Nothing But The Truth

Dismas Hardy #6

by John Lescroart

Nothing But the Truth (Dismas Hardy) Lescroart, John

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Legal Thriller, Thriller, Crime, Legal, Mystery Thriller

Paperback

First published January 4, 2000

About the author

John Lescroart (born January 14, 1948) is an American author best known for two series of legal and crime thriller novels featuring the characters Dismas Hardy and Abe Glitsky.

Lescroart was born in Houston, Texas, and graduated from Junípero Serra High School, San Mateo, California (Class of 1966). He then went on to earn a B.A. in English with Honors at UC Berkeley in 1970. In addition to his novels, Lescroart has written several screenplays.

Reviews

[Paul Weiss · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dull characters that nobody will care about at all!

As part of the long-running Dismas Hardy and Abe Glitzky series, NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH falls completely flat for me and is an utter failure as a legal "thriller"!

San Francisco attorney, Dismas Hardy is shocked to find out that his wife has been jailed for contempt when she refuses to answer a question posed to her in a grand jury investigation of a recent murder. The prosecuting attorney, definitely on a legal fishing expedition behind the closed doors of the grand jury, asked her about a conversation that she had with a friend who was a potential murder suspect. Because the friend had told her a secret in absolute confidence, she utterly refused to answer the question and stood her ground by allowing her self to be cited for contempt and placed behind bars.

What seemed like a preposterously weak premise in the first place ends up being dragged out into an overly long novel with dull characters whose fate will matter not one whit to most readers.

There were, I admit, two saving graces which saved me from simply setting the novel aside unfinished. First was the opportunity to learn a little something about grand juries and their place in the American system of jurisprudence. Second was the opportunity to meditate for a moment on the meaning of trust in a solid marriage and how a marriage can falter on the rocks of pre-occupation with work, career and anything other than marriage itself.

Other reviewers have sung the praise of this series but I'm sure not tripping over myself to look for other novels in the series on the basis of this one. Not recommended.

Paul Weiss

[James Thane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've generally enjoyed all of the novels in John Lescroart's series featuring attorney Dismas Hardy, and I think that the best of the books in the series are those in which Hardy is defending a client, usually accused of murder, in court. Even though Lescroart is not a lawyer himself the courtroom scenes that he writes are always believable and very compelling. Unfortunately, this is not one of those novels. In a book that stretches to 450 very dense pages, there is only one protracted courtoom scene and it is only then that the novel really comes to life.

The series is set in San Francisco and the city itself serves as a major character. The author obviously knows the city very well for all its beauty and all of its problems. As the book opens, Bree Beaumont, a woman with powerful connections, is found murdered and fairly quickly, for reasons I won't give away, the case becomes very personal for Dismas Hardy.

Hardy is placed in a situation where he has only a few days in which to sort through the very messy aftermath of Beaumot's murder and identify the killer (which the entire San Francisco police force has not been able to do). If he cannot, the negative consequences will be severe, both personally and professionally. Hardy will thus spend the entire novel functioning principally as a detective rather than a lawyer, and unfortunately at times this gets to be a pretty tedious slog.

To be honest, the entire premise underlying the novel stretches credulity. It seems to take Hardy forever to make any real progress here and the book would have been better had it been trimmed by about 70 to 100 pages. A fair amount of the book is devoted to the strain that this crisis places on Hardy's marriage, and by the time I got to the end, I was getting fairly tired of both Hardy and his wife.

Perhaps worst of all, as the novel finally draws to a conclusion, in order to produce a result, Hardy does something that is so unbelievably preposterous that it takes the reader (or at least this one) right out of the story and leaves them shaking their head all the way to the end of the novel. As I noted above, I really do enjoy this series a lot, but for my money, this one does not measure up to the standards of the rest of the series.

