a little peace. He's left both the police force and his law career behind. Unfortunately it's not as easy to leave behind the memory of a shattering personal loss-but for the time being, he can always take the edge off with a stiff drink and round of darts. But when the news of Eddie Cochran's death reaches him, Hardy is propelled back into all the things he was trying to escape. Now he must untangle a web of old secrets and raw passions, for the sake of Eddie's pregnant widow Frannie-and for the others whose lives may still be at risk.

Publishers Weekly

Dismas Hardy, an ex-policeman and lawyer who has withdrawn from his former life as a result of a personal tragedy, tends an Irish bar in San Francisco. When his boss asks him to investigate the apparent suicide of Eddie Cochran, Hardy agrees. Cochran was a friend and proving his death was not suicide will free the insurance money to his pregnant widow. As he becomes close to Eddie's parents, his emotionally distraught younger brother and family friend, Father Jim Cavanaugh, Hardy finds his life complicated by an encounter and renewed relationship with his ex-wife. Uncovering a botched drug deal arranged by Cochran's employer, Hardy believes he can show that Eddie was indeed murdered. But from that point his investigations come to a dead end. The killer, identified about two-thirds of the way through the story, proves to be as fascinating a personality as Hardy himself. Lescroart ( Rasputin's Revenge ) provides a surprise twist at the end. (Jan.)

Famous for his series of bestselling legal thrillers starring San Francisco lawyer Dismas Hardy, John Lescroart has an interesting perspective on the serendipity surrounding his success. "It almost makes me say I believe in justice," he explains in our exclusive audio interview, "but, of course, I've written too many of these books to make that stand!" he admits with a chuckle.