Prey
thriller
Series · legal thriller
Dismas Hardy
The Dismas Hardy series by John Lescroart has 19 known books (19 published) and is best read in publication order, starting with Dead Irish (1989). The latest book with a fully recorded publication date is The Missing Piece.
- Books
- 19 known books (19 novels)
- Published
- 19
- First published
- 1989
- Status
- ongoing
- Shelved under
- Thriller
- Last checked
Start here: Dead Irish (1989) — then read straight through in publication order.
Reading order
The date order of published books and any announced future entries — the default way to read the series.
- Book 1:
Dead Irish
Dead Irish is the book that opens John Lescroart's Dismas Hardy series, a legal thriller published in 1989 at 326 pages. It's followed in the reading order by The Vig, the second entry in a series that has run to nineteen books.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Dead Irish - Book 2:
The Vig
The Vig is the second book in John Lescroart's Dismas Hardy series, published in 1990 at 418 pages. It follows Dead Irish and precedes Hard Evidence in the reading order.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Vig - Book 3:
Hard Evidence
Hard Evidence is the third entry in John Lescroart's Dismas Hardy series, published in 1993 at 521 pages. It follows The Vig and precedes The 13th Juror.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Hard Evidence - Book 4:
The 13th Juror
The 13th Juror is the fourth book in John Lescroart's Dismas Hardy series, published in 1994 at 524 pages. It follows Hard Evidence and precedes The Mercy Rule.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The 13th Juror - Book 5:
The Mercy Rule
The Mercy Rule is the fifth entry in John Lescroart's Dismas Hardy series, published in 1998 at 466 pages. It follows The 13th Juror and precedes Nothing but the Truth.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Mercy Rule - Book 6:
Nothing but the Truth
Nothing but the Truth is the sixth book in John Lescroart's Dismas Hardy series, published in 1999 at 452 pages. It follows The Mercy Rule and precedes The Hearing.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Nothing but the Truth - Book 7:
The Hearing
The Hearing is the seventh entry in John Lescroart's Dismas Hardy series, published in 2000 at 542 pages. It follows Nothing but the Truth and precedes The Oath.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Hearing - Book 8:
The Oath
The Oath is the eighth book in John Lescroart's Dismas Hardy series, published in 2002 at 531 pages. It follows The Hearing and precedes The First Law.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Oath - Book 9:
The First Law
The First Law is the ninth entry in John Lescroart's Dismas Hardy series, published in 2003 at 580 pages. It follows The Oath and precedes The Second Chair.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The First Law - Book 10:
The Second Chair
The Second Chair is the tenth book in John Lescroart's Dismas Hardy series, published in 2004 at 693 pages. It follows The First Law and precedes The Motive.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Second Chair - Book 11:
The Motive
The Motive is the eleventh entry in John Lescroart's Dismas Hardy series, also published in 2004, at 448 pages. It follows The Second Chair and precedes Betrayal.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Motive - Book 12:
Betrayal
Betrayal is the twelfth book in John Lescroart's Dismas Hardy series, published in 2008 at 432 pages. It follows The Motive and precedes A Plague of Secrets.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Betrayal - Book 13:
A Plague of Secrets
A Plague of Secrets is the thirteenth entry in John Lescroart's Dismas Hardy series, published in 2009 at 512 pages. It follows Betrayal and precedes The Ophelia Cut.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of A Plague of Secrets - Book 14:
The Ophelia Cut
The Ophelia Cut is the fourteenth book in John Lescroart's Dismas Hardy series, published in 2013 at 418 pages. It follows A Plague of Secrets and precedes The Keeper.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Ophelia Cut - Book 15:
The Keeper
The Keeper is the fifteenth entry in John Lescroart's Dismas Hardy series, published in 2014 at 427 pages. It follows The Ophelia Cut and precedes The Fall.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Keeper - Book 16:
The Fall
The Fall, published in 2015 at 492 pages, is the sixteenth of John Lescroart's nineteen Dismas Hardy novels and one of the few to shift its point-of-view character away from Hardy himself, centering his daughter Rebecca as a young defense attorney while remaining part of the same continuous San Francisco timeline.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Fall - Book 17:
Poison
Poison is the seventeenth entry in John Lescroart's Dismas Hardy series, published in 2018 at 293 pages. It follows The Fall and precedes The Rule of Law.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Poison - Book 18:
The Rule of Law
The Rule of Law is the eighteenth book in John Lescroart's Dismas Hardy series, published in 2019 at 344 pages. It follows Poison and precedes The Missing Piece.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Rule of Law - Book 19:
The Missing Piece
The Missing Piece is, as of this catalogue, the nineteenth and most recent entry in John Lescroart's Dismas Hardy series, published in 2021 at 304 pages. It follows The Rule of Law in a legal thriller series that has run continuously since 1989.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of The Missing Piece
About the Dismas Hardy series
Dismas Hardy is a former beat cop, former Vietnam veteran and one-time bartender who eventually became one of San Francisco's most formidable defense attorneys, and John Lescroart has built a nineteen-novel legal-thriller series around him and the wide circle of friends, colleagues and rivals who orbit his life -- most notably Abe Glitsky, his best friend since childhood, who rises through the ranks to become the SFPD's Chief of Homicide. Where many legal-thriller series repeat the same courtroom formula book after book, Lescroart varies the vantage point across the sequence: several novels are told largely from Glitsky's investigative side rather than Hardy's, one centres Hardy's own daughter Rebecca as a young defense attorney, and the emotional throughline -- Hardy's marriage, his law partnership, Glitsky's own family tragedies -- accumulates real weight across two decades of books published in something close to real time.
Lescroart, a former public defender's-office employee himself, grounds the series in detailed, plausible San Francisco criminal procedure, and the sprawling ensemble cast (paralegal Phyllis, private investigator Wyatt Hunt, prosecutor-turned-partner Wes Farrell) gives later books in the series an almost serial-drama density of returning characters.
Frequently asked questions
How many Dismas Hardy novels are there?
Nineteen, published between 1989 and 2021.
What order should I read the Dismas Hardy series in?
Publication order -- the characters' relationships and personal histories build continuously across the whole series.
Is Abe Glitsky a separate series from Dismas Hardy?
Abe Glitsky also headlines his own three-book spin-off series (A Certain Justice, Guilt, Damage), tracked separately, in addition to being a major recurring character throughout the numbered Dismas Hardy novels.
Do I need to read the Dismas Hardy series before the Wyatt Hunt or Abe Glitsky books?
No, though all three series share the same San Francisco setting and some overlapping characters, each can be started independently -- but reading Dismas Hardy in order first is the most common and recommended entry point.
If you like the Dismas Hardy series
Reading order last verified .