The Missing Piece by John Lescroart. Atria Books, 2021.

This story, the 19th and latest in the popular San Francisco crime series featuring police officer turned prosecutor turned defense attorney Dismas Hardy, and his best friend, homicide chief turned private investigator Abe Glitsky, is the polished and sound piece of crime fiction readers of his other work will expect. Plot elements that prompt readers to think about wrongful conviction, exoneration, defense lawyer burnout and other issues add depth to the story.

Until 2012, I usually bought John Lescroart books in airports, but when I started using an e-reader he fell off my radar completely, I am not sure why. I will be looking for the books I missed.

Disclosure: I received a review copy of The Missing Piece for free via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. #TheMissingPiece #NetGalley

I chose to read this book because 1) I have read a number of John Lescroart novels before and enjoy the characters like Dismas and Abe, and their straightforward, somewhat quirky friendship; 2) the plot description for this book seemed intriguing.

I enjoyed the main characters (Dismas, Abe, and Wes) and their interactions with and support of each of other throughout this story. There are always some good one liners or zingers thrown around during their conversations! Lescroarts writing style always flows well. I can envision the locations, the characters, and action happening - kindda puts me in the story.

But, I didn't enjoy the plot of this story as much as I thought I would. Although I was captured at the start of it, once the felon, Paul Riley was freed from prison and murdered, the story took on what seemed like a lengthy quest to find out whodunnit. An additional murder happens, and Abe Glitsky, now a private detective, spends most of the book trying to figure out if the two murders are connected or not and who the murderer is. I found myself a little bored of Abe's investigation at some points, but I still wanted to know who did it!

The most frustrating part of the story for me was the person who actually did it seemed to come out of nowhere! Abe seemed to have no clue who it was despite his lengthy investigation. He hit roadblock after roadblock, then he's talks to a few people and suddenly pieces it all together and knows who the murderer is.

Though I enjoyed the main characters as I always do and the twists and turns through Abe's investigation, in my opinion, this wasn't the best Lescroarts story, based on others I've read by him.

Highly entertaining police procedural, The Missing Piece is the latest in the Hardy series, and it keeps you guessing throughout the story. This is my first foray in this series, but I didn’t feel as if I missed anything, so it’s easily a stand-alone. Lots of action, sharp, witty dialogue and interesting characters make this a winner. I’ll definitely be looking at other books in this series. I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

First, I must say it's been a while that a book didn't get me involved in a story like The Missing Piece. Each chapter made me want to go on reading just so I'd find out what really happened.

With a well constructed story, we are introduced to important questions like if the justice system really works and whether it can be so blind sometimes that punishes innocent people while guilty ones walk away easily. Lescroart has a way of going around a great array of scenarios, all the while knitting every knot gradually, guiding us to an ending that leaves the reader open-mouthed when the conclusion hits.

The only point the author may need to work better is defining which character is main and which is secondary. I say this because I was introduced to this book as a Dismas Hardy story, but then again, it begins with Wes Farrell in the spotlight and goes on with Abe Glitsky as main, leaving Dismas as a simple supporting role.

All in all, it was a worthy reading and I surely recommend it if you like authors like John Grisham and James Patterson.

I want to thank NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for giving me an ARC of this book.

If you have read books by the author you will absolutely love this book. I have so missed these characters and was so excited to see their return.. The “who done it” was made that more interesting because Wes Farrell, once in the DA’s office is now a defense attorney. He represents a gentleman accused of killing the murderer of his daughter after her killer gets exonerated. The former head Homicide, Ab Glitsky, has retired and is now a private detective working for this defense attorney and solves this crime when everyone else wants to through in the towel.

There are lots of twists and turns and absolutely fabulous writing. You will not regret reading this book and you will wish for more.!

<i>The Missing Piece</i> is a very fast paced murder mystery with a lot of misdirection. In the first part of the story the protagonist is the disillusioned lawyer Wes Farrell and the second part of the story is a tenacious detective Abe Glitsky. <i>The Missing Piece</i> is #19 in the Dismal Hardy series written by John Lescroart.

Paul Riley just gets out of jail on a technicality and is busy committing burglaries. One night he answers the door at home and someone shoots him in the head. Doug Rush, the father of a girl murdered by Riley, is identified leaving the house and he is accused of the shooting. The lawyer Wes Farrell decides he's going to defend Doug in spite of the fact that he thinks Doug committed the murder. The night before case comes to court Doug is murdered in a park near his home. Feeling guilty that he doubted Doug, Farrell convinces his firm to hire a detective, Abe Glitsky to investigate what happened to Doug.

I really enjoy that there are no obvious suspects but a number of possibilities throughout this story. Each time there is a new person interviewed it opened new doors where you could see that person being guilty. Until the reveal at the end, which is a surprise, the reader is kept guessing.

The story is realistic. There is no doubt this can happen and people who are involved will be devastated. I enjoy that the characters are very human. They make mistakes and own their foibles. They struggle, but they still cope and then get the job done. I particularly like Abe Glitsky who is retired but still very popular among the police officers. In spite of this, he remains modest and persistent. He doesn’t let up until he has solved the puzzle. Wes Farrell gets caught up in his disillusionment and makes a serious judgement in error because of it.