[Johnny · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are some prolific authors that fail to engage me because of the perceived style of writing. Lescroart’s oeuvre seemed to consist of lengthy books that seemed overly predictable. If my first experience with his writing is any indication, boy did I get a wrong number. Nothing But The Truth is both a criminal trial novel about an attorney (something I very much enjoy when it is done well and despise when it is done poorly) and a mystery-thriller. It starts off with the attorney’s very responsible wife going missing and it finishes with a wild flourish of conspiratorial activity. It is a combination political potboiler, crime thriller, and courtroom maneuvering tour de force. I can’t believe I’ve passed this author up in my previous efforts at escapism. The novel is longer than most thrillers, but it reads like a typical novel. I read it in one round-trip train ride to Chicago plus a couple of hours at home that evening. Rarely do I finish my “train”reading at home. It was that good.

I know that this is a book in a series and I know this review isn’t very helpful when I touch on a book out of sequence, but I just couldn’t help recommending it. If you like Michael Connelly’s attorney who works out of his limousine or some of the more exciting trial work of John Grisham’s protagonists, you shouldn’t pass this one up. The crooked situations remind me more of Chicago than San Francisco, but politics is, of course, politics.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another solid Dismas Hardy/Abe Glitsky legal thriller/procedural from John Lescroart...Dis is drawn into a murder investigation of a beautiful advisor to a California gubernatorial candidate, when Dismas Hardy's wife, Frannie seems to be, momentarily, missing...She's missing, because she's being held in jail on contempt of court charges arising from testifying in a grand jury hearing...The case is "high juju," because of the state and local politics of an election, ambitions in the DA office, Big Oil, Environmentalists and the murders of two cops, all intersect...The usual good stuff!!!

[Byron Washington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Boyyyyyyyyyyy!!!

The wife of Dismas Hardy was STRAIGHT TRIPPIN' in this book. JUST WILDIN''!!! I won't spoil it for you, but be prepared for your anger and gnashing of teeth to be VERY prevalent emotions as the story progresses. It kept me engaged though, soooo job well.

Buy it, read it and enjoy!!👍🏾🔥👍🏾🔥👍🏾🔥👍🏾🔥👍🏾🔥

[Lela · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked this book more as it went on but the end wasn't enough to make up for it being slow in the beginning.

[Linda Munro · Rating 5 out of 5]

When attorney Dismas Hardy gets a call saying his wife never picked the kids up from school, he's worried. Frannie is the perfect mother, was she in an accident? Could someone have taken her? The last thing he expected was to learn that she was in jail.

She was slapped with a contempt charge, first for refusing to answer a question concerning her friend Ron Beaumont who the DA wants indicted via the grand jury. The grand jury? Hardy had no idea Frannie had even been subpoenaed to testifying, what exactly is going on with his wife?

In order to get Fran out of jail, Dismis is going to have to prove that Ron is innocent. He has four days to do something the police have been working on for weeks. Will he be able to do it?

[Rick Rapp · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book could easily have been two separate stories. There's murder )actually several). political corruption, questionable legal proceedings, marriages in trouble, big bad business, and so much more. In spite of that, it is a page turner and the ending really surprised me. There are so many awful people portrayed in this book that any number of them could have been the guilty party. On top of that, the people who are being suspected and ill-treated by the legal system don't do themselves any favors by their behaviors. The protagonist, an overworked lawyer with questionable priorities, has to step up in order to save his wife, his family, and ultimately himself. He makes a good sleuth and is believable in his doubts and frustrations. He and his best friend, a homicide detective, regularly come to loggerheads in their ideas about how to proceed with the case, and Hardy, the lawyer, is not always forthcoming (for a variety of reasons.) I have to say that I enjoyed it very much, except for the lengthy and in my mind boring sections related to fuel additives. The novel could have done well without some of those. But overall, I recommend it!

[Joanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Lescroart weaves taut legal thrillers and this book is particularly good. It starts off with the disappearance of Dismas Hardy's wife, Frannie. She doesn't pick the kids up from school, and the worrying begins. In turns out, she was subpoenaed to appear in front of the grand jury and is being held in contempt for refusing to reveal a conversation she had with her friend, Ron, whose wife (Brea) was just murdered. Frannie also angers the judge, who adds more time to her contempt sentence. Dismas, an attorney, must find Brea's killer before the grand jury reconvenes on Tuesday becasue Frannie still refuses to reveal her conversation. So, rushing against the clock, he must unravel the complicated lives of Brea and Ron to get to find Brea's killer.

