Мъртвият ирландец

Dismas Hardy #1

by John Lescroart, Джон Лескроарт, Христо Кънев (translator)

Достатъчно ли е само динамично повествование за успеха на един криминален роман?

Една бизнес афера и едно убийство са достатъчни за такъв майстор в жанра като Джон Т. Лескроарт да направи нещо по-голямо от един обикновен криминален роман. Може би затова „Мъртвият ирландец“ достигна милиони тиражи и стана явление, което доказва колко силна литература може да има и в този жанр.

Приятно пътуване, читателю…

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

Paperback

First published January 27, 1990

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

[Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somewhat slow, but great character.

Dismas Hardy, a former Marine, ex-cop, ex-attorney, and divorced after the death of his son. Hardy is now a bartender at Moses McGuire's pub "The Little Shamrock" in San Francisco. When McGuire's brother-in-law, Eddie was found dead, he asked Hardy to look into it not believing that Eddie would take his own life.

Fortunately, I read book 19 The Missing Piece and absolutely enjoyed it. So here I am back to the beginning of the series, and if I hadn't read the latest book I may stop right here. There were too many characters to keep track of and took what felt like forever to find the killer. I'll check out another book because I know for a fact that the series gets better!

[Tea Jovanović · Rating 4 out of 5]

Odličan serijal popularnog američkog autora... Kod nas je prevedena samo jedna njegova knjiga... upravo ova "Irska smrt"... Da li zato što se radnja dešava u mom omiljenom američkom gradu, San Francisku, da li zbog žanra i likova... kako god, odličan pisac, našim čitaocima uglavnom nepoznat... Ako volite Grišama, Patersona dopašće vam se i ovaj pisac... Nadam se... :)

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

A slow start before interest picks up in this twisty whodunit. 7 of 10 stars

[Paul O’Neill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid story, great characters with a twist I didn't see coming. This is a classic 'whodunnit' book featuring an ex cop/ex lawyer/ex marine/current bartender with a tragic back story. All too often these type of books only focus on the police work and don't focus on the personality and background of the characters. That isn't the case with Dead Irish. I'd liken it to Michael Connollys excellent Harry Bosch series in that regard.

[Cathy DuPont · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, I’m happy…a new writer for me whose writing I really enjoy, John T. Lescroart.

This is the first in the series of many books with the introduction of Dismas Hardy. Dismas ‘Diz’ Hardy, ex-copy, ex-lawyer, and ex-husband is presently a bartender. A thirty something guy who is trying to find himself and hold it steady in the face of past tragedies.

I’ve always enjoyed characters who aren’t perfect, who have flaws and Diz has one or two. The main one is his inability to face life head on. He’s disassociated himself to hide, presently as a bartender. Granted a good bartender but it’s not a complicated or challenging position however it keeps him out of the fray of living life to the fullest.

Dismas is asked by his friend and boss, the owner of the bar where he works, to ‘look into’ the possible murder of his Irish Catholic brother-in-law. There is some question as to whether it’s a suicide or murder. If it’s a suicide the insurance will not pay off the widow. Both the widow and murdered(?) man are old friends of Dismas and although he is not anxious to take on the challenge since the police are investigating it, he relents. His hesitancy is related to his inability to stay away from obligations and remain as uninvolved with others as possible except on a shallow level.

Unfortunately, I am not good at guessing the ‘bad guy’ until it is obvious and the author lets the reader know. However, I got this one early on. Pure happenstance, nothing to do with any clues provided or the writing. Just a good guess on my part which does not happen often so I'm boasting.

Nice writing on the part of Lescroart who gave the characters depth and made the reader care about them. This is what I enjoy most about the writing of authors; an excellent description of the scene. Excellent dialog and character descriptions such that the reader cares about them (or hates them) and becomes involved in the story and what happens to them.

By the way, Dismas is a unique name which I had never heard before. So I had to find out where it came from. St. Dismus was the ‘good thief’ who hung on the cross when Jesus was crucified. Interesting name for the author to choose for a unique character. Look forward to reading more of Dismas Hardy to see how he evolves, if he does.

