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Tuesday, May 07, 2013

The Ophelia Cut

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by John Lescroart

I read this book with my heart in my throat.  In this installment in the Dismas Hardy legal thriller series, Dismas must represent his best friend and brother-in-law against a murder charge.

Brittany McGuire is the beautiful, twenty-three-year-old daughter of Susan Weiss and Moses McGuire—and the niece of defense attorney Dismas Hardy. Popular and pretty, Brittany has always moved easily from one boyfriend to the next, but her most recent ex, a young man named Rick Jessup, can’t seem to get over her. His abuse escalates, culminating in a terrible night when Brittany is raped.
Within twenty-four hours, Rick Jessup is dead, Moses McGuire is the prime suspect in the investigation, and Dismas Hardy has been hired to defend his old friend. Making things even more complicated, this case threatens to bring to light old secrets that could destroy the careers of Hardy and police lieutenant Abe Glitsky.
As the overwhelming evidence against Moses piles up, Dismas Hardy focuses on planting doubt in the minds of the jurors—until, in a feat of legal ingenuity that is staggering in both its implications and its simplicity, Hardy sees a new way forward that might just save them all. But at what price?

I've read several in this series, but not in any order.  Each one read just fine as a stand-alone, although I think it would be nice to know more of the background story.  In fact, I'm going to get my hands on the last several books in the series so I can learn more about something that happened years earlier to Dismas, Moses and a couple other guys.

Lescroart writes a really good story, with substance. Meaty.  The characters are life-like and complex.  Nothing is black or white in this novel - lots of grey, shady areas.  I liked it a lot.

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