The only flaw in this book is that the original detective assigned to investigate Brea's murder is killed, but there was no investigation into his death. That just would not happen in real life. But it is worth putting that aside to read a very interesting, well thought mystery that had me guessing until teh end.

[BJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

There was a lot to like in this book. There were twists and turns that kept me guessing until the end. And best of all, I loved the Perry-Mason moment at the end. The only thing that bothered me was the angst between Hardy and his wife. Maybe by the time I get the to end of the series I will enjoy Dismas and Frannie and all their family melodrama. And maybe not.

[Tim · Rating 1 out of 5]

Another good example of why female victims, virtual kidnapping, extortion, courtroom dialogue and story much too long doesn’t work. 2 of 10 stars

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a long book with a convoluted, seemingly unrelated subplot. Since I listened to the audiobook, I found the beginning very confusing, especially regarding the oil company and the gubernatorial campaign. Just like any Perry Mason book, the ending chapters with the courtroom scenes stand out as the best part of the story.

Because I have not read the beginning books in this series, I don't know whether or not reading this "out of order" affected my understanding in any way.

[Joyce · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting for Hardy's legal grandstanding at the end and his family difficulties

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really have been enjoying this series, so far. The writing is straightforward and there’s a good balance of well thought out plots and believable, engaging characters. The author is obviously familiar with the intricacies of bureaucratic BS, he integrates it so well into his stories. That being said, I thought that this sixth entry in the series was not as satisfying as the first five, it had a very strong beginning and conclusion, but got a little overcomplicated and wordy in between. While I did not like this book as well as the others I’ve read in the series, it’s still, in my opinion, a cut above many of the books available for crime/courtroom drama fans.

[Pisces51 · Rating 4 out of 5]

NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH [2000] By John Lescroart
My Review Four Stars****

This novel is #6 from the author’s lengthy Dismas Hardy series (19 books at time of writing). I designated this month to reading serial installments by familiar authors from yesteryear who entertained me with their books on tape. Lescroart’s works are invariably l-o-n-g and it is more often than not a struggle to stay engaged as the storyline unfolds…unfolds…and unfolds. I read books #2, #3, #4, and #5 earlier this year and my ratings were variable. Yet here I am again, immersing myself in the exploits of Hardy, now approaching his 48th Birthday, as the calendar turns the page to the new millennium on the streets of San Francisco.

The plot snagged my interest from the first page. Hardy is absorbed and drowning in the doldrums of his day-to-day work life, and his and Frannie’s lives together have suffered the separation and disappearance of romance that occurs to so many married couples. Dismas has compartmentalized his work and relegated the children, their academic and curricular events at school, and all but the occasional input from him in parenting decisions solely to Frannie. It is within this vulnerable period in their marriage that Frannie doesn’t show up one day to pick up the kids from school. No one in Frannie’s family or their mutual circle of friends and acquaintances are able to locate his dependable wife. It isn’t long before Hardy is frantic to find her, and then we learn she was impaneled by the grand jury. Frannie has been caught in the widespread net of a fishing expedition instigated by an ambitious young upstart in the DA’s Office, and when she fails to answer all of his questions, her circumstances go from bad to worse. The loving mother of two children who had never had a parking ticket lands in jail wearing a baggy orange jumpsuit. She stubbornly refuses to spill a friend’s confidence to the Grand Jury, but then compounds her predicament by engaging in a verbal “cat fight” with the presiding Judge. Can anyone say a double helping of “contempt” and an immutable four days behind bars to think about it.