[Polly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book more as it had a good main character, lots of interesting side characters and great dialogue in places. Dismas Hardy is a former cop and lawyer, who is asked to help his current boss and friend, Moses, find out if his brother-in law took his own life or was murdered which is a good premise. Sadly, I just found it such a slow read! At one point I almost gave up, but I finally finished it in just over a week. I can often read three books in that time. If an author’s writing style resonates with me I can even read one in a few hours! My rating is more 2.5 stars than three.

[Paul Weiss · Rating 2 out of 5]

“ Take what looks obvious and find out the truth behind it. The best murders in the world look like something else. If they didn’t nobody’d need us.”

Young Eddie Cochran’s death is going to be ruled a suicide but that just doesn’t seem possible to his friend, former San Francisco cop Dismas Hardy, who is putting the “facts” (such as he knows them) in front of his friend, Abe Glitzky, still an active member of San Francisco’s homicide investigation unit. The death scene positively screams “suicide” but Hardy’s instincts are tingling and screaming something else!

DEAD IRISH, the first installment in the Dismas Hardy/Abe Glitzky friendship/“partnership” series, is an interesting piece of character development and fans of the series need to read it for completeness. But, it must be said, that if I had actually read this novel first at the time of its publication, it is unlikely that I would have bothered continuing with what I now know is a compelling and thoroughly enjoyable series.

Background story and character development aside, DEAD IRISH is turgid and slow-moving to a fault. The cops, including Glitzky, are convinced that Cochran’s death is a suicide and the total lack of urgency and interest in the investigation certainly shows it. DEAD IRISH could easily have been renamed DEAD STOP or DEAD IN THE WATER! Indeed, despite the fact that I was aware of the series’ well-established excellence in the novels to come, I was tempted more than once to set it aside as a DNF.

Definitely NOT recommended to folks that are newcomers to the series and only barely recommended to Hardy’s continuing fans.

Paul Weiss

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars because of a slow start.....with a great finish. It seemed to take a long time for me to get oriented amongst all the players in this mystery. Two-thirds through, I couldn't put it down. I'm hoping many characters introduced will reappear in later books in the series. Dismas is an appealing and complex protagonist.

[Kay]

I don't know what kind of bug it is, but I rated and review this already. It doesn't show on series page as "read". This was 3⭐. The books get better as they go.
Original review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Leon Aldrich · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read one in this series out of order (I won't admit to which one). It was a solid read, enough where I picked up both Dead Irish and The Vig, where they've been sitting on my shelves collecting dust. I make lapses in judgement like that all the time. Putting off reading a great author for no sensible reason.

I'm breaking out The Vig next.

[Tammy Walton Grant · Rating 3 out of 5]

John Lescroart's legal thrillers were an auto-buy for me in the mid 90s. I loved Dismas Hardy: the disillusioned, beat cop-cum-prosecutor-cum-bartender and his black cast-iron frying pan, his best friend Abe Glitsky and his world in San Francisco. Lescroart never disappointed and I looked forward to every release.

Then I had babies and quit reading anything that didn't start with the words "What to Expect...".

So recently, while trolling on GR (because really, isn't that what we all spend our free time doing?) I discovered that the book I started with was not the beginning of the series! For anyone who suffers from the same disease I do (URBOO - unable to read books out of order) this is a major development.

So here I am, 17 years later, starting at the beginning.

Dead Irish was a fairly decent read although I must say that if I'd started with this one I might not have kept going -- Lescroart's voice had definitely improved by the time I picked up the series 4 books later. It's a bit slow moving, with multiple POVs that switch so suddenly it was initially difficult to figure out whose head I was in.

However, getting Dismas' back story, and meeting the characters that populate the series was worth the slow going.

