2.25/5 stars! I had no idea this was book 19 in the Dismas Hardy series prior to picking it up. I think this showed in the final work. It felt tired, like everything the author had to say had already been written. It was hard to follow. I felt like the author was trying to be John Grisham but didn't quite reach that lofty goal. The legal banter was interesting and I would give another book by the author a try to see if I like it more.

I received an advance review copy for free through NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily

The Missing Piece if a mystery/legal thriller about Convicted Murderer Paul Riley who is exonerated after uncovered evidence proves his innocence. Although innocent, someone else wants Riley dead. He is later murdered with evidence of his latest scam surrounding him.

I made the mistake of picking this up without having read any of the previous novels in this series. I feel like I would have had a better time keeping track of characters if I had any prior experience with the series.

Despite my mistake, I found myself enjoying Lescroart's masterful writing. Other procedural novels tend to be choppy as the story switches from the legal to investigative sides of the novel. The Missing Piece has none of that. Characters and plot flow nicely to the point of being indistinguishable. The case itself is intriguing and a delight to follow.

For fans of procedural novels this is a must.

This is book # 19 in the Dismas Hardy series by John Lescroart and it does not disappoint!! Eleven years ago when Paul Riley was tried and convicted for the rape and murder of his girlfriend everyone was thrilled that he was put away for life or so they thought. Fast forward 11 years on the new Exoneration Initiative has uncovered evidence that someone else might have been guilty of the crime. Riley is released from prison and is found dead with all the money from his latest heist all around him. So the question begs to differ...who wanted Riley dead? The former DA who has since joined Dismas has agreed to represent the distraught father , Doug Rush of the young girl that Riley had been accused of killing. Rush then mysteriously vanishes and leaves Farrell shaking his head as to what exactly is going on. Farrell and Hardy ask a PI to track down the missing Rush and try to solve the mystery of what is going on and who killed who. This book is awesome and will keep you on the edge of your seat for a long time.

I have read John Lescroart since his first Dismas Hardy book many years ago. I am very sentimental about his writing as I grew up in the Bay Area and felt no one included the city as a character better than him. I have enjoyed watching both the Hardy and Glitsky families grow, thrive and survive despite change and loss over the years. They felt & still feel real. The Missing Piece shines as bright as his previous work and while this includes much about the series aspect of reading Lescroart, let me assure potential readers, this is equally satisfying as a stand alone. Keep writing Mr. Lescroart!! .

Paul Riley was convicted of raping and murdering his girlfriend, Dana. After eleven years on death row, the Exoneration Initiative gets his conviction overturned on what many people consider a technicality. Four months later, he’s murdered. Riley’s dad identifies Doug Rush as the man he claims to have seen fleeing Riley’s apartment. Rush is quickly arrested but disappears after being released on bail. PI Abe Glitsky is hired by Rush’s attorney to find him. He soon learns that Rush wasn’t the only prisoner freed by the Exoneration Initiative who was murdered shortly after. Is it a coincidence or is someone enacting the justice they believe the Initiative has denied?

The Missing Piece is the nineteenth in the Dismas Hardy series by John Lescroart. It’s been quite a while since I read one of the books in the series but I didn’t find that this interfered with my ability to follow the story. And what a smart, twisty story it is. This is a well-plotted well-written legal thriller, more a clever puzzle than an action-packed roller coaster of a thrill ride but that doesn’t mean it isn’t completely engrossing. It is populated with multiple characters, all of whom hold a piece of the puzzle, many seemingly small and unimportant until fitted together. it kept me engaged and guessing, completely tied to the page until the aha moment at the end. I’d like to thank Netgalley and Atria Books for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I thank NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of The Missing Piece in exchange for an honest review.

I will not write a long summary of the book; you can read a synopsis in the book jacket. I will write a review based on my impression and thoughts about the novel .

The Missing Piece is clever, sly, and delightfully twisty. It is an entertaining legal/ crime mystery. WHAT A MYSTERY! ! Solving the murders of two victims is complex and intellectually challenging. The reader is privy to all internal thought processes of the private investigator who is digging into identifying the killer. There are a lot of holes he digs only to discover hard rock obstacles… so onto digging another hole! The reader joins him as he goes down numerous rabbit holes in his quest. We are kept guessing until the very end. WHAT AN ENDING!

