Lawyer Dismas Hardy lives in San Francisco and is a co-owner of the Little Shamrock Pub. His parents lost their lives in a plane crash when he was nineteen studying at the California Institute of Technology.

Following his graduation, he joined the Marines and fought in Vietnam, where he met his future friend, Moses McGuire. After his return from the war he worked in the police force of San Francisco. As an innocent man was killed by his own fault, he gave up this position, however, and began to study law which led to him becoming a public prosecutor.

His marriage to his wife, Jane, was actually very good, but when their son, Michael, died at the age of 7 months due to an accident, they both gained distance from each other. The death of her son, which neither of them could really process, created a gap between them that finally led to a divorce.

At the time of the first book, The Dead Irish, of writer John T. Lescroart, Dismas Hardy was living in a one-story wooden house in the far west of San Francisco. A dartboard hangs on the wall over the desk in his office at the back of the house and on the mantel are fossils and ships in bottles. In his safe are a .38 police special, a Colt .44 and a .22. In his bedroom is a large aquarium with tropical fish.

When he began studying and moved out of his’ parents place, he receives a cast iron skillet from them, which he has kept over the years. This frying pan was the only household item, which he took from his divorce. He goes about this frying pan very carefully, cleaning it only with salt and a wire brush, and, to his knowledge, it has never come into contact with detergent. In his opinion, a pan would last a lifetime with proper care.

Dismas Hardy works the day shift at the bar of his friend Moses McGuire, who has designed the Little Shamrock as a neighbourhood pub and Irish hang out place. Diz likes to drink Guinness and describes himself as a very good bartender, good darts player and a mediocre woodcarver. Darts give him a chance to clear his head, which is described in all the books over and over again.

Moses McGuire has 12 years younger sister named Frannie, who has known Dismas since their early teens. When Frannie's husband, Eddie, died, Moses asks his friend Diz for help. This is to find out if Eddie Cochran has really committed suicide or was murdered. Because Frannie has informed her husband that she is pregnant on the evening of his death, nobody could imagine that Eddie would have committed suicide, even though that is what the evidence indicates.

As part of his investigation, Dismas finds out that Eddie did not commit suicide, but was murdered. He received frequent help from his friend, Abraham Glitzky, who works for the San Francisco Homicide Department. Out of friendship and gratitude, his friend Moses offers him a 25% co-ownership of the bar, which Diz also accepts.

Later in the series, the redhead Frannie, which has now given birth to a daughter (Rebecca), and Dismas become closer and get married some time later. The three move into the old wooden house in the west of San Francisco, and later the family is still growing, as Frannie and Dismas' son Vincent is born. After his birth, Dismas extends the house to make more room for the family.

After an arson attack on the old wooden house, Dismas and Frannie add an upper floor to the house, where a bedroom and a bathroom now lay. The used the thus created space on the ground floor to expand the kitchen by a few square meters. Their old bedroom family, located next to the kitchen, now serves as a recreation room with a TV. In the wall between the kitchen and living room, Dismas has built a larger aquarium, which can be seen from both sides.

Later in the series, Dismas Hardy is back working as a lawyer and initially works as a deputy prosecutor again. Political intrigue terminates his position as a deputy prosecutor, however, very quickly. Wrongly accused by his former father-in-law of murder, he takes over the defence and Hardy can prove his innocence.

During this process, he gets to know the defence attorney David Freeman and after the completion of this case, he rents an office on the third floor of the Freeman Building, the office building of David Freeman & Associates. After he no longer worked for the prosecution, he wants to work as an attorney and criminal defence lawyer.

Dismas Hardy is a conscientious investigator who is not satisfied with the obvious and relies on his intuition and feeling. He wants to know the context of a case before completing it. He has no sympathy for criminals and also refuses to defend them. He spends most of his time with contract law and civil actions – and, like Perry Mason, he acts as a defense lawyer from time to time.

Other Characters

Abraham „Abe“ Glitzky, San Francisco Homicide Department

David Freeman, Defence Lawyer

Moses McGuire, Friend and Business Partner

Pico Morales – Curator of the Steinhart Museum

John Strout – Forensic Pathologist

Books about the Attorney Dismas Hardy

Dead Irish                  

The Vig                       

Hard Evidence                       

13th Juror                  

A Certain Justice        

Guilt               

The Mercy Rule          

Nothing but the Truth             

The Hearing               

The Oath                    

The First Law             

The Second Chair                  

The Motive