Damage by John Lescroart

I love this series and was glad to find a copy of Damage at the library.

Dismas Hardy takes a back seat in Damage, and Wes Farrell and Abe Glitsky share most of the action.

 Ro Curtlee, convicted of rape and murder ten years earlier, is released from prison when an appeals court orders a new trial. Soon after Curtlee is released, the chief witness against him is murdered.

New DA Wes Farrell finds himself in a difficult situation -- pressured by the wealthy and powerful Curtlee family, who want their son free on bail until the trial, and by Abe Glitsky, chief of homicide, who fears precisely the kind of retaliation that Ro Curtlee begins to exact.  

When the wife of the head juror in Ro's trial is murdered, there is no evidence gainst Ro, but the similarity to his earlier crimes is unquestioned.  In their attempts to have Ro's bail revoked, Wes and Abe must fight the influence of the Curtlee family, who in addition to having powerful friends, own one of San Francisco's newspapers.

Both sides are looking for the last available witness from the previous trial.  Her whereabouts are unknown, but her court appearance will be required for the re-trial, and without this witness, Ro Curtlee could gain permanent freedom.

Lescroart's main characters are trying to get through ethical and legal dilemmas as best they can.  They have lives outside of the court room and the police department and are three dimensional with flaws and strengths and peculiarities.

  A large cast of recurring characters and Lescroart's ability to create a San Francisco populated by people and places that are familiar help the reader to move into the novels with ease on each return visit.  

While each book can stand alone and each one gives a little back-story to both people and places, you may find that you, too, will want to return to Lescroart's San Franciso.

Fiction.  Legal thriller.  2011.  416 pages.