Hardy finds himself in an untenable predicament. His wife is having a meltdown in jail, and despite his connections he is powerless to do a thing about it. It seems that she has a male friend [“Ron”] whose children are friends of “The Beck” and young Vincent. Hardy has a hazy recollection of seeing the man’s two kids at his home, but he is blindsided by the news that Frannie has this secret male friend. Ron is obviously a close friend since he had entrusted incendiary personal information with her, which she had refused to disclose the nature of the confidence to the Grand Jury, angering the prosecutor and compounding her predicament by insulting the presiding Judge. Frannie ultimately tells Dismas the details of the “secret” Ron shared with her, but only after securing Hardy’s word that he would take the information to the grave with him. Frannie made him promise as a husband (and not as an attorney whereby he could legally claim privileged information). She figuratively hand-cuffs him and then lets him loose with information that he is legally compelled to reveal to the justice system if he is questioned about it by an officer of the law.

The wife of Frannie’s “friend” Ron had been murdered when she and Ron had been having coffee together in a public place. In effect she was his alibi for the time of death. The Grand Jury had interviewed the husband at some length and dismissed him from the proceedings without further instructions. It was only through the ambitious attorney’s relentless shotgun questioning of Frannie that it surfaced that Ron and the victim had been experiencing marital discord. Ron became a person of interest only because of Frannie’s refusal to answer questions about any conversations with him that were about disagreements or difficulties in his marriage to the victim.

It was a great “hook” for the plot to involve Hardy playing dual roles, dusting off his hand gun and acting as a PI, investigating all facets of the homicide, hunting down clues to solve the mystery of Bree Beaumont’s murder. Bree, a 36-year-old beauty with brains, was an environmental researcher for Big Oil, but more recently a political consultant and steady companion of ardent environmentalist Damon Kerry, also a candidate for governor.

This novel is longer than most crime fiction thrillers as one has learned to expect from Lescroart (paperback edition sports 656 pages). It reads pretty much like any novel and unfolds mostly in a linear fashion. However, it does alternate between past and present and relies heavily on multiple points of view. The author uses italics in many instances when the narrative departs from the main storyline told in the here and now. These tangents were not as confusing as they could have been, and served variously to flesh out peripheral characters in the book, provide clues and background information. It is quite early in the story line that it’s clear that this one is “high jingo” as Harry Bosch likes to say. The tale has Big Oil, high finance, industrial conspiracies, and political implications all over the place. By the 50% mark in the book, I was actually a little bit surprised that I was still interested in the story and that I had not become bogged down by any of the author’s digressions along the way.

But make no mistake about it. This is a sprawling saga that offers up a laundry list of suspects for the high-profile homicide of Bree Beaumont, while there is also the murder of two cops, an act of domestic terrorism that claims one life, and a heartbreaking crime of arson to follow. It’s likely that some readers will need to make kindle notes to keep track of the main persons of interest and the obvious villains in the story line. This book is not one of those legal thrillers that after the depiction of the killing the reader gets to vicariously join the fireworks during the actual murder trial.

NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH is at its core a character driven murder mystery “whodunit” against the backdrop of big money, power and politics. It’s true that at some point as a reader one has to ask whether the exhausting run-up to the actual “knock it out of the ball park” trial scene is worth it. The Hearing before Judge Braun to vacate the Grand Jury’s Contempt Order is reserved for the final 10% or so of the book. To be fair the courtroom is packed for the Hearing and it certainly meets the criteria for high drama. The action-packed finale is worthy of an episode of Perry Mason for sure. However, the proverbial moment when Hardy says (after thoroughly pummeling the murderer on the witness stand) “I have evidence, your Honor!” is classic Matlock.

The novel is populated with a host of interesting and richly characterized personalities who range from honorable and good to duplicitous and downright evil. Hardy doesn’t manage to put the pieces of the puzzle together until the last minute. Readers are unlikely to guess the identity of the killer or killers. Although I freely admit I'm not the best at guessing "who done it", the twists and turns the investigation takes really blew my mind. The clues were there, but there was no way I could put it all together. My problem is that I had to suspend disbelief when Hardy had HIS epiphany and suddenly divined the identity of the culprit from minutiae from the autopsy reports (“tea leaves”). Hardy’s solving the murder(s) at the eleventh hour was actually the second blow to the plot. The first blow was Hardy abruptly and without warning announcing a major plot twist which was an unrevealed truth about the murder victim and her relationship to the DA’s primary suspect Ron Beaumont. Pursuant to this revelation, it was actually Glitsky who read the scene of the crime in a more astute fashion when he and Hardy visited the Beaumont home. Since this was more of a whodunit than a legal thriller, and we have the attorney solving the murder and not the homicide squad, I knocked a star off for the above antics. Lincoln Rhyme could have unraveled this complex cluster of murder and mayhem maybe, but Hardy is no Sherlock Holmes.

