The Rule of Law

In bestseller Lescroart’s enthralling 21st Dismas Hardy novel (after 2018’s Poison), the San Francisco attorney is concerned when his long-suffering secretary, Phyllis McGowan, abruptly disappears. In searching her apartment, Hardy discovers that Phyllis has a dangerous hidden life: helping to move illegal immigrants fleeing ICE agents along a present-day underground railroad. When accessory to murder charges are brought against Phyllis, who later resurfaces, for the killing of a dangerous human trafficker, Hardy and his two partners at his newly re-formed law firm seek to save their colleague. Their most dangerous obstacle, however, is not ICE agents or vengeful smugglers but the city’s new District Attorney, Ron Jameson. Determined to convict Phyllis and smear Hardy’s new firm and anyone associated with him, Jameson embarks on a ruthless campaign of planted evidence and false testimony. Hardy must uncover the truth before he and those around him are destroyed by a powerful man with a secret to hide. Sharp dialogue and a timely plot help make this entry a winner. Agent: Barney Karpfinger, Karpfinger Agency. (Jan.)