Dismas Hardy knows something is amiss with his trusted secretary, Phyllis. Her out-of-character behavior and sudden disappearances concern Hardy, especially when he learns that her convict brother --- a man who had served 25 years in prison for armed robbery and attempted murder --- has just been released. Things take a shocking turn when Phyllis is suddenly arrested at work for allegedly being an accessory to the murder of Hector Valdez, a coyote who’d been smuggling women into this country from El Salvador and Mexico. That is, until recently, when he was shot to death --- on the very same day that Phyllis first disappeared from work.

Finally recovered from two gunshot wounds, Dismas Hardy is looking forward to easing into retirement and reconnecting with his family. But he is pulled back into the courtroom when Grant Wagner, the steely owner of a successful family business, is murdered. The prime suspect is Wagner’s bookkeeper, Abby Jarvis, a former client of Hardy’s who had been receiving large sums of cash under-the-table from the company --- but she insists that she’s innocent. Preparing for trial, Dismas investigates the Wagner clan, discovering dark, twisted secrets, jealous siblings, gold-digging girlfriends, betrayals and blackmail. The closer he gets to the Wagners, the clearer it becomes that Dismas has a target painted on his back.

Kate and her husband, Ron, attend a dinner party where they meet another couple, Peter and Jill. Kate and Peter only exchange a few pleasant words, but Kate is suddenly overcome with a burning desire for Peter. Her fixation on him results in an intense, passionate encounter between the two. Confident that her life can now go back to normal, Kate never considers that Peter may not be so willing to move on. Not long after their affair, a masked man barges into the café Kate is sitting in with her best friend, firing an assault weapon indiscriminately into the crowd. This tragedy is the first in a series of horrifying events that will show Kate just how grave the consequences of one mistake can be.

On a cool night in May, a teenage foster child named Anlya Paulson plummets to her death from a San Francisco overpass. But did she fall...or was she pushed? Homicide inspectors focus their attention on a likable but naïve middle school teacher and volunteer foster care advocate. At first, his only connection to Anlya’s death is the meal they shared earlier that night. But soon his story falls apart, and Rebecca Hardy, now an associate at her father’s law firm, is drawn into his defense. When a dying woman’s last words cast a surprising new light on the evidence and problems develop with a key witness, the father-daughter duo begins to glimpse the intricate web that connects the young victim to the city’s complex political and judicial machine.

Hal Chase drives to the airport to pick up his stepbrother for the weekend. When they return, Hal’s wife, Katie, has disappeared without a clue. Hal becomes the prime suspect in her presumed murder, and the lawyer he wants for his defense is none other than Dismas Hardy himself. Hardy calls on his friend, former homicide detective Abe Glitsky, to look into the case. Glitsky’s mission is to identify other possible suspects, and there proves to be no shortage of them.

District Attorney Dismas Hardy returns to defend his brother-in-law, Moses McGuire, who has been accused of murdering the man who raped his daughter. McGuire has fallen off the wagon, and his stay in prison could expose some old and dangerous secrets. Hardy struggles to defend McGuire against mounting evidence --- until he sees a new way forward that might just save them all. But at what price?

Raised by loving adoptive parents, San Francisco private investigator Wyatt Hunt never had an interest in finding his birth family --- until he gets a chilling text message from an unknown number: "How did ur mother die?"

Homicide detective Abe Glitsky barely recovered from the case of Ro Curtlee, heir to a powerful San Francisco family. After Ro wins a retrial, the original trial’s star witness is brutally killed. When a second fire claims a participant in the case, Abe is convinced: Ro is out for revenge.

At thirty-nine, Tallie Jones is a Hollywood legend. But soon it becomes clear that someone close to Tallie has been steadily funneling away enormous amounts of her money, and Tallie must trap a predator stalking her in plain sight.