The Fall by John Lescroart

Published by Atria Books on May 5, 2015

The Fall isn't my favorite Dismas Hardy novel, in part because it lacks the emotional heft of John Lescroart's best work, but it nevertheless tells a good story. While courtroom scenes are strong, they are not as dramatic as those in some earlier novels, perhaps because they focus on Dismas' daughter while Dismas paces around like a worried old dog. It is, however, interesting to see Dismas play the role of father-mentor-coach as he dissects the trial and gives his daughter pointers.

A 17-year-old girl falls to her death from a bridge. Did she jump or was she pushed? A murder investigation ensues and the police, under fire for their failure to solve homicides with African American victims, feel pressured to make an arrest. The District Attorney, criticized for failing to get convictions in homicides against black victims, is under the gun to convict someone. Too often, when the need to secure a conviction has political consequences, the government doesn't care much about whether the right person is being arrested or prosecuted. In this case, the suspect is a volunteer advocate for troubled kids who may or may not have been having an affair with the dead girl.

Having recently met Dismas Hardy's daughter, Rebecca ("the Beck"), the suspect knows where to go for legal help. The Beck is a bit unseasoned to be handling a murder case, but since Dismas is backing her up I didn't view that as a huge stretch. The trial begins only about a third of the way into the novel. Inexplicably, the Beck waits until the trial begins before she sends an investigator out to look for evidence of her client's innocence. Granted, that always worked for Perry Mason, but one might have expected the Beck to give the case more thought before the trial started.

The Fall deftly explores the ugly intersection between race and the criminal justice system. It is spot on in its condemnation of the "rush to justice" (which is too often a rush to injustice) that leads to inadequate investigations, sloppy police work, and questionable accusations, all based on the unstated understanding that quieting the public requires someone to be arrested, even if it might not be the guilty party. Of course, as is common in a Dismas Hardy novel, whether the client is or isn't guilty is ambiguous throughout much of the novel.

The plot turns on an improbable coincidence, but that's true of most modern crime novels. Since life is full of improbable coincidences, they only bother me when they are outlandish, and Lescroart sold me on the possibility that this one could have happened. A bit of drama at the end is too predictable but, on the whole, The Fall is a solid entry in the Dismas Hardy series.

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