The suspenseful climax is thrilling and the denouement is satisfying!
The pace is fast and the plot is unique. The style of writing is smooth and succinct- no filler fluff!. The main characters are very well developed with dynamic, three dimensional characters who are very likable.

This is the 19th book in the Dismis Hardy series and the first one I have read. While it can be a stand alone, I am sure reading the series In order would provide background and motives of the main characters it not necessary. I will definitely go back and read more books in this series ( but maybe not all 18 of them!).


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Now that is a good mystery thriller. Plenty of action, twist and turns. I like the characters. This was a book that caught my interest and kept me flipping the pages. Well written.

John Lescroart has done it again. As a reader who has followed his books for a number of years, I enjoy how he has expanded the Lescroart universe, and his characters lives. This book is no exception. When, as a break, my students and I discuss what they are reading I always suggest they give Mr. Lescroart a try!

A good thriller overall even though the plot faltered sometimes. Interesting characters but the book could have done with a narrative that was more put-together. Would recommend if you are into dark crime dramas.

The Missing Piece is the latest in the Dismas Hardy series by John Lescroart. I have read some, not all, in this series and always enjoy picking one up. In this installment, an innocent man is released from jail because of a legal technicality, which calls into question his actual innocence. The story has many twists and turns and brings the readers along for a thrilling ride.

Is this the perfect crime or a perfect conundrum?

“The Missing Piece” is about one shot, just one bullet, fired, that hits its mark, and changes everything for everyone. It is book nineteen in the “Dismas Hardy Series.” I had not read any of the previous books, but was able to follow the complex narrative. There are a lot of multifaceted characters with multifaceted backgrounds and associations, but the narrative gave me the details I needed; all are introduced with pertinent information. Readers get to know them within the context of the narrative, their appearance, their mannerisms, their opinions, and their ability to hide secrets. This is a conversation driven story filled with what people say to each other, say about each other, and occasionally what they say to themselves.

The action takes place in a week and over many past years. An exonerated prisoner is released, but perhaps he is not actually innocent, but had only been released because of legal errors. This makes him a free man but not an innocent man. Then there is a murder, and another one, or two. Something serious and dangerous is happening; things have to be somehow related, but connection does not mean causation. There is no hard evidence, no pattern, nothing. People are looking, but not seeing. This is a five-hundred piece puzzle, dropped on the floor, with a missing piece.

“The Missing Piece” is a complex story that evolves bit by bit. Each character holds a piece of the puzzle, and multiple points of view bring out the diverse part that each character plays. The seemingly unrelated clues ultimately come together, and the whole story is exposed. The chain of events may be elaborate and diverse, but the motive is simple and uncomplicated. I received a review copy of “The Missing Piece” John Lescroart and Atria Books. And, yes, “Sympathetic Pheromones” would be a great name for a band.

“The Missing Piece” is now available in print, as an e-book, and on audio from independent bookstores, online booksellers, retail stores, public libraries and anywhere you get your books.

So this definitely holds all the cards till the end. When I got down to like the last 25 pages and it still wasn’t revealed who the slippery criminal was, I began to think that maybe they were not going to solve the case after all. I’m glad that didn’t end up being true because I would have been quite frustrated I’m sure. This is an interesting storyline for a novel, with a recently exonerated convict being targeted for assassination, only to have the man accused of killing him meet the same fate. I appreciated the fact that it wasn’t a give me who was responsible for the crime. It ended up being a bit of a surprise. So many of these types of stories it ends up being obvious who the killer is, but I couldn’t really figure that out. I guess this an ongoing plot with these same characters, but I haven’t read any of the other novels, and I can follow the story just fine, so this can stand on its own. Review posted to Goodreads, Litsy, LibraryThing, Amazon, Facebook, Instagram.

The Missing Piece
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Mystery Fiction
Format: Kindle eBook
Date Published: 3/29/22
Author: John Lescroart
Publisher: Atria Books
Pages: 304
Goodreads Rating: 4.17

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing a digital copy of the book for me to read in exchange for my honest opinion.

Synopsis: No one mourned when San Francisco DA Wes Farrell put Paul Riley in prison eleven years ago for the rape and murder of his girlfriend. And no one is particularly happy to see him again when he’s released after The Exoneration Initiative uncovered evidence that pinned the crime on someone else. In fact, Riley soon turns up murdered, surrounded by the loot from his latest scam. But if Riley was really innocent all along, who wanted him dead?