3 stars.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really good one! Lots of suspense toward the end in a race to save the next victim. Nice to see where the characters got their origins. You will no doubt pick up a slip that gives you a huge clue who the murderer is, but don't dispair, because I believe it is intended for you realize. Although you want to scream at the detectives and Dismas for not picking up on it sooner. It doesn't diminish the suspense.

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hmm... not a bad book! Where shall I begin...

As I was doing a search for new releases for January, I came across Suspect by John Lescroart. It sounded really good, so I checked up on it, wanting to make sure that it wasn't part of a series. Sure enough, Suspect was a stand-alone novel, but I came across this one as well. It's the first in the series, and a few reviews postes, especially the one that I found helpful, had me wondering if I should give this one a shot. See, the person stated that, even though this is the first in the series, the series gets way better as you move along. So I wondered, why not give it a try? Sounded interesting enough, and I read the excerpt on Lescroart's website, so I thought: "Why not give it a try? Coles has it in stock to boot..." So that's what I did.

It wasn't bad, although not all that exciting. Sure, one review complained that you don't get the 'shattering personal loss' until midway through the book, but it didn't bother me as much. It made me cry when I finally got to it.

The plot wasn't bad either. I liked how it came about, especially in Hardy's head. There wasn't much action, but what there was worked well. I usually really like lots of action in a suspence novel, but truthfully, this one didn't need it.

What I truly liked about this novel, is how the main character, Dismas Hardy (Diz for short), battled with himself in this novel. You truly get a sense of self out of him, how he felt when the 'shattering personal loss' hit him, how it affected him, why he is today the way he is, and wondering how his life is changing now. Truly excellent how the author touched you through the character.

I'll have to give credit to that reviewer. I will most definitely be reading the rest of the series.

[Nancy Ellis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dismas is a former cop, former attorney, now divorced bartender, who is drawn back to investigating the apparent suicide of Eddie Cochran, his friend's brother-in-law. As Dismas digs into the young man's recent past, though, he uncovers a picture of a young man who was an idealist, happily married with a baby on the way, heading for law school in a few weeks' time. Dismas works hard to convince the police that the case is a homicide, and along the way we learn of the web of secrets involved in all aspects of the case from a botched drug deal by Eddie's boss, the politics of the police precinct causing the detectives to just want it to be a suicide, and the tangled lives of Eddie's friends and family, all leading to more deaths.

This got off to a rather slow start for me, with so many threads to the story line I wasn't sure where it was going, but it was definitely worth sticking with, and by the final chapters I couldn't put it down. What a great ending! An excellent beginning to a promising series!

[Deacon Tom (Feeling Better) · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Good Story

This book is very fast Paced with lots of Twists and turns.

Th characters are fine but we are lacking.

Take the time to read.

[Tim Titolo · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am starting a series of books by John Lescroart. Since the author is supposed to be a legal thriller writer I though it was worth the effort. The first is Dead Irish which, from what I can tell, is the first with characters Dismas Hardy - a cop turned lawyer turned bar tender (amen!) and Abe Glitsky - cop.

These characters seemed to pop up every time I tried to read Lescroart (though I never finished his books) and so I thought I would go back to the beginning.

Dead Irish was not very action packed and the story was not captivating. I hope the second Lescroart book is better. I will give the author a pass since the book was written in 1989 toward the beginning of what looks like a healthy writing career. The book may just be my own disinterest but I found myself skipping a page or two when it got really boring and that is something I just do not normally do.

So far I do not recommend Lescroart - at least not as to Dead Irish.

[Francois Arsenault · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm told the Dismas Hardy books become a lot better but this first one is a absolute mess.

Lescroart's prose attempts a Wodehouse-like approach to giving out information in an obtuse way. Instead of laughter, though, his mostly breeds confusion. Add to that the constantly shifting points of view that seem to be completly arbitrary and you get a book that lacks a great deal of focus. The main character is likeable enough but appears in little over half the books. New characters and viewpoints are still being introduced in the last few pages.

The mystery itself is not that interesting. The lack of focus, overabundence of characters and useless tangents make it needlessly complicated. It’s also evident pretty early on who the culprit, if not his motive, is. Which is a shame because the one thing that could have been very interesting was that motive if it had been treated much less superficially.

