The Vig (Dismas Hardy)

I am in the process of reading this whole series, read about 6 of them. This is one of the best so far. If one reads thru from the beginning of the series, one can see Dismas Hardy, change,evolve and age. Sometimes there are too many characters for the book and it gets a bit confusing. They reappear throughout the following books and we get familiar with them. Good bedtime reading.

Having started with later Lescroart books, I already knew Dismas Hardy, his main character. In the latter books he was already married to Frannie with hints about a troubled past. Going Back to The Vig at the beginning of the story he is getting back together with his first wife but still in his bummed out mode. He is tending bar with his friend Moses when Rusty Ingraham walks in one day telling him a tale about a con who is to be released that has promised to come looking to kill the both of them. Actually Rusty has come up with a complicated scam designed to allow him to disappear and Dismas to be the one to point the finger at the ex-con for killing him. There are several semmingly unrelated murders that keep going back to a mob enforcer who has been collecting "The Vig"...the ever increasing interest on loan sharking. Dismas' friend, Abe doesn't take the threat on Hardy's life seriously enough and it falls to Hardy to prove that Baker, the ex-con did not commit the murders he is accused of. The various characters are well developed and the story works well. The challenge of solving the mysteries helps to rehabilitate Dismas Hardy and sees him begin a relationship with Frannie who becomes his wife in future novels. If you didn't read it along the way, read it now. Lescroart is great reading.

The customers who panned this book obviously thought of John Lescroart as a legal thriller writer only. But before he put Dismas back into the courtroom, Lescroart's books were sort of Irish Elmore Leonard mysteries. That may be jarring for people, but come on, folks! Are you really so bound into formula that your brains can't switch gears and enjoy this?The Vig is a fine mystery with a complex plot, endearing characters, and great dialogue. Anyone who can call this a Grisham wannabe isn't thinking, and recommending a Ludlum wannabe like The Day After Tomorrow is CERTAINLY comparing apples to cinder blocks.

I read 'Hard Evidence' first, and then went searching for earlier Dismas Hardy outings - and I wasn't at all disappointed in either case. Lescroart's mysteries are character-driven, well-written and well-plotted - exactly what I look for in a mystery, with the added bonus of a Bay Area setting - a treat for a former Bay Area resident, and for anyone who loves San Francisco and its environs. I recommend it most highly, along with all the other Lescroart mysteries.

I couldn't disagree more with the other customer review of this book. I read 'Hard Evidence' first, and then went searching for earlier Dismas Hardy outings -and I wasn't at all disappointed in either case, just as I haven't been disappointed by later Hardy mysteries (or Lescroart mysteries in general). Lescroart's mysteries are character-driven, well-written and well-plotted - exactly what I look for in a mystery, with the added bonus of a Bay Area setting - an added bonus for a former Bay Area resident, and for anyone who loves San Francisco and its environs. I recommend it most highly, along with all the other Lescroart mysteries.