I highly recommend this book to people who like an interesting murder mystery with intriguing characters and a genuine twist at the very end. I give this novel a 5 on 5. I want to thank Netgalley and Atria Books for providing me with a digital copy of this novel. I provide this review voluntarily.

The Missing piece by John Lescroart is a book that will not disappoint. This was my first Lescroart novel and it won't be my last. I highly recommend this book.

The characters are familiar for all who have read the author’s books, but the story keeps the reader guessing in this excellent addition to the series.

Many thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC for this book.

This was actually the first book I have read from the author and it has surprised me by how well it is written and I will definetly check out his other works. The writing style is so fluent that you are never bored, many times in thrillers there are so many descriptions of the people that make the book longer than it needs to be, this is not the case, in this case there is a lot of dialogue and you never feel like you are reading innecesaries things.

The case presented its pretty interesting as it deals with a morally black character as the victim, so it's an interesting start. There are also momentos of domestic situations between the characters so it makes the book more real and it adds depth to this characters.

Overall I think it's a very good book that even not thriller fans will enjoy, I sure did, thanks again to NetGalley for this ARC

Enjoyable crime story with strong plot and a great team of characters. I hadn’t read previous novels in this series but this works well as a stand-alone story. I liked the San Francisco setting too.

This was a good mystery full of twists and turns that kept me engaged and unable to put the book down. I haven’t read any other books in this series, but it wasn’t necessary to follow this book and to get wrapped up in the characters. Fun read!

Reading another John Lescroat novel bringing together and built around such remarkable characters as Dismas Hardy, Abe Glitsky and Wes Farrell is always a journey worth taking, and The Missing Piece is no exception.
The first twist here is that now Wes Farrell is once again a criminal defense lawyer, and he becomes involved with Paul Riley, a man he successfully prosecuted in a case of rape and murder when he was a Prosecutor, but who has now been released from prison through the efforts of a group called "The Exoneration Initiative."
And shortly after his release, Riley is murdered, ostensibly by the father of the woman Riley was sent to prison for having murdered.
But there are a host of other murder possibilities, concerning both Riley and others. The possibilities are multi-fold but the mystery as to who done it, is secondary to the interaction of Hardy, Glitsky and Farrell and their struggle to identify the truth, to secure justice in a complex world where truth is elusive and the obvious is rarely what it seems.
Like a multitude of other Lescroat novels, you can't put it down and you move through it discovering that it ain't what you don't know that gets you, it's what you think you know but don't that matters!

Thank you to #netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read "The Missing Piece" #themissingpiece by John Lescroart. I have read random books in this series in past years, and seeing the latest available throughNetGalley, I decided to revisit Dismas Hardy et al. And I was not disappointed.

When Paul Riley is released from a life sentence for rape and murder, thanks to the Exoneration Initiative (EI), there are not too many people ready to welcome him back to society, with the prevailing sentiment that he did it, and then got off on a technicality. When he's subsequently killed in cold blood, his victim's father becomes the Prime Suspect (having threatened him on more than one occasion during the trial and after his release).

When the father is arrested, he becomes the subject of possible police brutality. Then, he's found murdered himself.

Enter into the picture ex-Homicide head Abe Litsky, who is a private investigator working for Dismas Hardy's firm, because it seems that things aren't as clear as they seem.

There are a number of red herrings strewn throughout the story, and it truly seems that they will never actually discover who killed Riley and Rush. But Litsky is nothing if not thorough and doggedly explores every avenue of investigation - sometimes at his peril.

A cracking good mystery with a great ending, and it made me want to go back to the beginning and read the entire series - which I will eventually do [I mean, I've got nothing but time with all the lockdowns and isolations due to COVID].

Highly recommended to readers of the series, but not a problem as a standalone.

This was my first book by this author. My mother used to love his books and was really sad when she found out that his books are no longer translated into German because she does not understand English well enough to read this book in English. When I found this one on netgalley I decided I would give it a try since my mother, as I already mentioned, was obsessed with his previous works. And I have to say...it was really really good :) I told my mother about the story and she told me about some of his other books in return. I will definitely read some of his older books soon or maybe even start from the beginning. I just wish they would translate his books into German again so that my mother could read them, too.

So great to see Dismas Hardy and Abe Glitzsky reunited in this John Lescroart book! Partner Wes in Hardy's firm is facing a crisis of faith in their defense mission and agrees to represent one of his last clients, Doug Rush. Doug Rush's daughter was killed years before and her convicted killer was recently released due to a technicality. Her convicted killer is murdered, and Doug is brutally arrested.

All sorts of themes here such as police brutality, the morality of prisoner's innocence organizations, and the right to fair trial, regardless of guilt.

John Lescroart is a skilled solid professional that shows off his Pied Piper storytelling, his rich and varied characters that interact with each other in most of his books, and his marvelous comfort and ease in writing about lawyers and the law. He chooses interesting and often topical themes in his books and combines several subgenres of a good mystery-police procedural, courtroom drama, whodunit and the thriller.

