John Lescroart's Dismas Hardy Abe Glitsky Series
Lescroart Uses Ensemble Cast to Feature Series Characters
San Francisco attorney Dismas Hardy and his friend, homicide detective Abe Glitsky, are the chief crime solvers in John Lescroart’s appropriately titled Dismas Hardy – Abe Glitsky series. Although Hardy and Glitsky appear in each of these works, Lescroart frequently inserts other series characters in featured roles as well.
Characters Featured in the Dismas Hardy – Abe Glitsky series
In the course of the 17 novels in the series, from Dead Irish (1989) through A Plague of Secrets (2009), attorney Dismas Hardy becomes the managing partner in the legal firm established by David Freeman. Abe Glitsky, Deputy Chief of Inspectors of the San Francisco Police Department, is Hardy’s closest friend. Amy Wu is a junior partner in Hardy’s law firm. Wes Ferrell and Gina Roarke are full partners in the firm. Wyatt Hunt is the firm’s chief investigator.
Dismas Hardy’s Story
Although Dismas Hardy appears in each of the novels, his own story is the focus of only four of them. In Dead Irish (1989) Moses McGuire, owner of the Little Shamrock bar, asks Hardy to help prove that the death of Eddie Cochran, his sister Frannie’s husband, was not a suicide. Hardy’s ex-wife, Jane, also appears in Dead Irish and in the next title in the series, The Vig (1990). In Hard Evidence (1993) Hardy, now married to Frannie, defends Judge Andy Fowler, Jane’s father, who is accused of the murder of a prostitute. In Nothing But the Truth (1999) Hardy’s marriage to Frannie is tested when she withholds information about her friend Ron Beaumont from a grand jury investigating the death of Beaumont’s wife.
Abe Glitsky’s Story
Homicide chief Abe Glitsky confronts a woman from his past in A Certain Justice (1995). Kevin Shea, an innocent man accused of a racially motivated murder, becomes the target of Abe Glitsky’s former lover, Senator Loretta Wagner. The Hearing (1999) centers on the death of Wagner’s daughter, Elaine, a prominent San Francisco attorney. Elaine is soon revealed to be Glitsky’s daughter as well.
Wes Ferrell’s Story
Introduced in A Certain Justice (1995) as Kevin Shea’s attorney, Wes Ferrell has lost interest in the practice of law after being involved in a disillusioning trial. Guilt (1996) provides the story of that trial, in which Ferrell defends his best friend, Mark Dooher, from the charge of having murdered his wife.
Amy Wu’s Story
Junior law firm associate Amy Wu’s intervention in a minor case involving Andrew Bartlett leads Bartlett’s wealthy parents to ask her to help defend him again in The Second Chair (2004). The 17-year-old Bartlett now stands accused of the murders of his pregnant girlfriend and their school’s drama coach. Unsettled by the recent death of her father, Amy makes several mistakes early in the case that cause Dismas Hardy to intervene.
Wyatt Hunt’s Story
Wyatt Hunt, the investigator for Hardy’s law firm, teams up with homicide detective Devin Juhle in The Hunt Club (2006). Hunt and Juhle work together to locate missing attorney Andrea Parisi, a suspect in the murder of a federal judge, with whom Hunt has become romantically involved. Lescroart has scheduled a new novel featuring Wyatt Hunt, Treasure Hunt, for a 2010 release.
Gina Roarke’s Story
Gina Roarke, the attorney whose lover, David Freeman, was murdered in The First Law (2003) responds in The Suspect (2007) to a friend’s request to take on the defense of orthopedic surgeon Stuart Gorman. Gorman has been accused of the murder of his wife, Caryn Dryden. Wyatt Hunt appears in a secondary role in this novel while investigating Dryden’s death.
Function of Ensemble Casts
Lescroart develops his Dismas Hardy – Abe Glitsky series by using an ensemble cast, characters who step out from secondary roles into featured ones. Ensemble casts are also used other mystery series writers. Lisa Scottoline, with her Rosato and Associates series, provides a notable example. Ensemble casts present an effective technique for increasing readers’ interest in a series by fulfilling their need to know more about the characters who inhabit the pages of their favorite novels.
Dead Irish was the First Hardy - Glitsky Release
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