I am still reading my way through the author’s Dismas Hardy books. I like “the soldier turned cop turned prosecutor turned defense attorney”. In my opinion you will reap richer rewards from this author’s works if you read this series in the order of when it was created. You will enjoy the character arc of the main character of Dismas. You will feel like you know the recurring characters (ultra liberal DA Sharon Pratt, Moses McGuire (owner of the Shamrock and Hardy’s brother-in-law after his marriage to Frannie), Hardy’s mentor the charismatic and theatrical genius Defense Attorney David Freeman, and the steely best friend Abe Glitsky, the black half-Jewish head of Homicide in the SFPD.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to this as an audio-book. It was long and involved, but I think I was able to understand it much better in a spoken format than reading it and following all the convolutions.

Interestingly, the tone of voice the reader used for Frannie Hardy made me dislike her quite a bit. She came across as whiny and insincere. The overreaction to her four days in jail by her husband and everybody else seemed a bit much. I got to the point I wanted to just slap them all silly for the lack of sleeping and eating going on. Do people really go four days without eating and sleeping in real life?

I'm sure that a lot of research into the law went into the writing of this book, and legal minds have a lot to bite into when reading it. I found that, while a good book, I just wanted it to be over, as I felt I wanted to move on when it was only halfway finished.

I gave it four stars because it was well done in its entirety. However, if you're listening to this one, plan on a long visit.

[Marty Fried · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another winner by John Lescroart. Lots of interaction between Dismas Hardy and Abe Glitzky, which is always entertaining. This one had a lot going on, a few surprises, and lots of generally good reading, or in my case, listening. By the way, the narrator of these audiobooks is very good, in my opinion, so if you want to try an audiobook, you can't go wrong with one in this series.

Sometimes I feel a bit guilty reading his books because so far, they all seem to have a happy ending. The good guys win, the bad guys lose. It makes things a little more predictable, but I don't know if that's really a bad thing if the story is entertaining. It doesn't matter, I'm going to keep reading his books and enjoying them, even if they aren't fine literature (whatever that is).

[Marti · Rating 5 out of 5]

yes, i am a fan! i hope eventually to read all the books in this series. this one goes back to before abe glitsky was remarried. it was great as usual, but i started getting a little bogged down in the legal part toward the end. dismas hardy's wife frannie comes off being rather strange at times, especially when she battles the judge and lands in jail for several days. still, it is terrific to see the team--dismas and abe--working together.

[Melvin A. Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic ending!

It took me a while getting into this book, and had a hard time keeping track of all the characters. Fortunately, Kindle’s X-Ray feature helped me out. The plot line seemed to have a lot of twists and curves, but it all came together in the final courtroom scene, which was a real “Perry Mason” ending. Great story.

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great courtroom, mystery, action, whodunit, love story, make you think, funny and suspenseful story. It was great, and it appears I stepped into a series so I am going to have to read more of these! I recommend it if you like stuff like this.

[Sherrie · Rating 2 out of 5]

A totally unexpected plot twist about 3/4 of the way through helped pick this one up the rest of the way, but it was too late. A banal plot, too many characters that really had nothing to do with the story and appeared just often enough to be confusing, and just an overall quite boring book..

[Revere · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story. A bit wordy for me. I found myself skipping some of the details.

[Pmatthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the better Dismas / Abe books I've read.

[Leo · Rating 3 out of 5]

More tightening up would have made this a 5 star read - POV changes were annoying, too much blah, great central story line/plot

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice legal thriller. Not as compelling as most Grisham books, but compelling nonetheless.