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.0 out of 5 stars Dead Irish, June 4, 2014


This review is from: Dead Irish (Dismas Hardy)

This was a new series to me so I may have been expecting a little more that I received.

Dismas Hardy was a police officer trying to start over as a bartender. Just as he was attempting to get away from the crime scene he learns of Eddie Cochran's sudden death. Now it seems the old life of crime solving has intruded into his new life.

I found some parts quite interesting.

[Mal Warwick · Rating 5 out of 5]

San Francisco bartender Dismas Hardy was briefly a patrol officer in the SFPD while he worked toward a law degree. He left the law shortly after the death of an infant son and divorce from his wife. But when his boss and best friend learns that his popular brother-in-law has mysteriously died, Dismas can’t resist the urge to investigate. The SFPD believes the man committed suicide. Dismas believes otherwise, and he sets out to find the truth.

The joy of San Francisco noir

To access police resources, Dismas turns to his former partner, now Detective Sergeant Abe Glitsky. Glitsky hopes for promotion to lieutenant and is reluctant to help an outsider. Largely on his own, then, Dismas digs for evidence of murder. His investigation leads him into the dark corners of San Francisco society and triggers additional murders. Suspense builds as the tale becomes ever more complicated. Dismas focuses on first one, then a second suspect, but the evidence is only circumstantial. The action cascades toward a shocking revelation and a violent conclusion. Dashiell Hammet may have pioneered what may be called San Francisco noir. John Lescroart proves himself to be a worthy successor with Dead Irish. The book is a joy to read.

About the author

John Lescroart has been writing crime novels for nearly 30 years. Dead Irish, his first, was published in 1989. This was the first of 15 books to date featuring former San Francisco cop and attorney Dismas Hardy. Lescroart has written nine other novels. His work frequently appears on the New York Times bestseller list and has been translated into 22 languages. He lives in Davis, California, a little less than two hours north of San Francisco.

[Bubbles · Rating 2 out of 5]

Based on its description this book held so much promise, but what a disappointment. Although I hate to give any book a mere 2 stars, that's being pretty generous for this one. There were too many characters, and most of them added very little to the story. They were so shallow it was difficult to keep track of who was who. I guessed the murderer halfway through and only kept reading because I was curious to see whether I was right. I was. No typos to speak of, but definitely not a satisfying read.

[Leah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too many characters and too many ridiculous story lines that didn't matter. If I hadn't read some of the later books in this series out of order, I wouldn't read anymore.

[Joyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unhappy with the new narrator for this long running series, I'm going back and rereading on audio. It's an interesting trip--the characterizations and puzzles are as good as I remember, but I'm back in the 80s in a world without Internet and cell phones. This first title introduces some of the characters we follow through the series--Dismas Hardy, Vietnam Vet, bartender, divorced, alcoholic, ace darts player; his friend Abe Glitsky, half-black half Jewish policeman caught in political upheaval in the force; Frannie, pregnant and widowed in this entry, sister of Moses, Dis' friend from Nam with whom he eventually owns Moe's bar. There are two murders--and this is really more of a mystery than later titles when Dis is a practicing lawyer again. It's suspenseful, quick reading, a compelling story but one that involves the reader in the investigation that we follow step by step. We get backstory on the characters and share their lives--and I think that's what has kept me a fan of the series over the years. A series worth discovering.

