The coroner and the police, however, are not so certain. Ambiguities, some signs of a struggle in Sal's seedy apartment, the placement of the body and slight trauma at the injection site, spawn questions and uncertainties. Maybe Sal did kill himself. But maybe he didn't.

Homicide seems a little more certain when everything Graham told Dismas is called into question.

The Mercy Rule is a respectable thriller, cleanly written and peopled with a cast of characters that range from a newly minted homicide detective to a Federal judge. But I can't recommend it because it is neither a clever puzzle nor an interesting character study.

I can never solve the crime. However, I was able to figure out key parts of this mystery, so we don't have a clever, twisty puzzle. In the absence of a strong plot, well-drawn, complex characters would have made this a far more compelling read. However, John Lescroart barely scratches the surface of any member of his large cast, so that no one ever seems quite real.

In the absence of a good problem and strong characters, I doubt I would have recommended this book if it had been a paperback for $6.99. As a hardcover selling at $24.95, it sounds like a library book to me.

Katy Cooper

--Katy Cooper