[Harry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not Lescroart’s best effort. After the beautiful and brilliant Bree Beaumont is murdered, the investigating detective is also murdered. One would expect that the Homicide Department, under Abe Glitsky, would redouble its efforts to catch the murderer of one of their own, a cop killer. No, the murder of Detective Griffin is ignored and attributed to being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Most of the rest of the book meanders through possible suspects, foremost of which is Bree’s husband.

It is not until the last 50 pages of this 450 page tome that Dismas Hardy gets his act together and puts on a brilliant courtroom interrogation - to the surprise of the judge, the District Attorney and Hardy’s friend, Glitsky. In a novel like this, the reader expects the bad guys to get their comeuppance. That happens for the oil and additive industry executives. But nothing happens to the overzealous, insensitive and unscrupulous District Attorney and her prosecuting attorney who imprison Hardy’s wife, Frannie, and hatch a plot to incriminate Hardy and Glitsky. Beside a dressing down by the mayor, they survive unscathed to continue to abuse the legal system.

One of the redeeming elements of this novel is the expose of the big oil and ethanol industries. Lescroart also describes the difficulties of trying to maintain a life-work balance in marriage and raising children. Hardy comes across as a Neanderthal but at least recognizes the error of his ways.

[wally · Rating 4 out of 5]

100th read of the read finished today
the 12th of september 2020 good read four stars really liked it kindle owned. and...what else...been reading some michael connelly? did i spell that right? same time as lescroart here, not a great deal of difference between the two styles...connelly with...bosch, right? detective down in l.a.? lescroart with hardy lawyer in san fran...and was going to say another with a different courtroom scene...some sort of hearing, interesting for that reason and one of the last reads had a similar situation, something other than the run-of-the-mill jury trail...some sort of courtroom/lawyer thing...this one played out like one of those fabled sherlock holmes mysteries, ellery queen...the fabled denouement...thought the finishing touches on a couple of the "bad" guys was...something...stoopid. but we were not really interested though i wondered...hey, what about him? before it came. oh, okay. four shots from a .44 no less, no more thorn...or was it? see, already forgot.

[Myrna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Over 500 page paperback--it's the second book of the Dismas Hardy series I have read. Unfortunately, not in order. Nevertheless, it was a good story altho lots going on getting to the ending when all was solved. I like that it takes place in San Francisco so I know the areas that the author refers to. Hardy's wife, Frannie, is arrested for contempt of court in a grand jury hearing. Hardy was not aware of her
being called to appear which, of course, caused a problem. It seems she was in the habit of having coffee w/one of the school parents,Ron (a stay at home dad) and was aware of a personal situation that he had. At the time he was a suspect in the murder of his wife, altho not arrested. From there it winds thru more murders, more suspects, arson, information that comes out and involves others.
Additives to gasoline and politics also come into the story. All very interesting and of course, at the
end, the "bad guy" is found and all ends well. It's a good read!

[Carey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since the last time we met Dismas Hardy (The Mercy Rule) he was already facing a rocky marriage. He was coming home later than he said he would and his dinner remained cold on the table. All the lights would be off and everybody in their beds waiting for a new day. It was a lonesome feeling and Nothing But The Truth continues his family crisis. His wife had an affair and is in jail on contempt charges.

Unlike Mercy Rule though, NBTT kept me intrigued throughout most of the book. Lescroart matured as an engaging writer here. It had some surprising plot twists that drove my attention forward. If you like mysteries this is one of his better ones, and the next book in the series is even better (The Hearing).

FINAL RATING: 4.6935 stars out of 5 stars

[Gary Gallucci · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've sort of come full circle in terms of my book choices. I started reading John Lescroart way back when, before I truly learned to appreciate good story-telling. Back then, I read for the sake of telling people I read. Crazy, huh? Such is the life of a pseudo-academic. Anyway, I've returned to this author, and now realize what I'd been missing. John Lescroart is a terrific writer, and this book in particular a work of art. A mysterious murder, lots of potential suspects, and a man on the run with two kids. To top it all off, our hero, one Dismas Hardy, has to try to get his wife released from custody for bad-mouthing a judge. If that doesn't get your attention, I don't know what will. LOL.