Order of Book Series
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Dismas Hardy Books in Order

John Lescroart has written 19 Dismas Hardy books, published between 1989 and 2021: 18 in the Dismas Hardy series and 1 related title. The first book is Dead Irish (1989) and the newest main-line book is The Missing Piece (2021). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
19
Published
1989–2021
Confirmed
19 of 19 titles
Pages on record
7,433 in 17 of 19 books
Reading time
124–186 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 7,433 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 17 of 19 titles with a page count on record.

See all 19 books in order Printable Dismas Hardy checklist

Dismas Hardy is John Lescroart's San Francisco defence lawyer, working murder cases with the police detective Abe Glitsky. Dead Irish (1989) opens the series, followed by The Vig, Hard Evidence, The 13th Juror, The Mercy Rule and The Hearing. Nineteen books make up the run, which reaches The Missing Piece in 2021 and is now dormant. Entries median 432 pages.

How many Dismas Hardy books are there?

Dismas Hardy has 19 books, released between 1989 and 2021. 18 of them belong to the Dismas Hardy series, and 1 related title sit outside it: other titles.

Dismas Hardy Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 19 Dismas Hardy books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.

  1. Cover of Dead Irish by John Lescroart, book 1 of the Dismas Hardy series (1989)
  2. Cover of The Vig by John Lescroart, book 2 of the Dismas Hardy series (1990)
  3. Cover of Hard Evidence by John Lescroart, book 3 of the Dismas Hardy series (1993)
  4. Cover of The 13th Juror by John Lescroart, book 4 of the Dismas Hardy series (1994)
  5. Cover of The Mercy Rule by John Lescroart, book 5 of the Dismas Hardy series (1997)
  6. Cover of Nothing but the Truth by John Lescroart, book 6 of the Dismas Hardy series (2000)
  7. Cover of The Hearing by John Lescroart, book 7 of the Dismas Hardy series (2000)
  8. Cover of The First Law by John Lescroart, book 9 of the Dismas Hardy series (2003)
  9. Cover of The Second Chair by John Lescroart, book 10 of the Dismas Hardy series (2004)
  10. Cover of Betrayal by John Lescroart, book 12 of the Dismas Hardy series (2008)
  11. Cover of A Plague of Secrets by John Lescroart, book 13 of the Dismas Hardy series (2009)
  12. Cover of The Ophelia Cut by John Lescroart, book 14 of the Dismas Hardy series (2013)
  13. Cover of The Keeper by John Lescroart, book 4 of the Abe Glitsky series (2014)
  14. Cover of The Fall by John Lescroart, book 16 of the Dismas Hardy series (2015)
  15. Cover of The Missing Piece by John Lescroart, book 19 of the Dismas Hardy series (2021)
  1. 1
    Dead IrishDismas Hardy #11989 · 432 pages · confirmed 4/4
    1989432
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    The VigDismas Hardy #21990 · 384 pages · confirmed 4/4
    1990384
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    Hard EvidenceDismas Hardy #31993 · 544 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1993544
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    The 13th JurorDismas Hardy #41994 · 560 pages · confirmed 3/4
    1994560
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    The Mercy RuleDismas Hardy #51997 · 611 pages · confirmed 4/4
    1997611
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    Nothing but the TruthDismas Hardy #62000 · 452 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2000452
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    The HearingDismas Hardy #72000 · 542 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2000542
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    The OathDismas Hardy #82002 · 468 pages · confirmed 4/4
    2002468
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    The First LawDismas Hardy #92003 · 430 pages · confirmed 4/4
    2003430
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    The Second ChairDismas Hardy #102004 · 480 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2004480
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    The MotiveDismas Hardy #112004 · 436 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2004436
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    BetrayalDismas Hardy #122008 · 422 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2008422
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    A Plague of SecretsDismas Hardy #132009 · confirmed 3/4
    2009–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    The Ophelia CutDismas Hardy #142013 · 418 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2013418
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 15
    The KeeperAbe Glitsky #42014 · 306 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2014306
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  16. 16
    The FallDismas Hardy #162015 · 308 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2015308
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  17. 17
    PoisonDismas Hardy #172018 · confirmed 3/4
    2018–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  18. 18
    The Rule of LawDismas Hardy #182019 · 336 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2019336
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  19. 19
    The Missing PieceDismas Hardy #192021 · 304 pages · confirmed 3/4
    2021304
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Dismas Hardy Books in Chronological Order

By publication date, the books of the Dismas Hardy series run from Dead Irish (1989) to The Missing Piece (2021), the sequence in the table above. No separate story order is recorded for Dismas Hardy in the book listings this catalogue merges, so publication order is the only order on record.

Do you have to read Dismas Hardy books in order?

You should read the Dismas Hardy series in publication order, the order of the numbered table above; the 1 related title (other titles) sit outside that sequence. The catalogue does not record whether each Dismas Hardy book also stands alone.

Where to start with Dismas Hardy

Start with Dead Irish (1989), the earliest published book in the Dismas Hardy series.

What is the newest Dismas Hardy book?

The Missing Piece (2021) is the newest book in the Dismas Hardy series.

Is there a new Dismas Hardy book coming?

No next Dismas Hardy book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

Dismas Hardy at a glance

Paused
No new main-line Dismas Hardy title has appeared for 5 years. The last was The Missing Piece (2021).
Release pace
Dismas Hardy books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
Length
7,433 pages across the 17 of 19 books with a recorded length, a median of 432 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Dismas Hardy books, 8 of 19, were published in the 2000s.
Corroboration
5 of the 19 titles appear in all four independent book listings, and every one of them in at least three.

What the Dismas Hardy books are about

All 19 Dismas Hardy books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: abe glitsky (fictitious character) is tagged on 6 of 19. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.

More books by John Lescroart

The author page linked below lists every book in publication order.

Series that include Dismas Hardy books

The series linked below has its own reading-order page.