My Thoughts: This book is part of a series, No. 19 in the “Dismas Hardy” series. While this could be read as a stand alone, most of the characters will be meaningless as the other books prior in the series explained them,so I felt a little at odds and hard to connect with some of the characters. The focus of this book really shifts to Abe Gilsky, the PI that is assisting in the investigation. The plot was a bit complex making my mind spin a little but eventually I figured it out. The development of the characters is well done, if you read the novels before this. This book is best enjoyed as part of the series and not a standalone. While I did read as a standalone, I believe I would have enjoyed the novel more had I read at least a few of the prior books. Overall, not a terrible read and not a great read, it falls in the middle for me.

In this 19th in the series, ex-DA Wes Farrell has an existential crisis, unsure that he wants to continue as a defense lawyer - a slew of murders gives him his answer.

That aside, this episode mainly focuses on PI Abe Glitsky's search for a man accused of murder who skipped bail before his trial - and was then killed himself.

There are more deaths. After Abe is attacked, Dismas and his other friends want him off the case, but he stubbornly persists, and uncovers a vigilante crime wave.

What a stunning read! This is my introduction to the work of John Lescroart and his Dismas Hardy series. It was very easy to imagine this as a screenplay for a movie or TV special. The author put us right into the action and the minds of his characters. If you enjoy detective works, police dramas, getting into a criminal's mind and putting together the steps to solve the mystery, then this book is for you. My thanks to the author and NetGalley for a complimentary copy of this work.

The Missing Piece is my first time reading one of the Dismas Hardy series from John Lescroart and I found it successful on many levels. First, there are characters that are interesting, that I want to know more about whether I like them or not. Then there is the opening situation…a two-fold issue setting: Wes Farrell, one of the attorneys in Dismas Hardy’s firm, is having an existential battle within himself over being a defense attorney at all, since, in his opinion, they all are guilty. Secondly, the Exoneration Initiative has been at work locally and won release for a man Farrell convicted years before of rape and murder.

Ultimately, Paul Riley, the exonerated former client, is murdered and Farrell becomes involved in this new case. The words “innocent until proven guilty” become key to so many actions. This leads to such an interesting and exciting series of events as Abe Glitsky, private investigator for the firm, takes over front and center of the action. I have to say that I became very involved, to the point of positing my own theory of the crime—wrong, of course.

This is the first book I’ve read for a while that I just had to get back to, then had to finish. Guess I will have to read some of the other books in the series.

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

This was my first time reading this author..
I enjoy legal Thrillers and this one was surely intriguing..esp the whole exoneration case.
Though it can be read as standalone..there are a lot of characters in the legal and investigative department which hv a lot of back stories which took a while for me to catch up and would hv enjoyed it more had i read a few earlier books.
Nonetheless was a good read.
Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

I had no idea when I started this book that it was #19 in the series. I think it was fine as a stand-alone book, I didn’t feel like I missed out too much on other storylines.

This book had it all, mystery, twists, legal and more. An interesting read!

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

The latest instalment of the long running Dismas Hardy series is John Lescroart’s The Missing Piece. I haven't read the first 18 books in the series and it wasn't an issue for me at all. The author did a fantastic job at bringing in the character back stories and relationships, so much so that I felt like this could have been a stand alone book. When an exonerated convicted murderer is assassinated shortly after his release, his victim’s father is a slam dunk case for the murder. Yet Dismas is on the case as things get complicated when his client disappears and a vigilante may be targeting the Exoneration Initiative.
Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the eARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I have mixed feelings about this novel. It may well be the first I have ever read by Lescroart. The characters are all new to me and it was obvious the people in the legal office have a long history. That a law office would spend time investigating the murder of a client seemed a bit far fetched. I did appreciate learning a bit about groups looking into wrongful convictions.

I found it to be slow and kind of all over the place. Glitzky, a retired police detective and the investigator for the attorneys, looks at possible killers in a number of areas. It was like he was grasping at straws, trying to find connections and reasons where there might be none. I felt as one of the characters did late in the novel, voicing his frustration that Glitsky thinks he has solved the murder for about the hundredth time. (3751/4166) Glitsky is a nice enough guy but the wandering investigative work was not a compelling force to make me engaged in the novel. I did finish the book but was not impressed with it enough to read earlier ones in the series.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.