The Missing Piece is an amalgam of the revenge story and something new and juicy called the Exoneration Initiative.. The latter opens the door in the area of technical legalese which may release a factually guilty prisoner from jail. In this book Paul Riley, a convicted rapist and killer is a recipient of this quasi ethical program and is released, which is really the genesis of the story.. Early on he is murdered and the formidable group of Farrell, Hardy, Glitsky et al are ready to find the killer.-the suspects include the murdered girl's father, his two lovers, a jilted husband, members of a motorcycle gang and a couple of other intriguing characters.

The story is not as compelling as The 13th Juror or a Certain Justice but the themes are contemporary and absorbing including police brutality. I found certain sections lacking in the narrative drive that Lescroart is master of but fans will probably eat it up.

I’ve been enthralled with the writing of John Lescroart since I was introduced to GUILT in 1997. Since that time I’ve eagerly awaited each new installment of investigations in. the San Francisco area involving Abe Glitsky, Dismas Hardy & Wes Farrell. These characters are like old friends that dwell in the heart. They’ve faced individual heartaches, losses, insecurity, self doubts, but continually do the right thing in the interest of justice. The Missing Piece even included a reference to the plot line of guilt, which set certain characters on the trajectories that brought them to their current roles.

While some authors become too formulaic with each successful novel, I believe Mr. Lescroart continues to find fresh perspectives for his aging, evolving characters, who each have learned from past experiences. The Missing Piece leaves me wanting more of Abe, Dismas ( the penitent thief on Calvary) & Wes ( who always wears a graphic tee shirt under his business clothes). Please keep writing!

The Missing piece by John Lescroart is a book that will not disappoint. It is part of The Dismas Hardy Series and The Gang is back in this one . If you are a current fan of The Dismas Hardy Series and have been patiently waiting for another book I would definitely pick this one up. If your new to this series this is a great murder mystery with lots of twist that leaves you staying up late to find out what happens next.
It starts out talking about a man named Wes Farrell who was a former DA who now is a partner in a law firm defending people that he used to put away.
One of those men is named Paul Riley, Paul happens to gets out early due to an organization called The Exoneration Initative who found legal errors in in case. After Paul is released he goes to live with his father who soon finds him Murdered and tells the police he seen who did it and that’s where the mysteries begin.
Follow Wes and the detectives and read how they solve this case.

The Missing Piece is John Lescroart’s latest in his popular series starring Dismas Hardy - lawyer and former cop - and his close friends and associates. In this episode, Wes Farrell - Hardy's partner and former DA - is losing faith in his cause as he does not believe in the innocence of his clients anymore. In the meantime, Paul Riley, whom Farrell had convicted eleven years ago for the rape and murder of Dana Rush and released recently due to the efforts of the Exoneration Initiative, is shot from close range and killed. Paul's dad, James Riley, tells the police that he saw Dana's father Doug Rush running from the crime scene after the shot was fired. Upon being arrested by the overeager police, Doug says he is innocent and wants to be defended by Farrell, whom he remembers from the days of Dana’s murder trial. Farrell is not convinced that his client is innocent, but gets him out on bail and gets his trial scheduled soon. When Doug disappears just before the trial, cop-turned-Private Investigator and Farrell / Hardy's friend Abe Glitsky is tasked with searching for Doug. Glitsky has a feeling that Doug is plain unlucky to go through whatever has happened and tries to get to the truth behind the events. His investigation turns up several leads and his own well-being is endangered when certain people feel uncomfortable with his snooping about. Ultimately, Glitsky's tenacity pays off as he uncovers the truth, which is much bigger than the murder-disappearance that he started with.

This was my first Lescroart novel and I am quite impressed with the taut plot, interesting characters and the well-kept mystery. Though I could guess the killer - just a hunch, really - beforehand, the resolution was very enjoyable. The friendship among the lead characters is decades old and the reader gets to feel it through the amusing conversations. Though Farrell occupies the plot of this book in the initial quarter, Glitsky carries it all through to the end. Though his character is not that of a typical fictional P.I., him being sixty-five years old and not much action-oriented, Glitsky comes across as realistic and believable. His wife, and the family members of other lead characters, play their part without encroaching too much on the story. In my opinion, the character of the actual culprit could have done with a bit more development, which would have made the book even better.

Apart from such minor issues, I found The Missing Piece to be a fine thriller with good characters and a fast-moving plot, and would recommend it to all readers who enjoy mysteries and thrillers. My sincere gratitude to The Missing Piece’s author, publisher and NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

I loved this mystery, just what I needed to escape this Covid world we live in! I had not read any of the previous books in this series, but I plan to! I didn't have any trouble following all the characters. Paul Riley has been released from his life term in prison when legal errors were found in his trial by an organization called the Exoneration Initiative.. He was in prison for the rape and murder of Dana Rush. A short time later, Paul is found dead of a single bullet to the head, and Doug Rush, the father of the girl Paul was convicted of murdering, is the main suspect. Until he also turns up dead! A good police procedural, with lots of twists and turns. PI Abe Glitsky is called in to help solve the mystery of who killed these two, This was a great read, and thanks to the publishers, the author, and #NetGalley for my copy.!