[wally · Rating 3 out of 5]

finished 20th march 2020 good read three stars kindle owned digital library no more lescroart so i splurged. and this the 1st dismas hardy...he got better with later stories this too cerebral, something, first 30% not as...good?...as previous reads...that and i thought the cruz/gay lover angle missed the point unless the point was a distraction what's that over there. by the halfway mark story had improved mayb just me getting into the flow...i've read other lescroart, not reading them in order hasn't been a problem

[Stephanie Jenkins Ortiz Cerrillo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my first John Lescroat book and I have to say I had a hard time following it. I like the plot and characters and it's classic who-done-it style. I have to admit I listened to it on audiobook and might would have given it more stars if I had been actually reading the book, it probably would have been easier to follow in print. I like the fact that Dead Irish goes into the back story of Dismas Hardy.  Dismas is a former cop, a former lawyer and ex-Maine that chose to leave those carriers to be a bartender at the Little Shamrock, he's got to have a lot to his story and in this book it is to get back into all the things he's been trying to escape to find who killed his friend, Eddie Cochran, if not for himself for Eddie's widow and unborn child.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dismas Hardy is a former cop/former attorney-turned bartender. And he's quite content in this role as bartender at the Little Shamrock; it leaves him time to compete at darts. But, when Eddie Cochran, his boss's brother-in-law, apparently commits suicide and leaves his pregnant wife with no insurance money, Diz is pulled into the investigation.

For the most part, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. As far as character names go...Dismas is pretty darn cool. Right up there with Elvis! And the character of Dismas is definitely layered with all kinds of complexity. I took an immediate liking to him.

The plot was an intriguing one, and I think Lescroart did an excellent job on the build-up. A lot of mysterious events, possible culprits...I liked how Lescroart weaved in cultural aspects. The conclusion was a little more of a let-down. I didn't really "buy it." I'll try to say this without any spoilers here (for those who like me have not read Lescroart yet). There's a point where the police say to Hardy, "but where's the motive?" I found myself saying, "this character committed this heinous crime for THAT reason? Really?" Maybe my own preconceived notions influenced my reaction; I'm not sure. I just know the ending was a bit of a let down for me.

There were also a couple of occasions where Lescroart's choice of dialogue was a bit offensive to me as a reader. I think it could have remained realistic without going to the degree that Lescroart did. It wasn't often; maybe twice, but they did stick out in my mind.

I listened to this on audiobook. The reader was David Colacci. I thought he did an excellent job. I love the richness of his voice. Not having read a Hardy book before, I didn't have an idea in my mind what he should sound like, but I do think Colacci did a great job of bringing Hardy to life.

[Radostina Gencheva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Бавно начало, но прескочи ли се се забъркваш в семейни драми, фалит, сделки за наркотици, убийства, малко религия ,малко расизъм... Убиецът беше изненадата, но мотивът му не ми допадна.

[LJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

DEAD IRISH (Pol. Proc/Ama. Sleuth- San Francisco-Cont) – G+
Lescroart, John – 1st in series
Signet, 2005 – Paperback
Dismas Hardy is a Viet Nam vet, former cop, and former attorney who works in a bar. Abe Glitsky is a homicide cop and Hardy's former partner. The son of a mutual friend is found dead and it looks like suicide. Glitsky and Hardy disagree and work to find the killer.
***It's always good to read the first book of a series as it lays the groundwork for the characters and their relationships. This book did a very good job of creating the defining the principal characters by making them interesting enough that I want to read more about them. The setting was well done. However, the story had too many red herrings and I found myself disappointed by the ending.

[Julie Day · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was so hard for me to get through this book. I was bored the entire time I was reading it and didn't like any of the characters. Usually I care about a character from page one (or close to page one) but Dismas Hardy didn't feel like someone I particularly cared about. I kept waiting for something to happen throughout the book and didn't even care about what happened to the dead guy. I am currently reading The Hunt Club (Wyatt Hunt, #1) by the same author and am only 50 pages in and can barely put it down. So I recommend skipping Dead Irish and picking up The Hunt Club instead.

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

The usual good stuff from Lescroat...having read a number of his San Francisco series, I decided to go back to the 1st Dismas Hardy...aside from his anti-Catholicism, I generally enjoy his reads...the usual characters emerge in this tale of Hardy trying to, prove a suicide is really a murder...enjoyable with qualification!

[Stacey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am honestly kinda bummed. I was really hoping to love the character of Dismas and he just fell short. Unfortunately, not a series I will continue.