The Motive

by John Lescroart

Book Overview

Hardy and Glitsky are embroiled in a murder that begins in the upper echelons of San Francisco society, where money and political influence collide. . . .It starts with a double homicide. Because of the high profiles of the victims?a politically connected socialite and his glamorous fianc?e?the mayor of San Francisco herself demands that a high-ranking detective be put on the case. And so Abe Glitsky is thrust into the controversial investigation.Dan...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0525948449
• ISBN13: 9780525948445
• Release Date: December 2004
• Publisher: Dutton Books
• Length: 404 Pages
• Weight: 1.17 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.6" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

One of the best in the Hardy/Glitsky series

I live in San Francisco so it's fun to read a series set in My Fair City. I discovered the Dismas Hardy series of novels by John Lescroart recently in the Goodwill when I was desperate one day for something to read, and bought one of them. I've been working my way through them ever since - kind of bummed that it's taken me less than a month to read what it took Lescroart something like 17 years to write! I think The Motive is one of the best in the series. Lescroart, as always, does a masterful job of making us interested in both the mystery and the characters' personal and professional lives. He's on a par with the Butch Karp/Marlene Ciampi series by Robert Tanenbaum (er, make that Tanenbaum and his ghost-writer cousin, with whom he had a falling out, effectively killing the series). The mystery is pretty compelling this time. There's ONE line, half of a sentence really, buried in the novel fairly early on, that signals the novel's main twist. Glitsky and Hardy, normally super-savvy, apparently spent the better part of a year overlooking this angle until it was almost too late! That bugged me, because these guys are good at what they do...but whatever... One of Lescroart's strongest suits is plot development - BELIEVABLE plot development - where you get to work through, almost in real-time, the thought processes of super-competent people throwing their considerable brains at a mystery, and teasing the truth out of it. He's also really good at writing courtroom dialogue. I mean, I wouldn't know from realistic courtroom dialogue, but I love his courtroom scenes, they're like chess matches! I really like the way Lescroart weaves in people throughout his novels, in supporting roles, whom we've seen in other novels. It seems, though, that he doesn't have enough time or paper to give each one his/her turn on the stage, so sometimes they make the tiniest guest appearance, and because I've come to know and love them in the other novels, I'm a bit wistful that I don't get to spend more time with them in THIS novel. For example, in this novel, we barely see Gina Roake, and Wyatt Hunt is only mentioned tangentially (his Hunt Club agency was used to do some work off-stage). Conversely, in The Hunt Club, Wyatt Hunt had center stage, and Dismas Hardy appears for about two pages, moonlighting at The Shamrock when Hunt walks in for a drink...say whuh? I think he needs to write a book where they ALL play major roles because I love all these characters.

(4 1/2) The Diz and Abe Saga Continues

THE MOTIVE, the latest installment in the excellent series of legal thrillers/police procedurals by John Lescroart, is an excellent sequel to the two previous stories in the series. THE FIRST LAW (review 2/9/2003) was a completely atypical story in the series - it involved an incident that would unavoidably alter the relationship of attorney Dismas (Diz) Hardy and Deputy Police Chief Abraham (Abe) Glitsky forever as well as create a significant inflection point in both of their lives and careers. THE SECOND CHAIR (review 4/22/2004) involves Hardy's initial attempts to regain his personal and professional balance in the wake of that incident. In that novel, Hardy agrees to act as second chair to one of his young associates who is tempted to engage in a plea bargain for her young client in view of the apparently overwhelming evidence which the SFPD has assembled. This story begins with a case of arson which Arnie Becker, the lead arson investigator, quickly determines also involves a doulble homicide. The victims (although burned beyond visual recognition) are eventually determined by the coroner to be Paul Hanover, a wealthy socialite with excellent political connections, and his fiancee Michelle (Missy) D'Amiens. Dan Cuneo is the homicide detective immediately assigned to investigate the murders. However, Mayor Kathy West is deeply concerned about the murder of her friend and large campaign contributor Hanover and asks Glitsky to conduct a parallel investigation of the case to ensure that it is solved as rapidly as possible.This puts Glitsky in an incredibly difficult position, not only because of the breach of normal department protocol (even though approved by the Chief), but also because despite the fact that the official police investigation had confirmed the alibis of Glitsky and Hardy in the violent shootout (described in THE FIRST LAW) in which several policemen were killed, Detective Cuneo correctly remains extremely suspicious that they had played a significant role. Cuneo soon decides that Catherine Hanover, Paul's daughter-in-law who he had first met at the scene of the fire, is his chief suspect; he discovers that not only did she lie about her alibi and thus had the opportunity to commit the crime, she also had both the means and THE MOTIVE. Glitsky believes that several leads have not been adequately pursued but hesitates to fuel Cuneo's resentment by actively investigating the case further. (He is also distracted by a personal emergency which threatens to completely disrupt his wonderful relationship with Treya, his new wife.) However, Glitsky's attempts to placate Cuneo and deflect his interest in attempting to locate new evidence in the Gerson affair are completely undone when Hardy, after an agonizing appraisal of the situation, agrees to represent Catherine Hanover. This decision not only raises the political stakes in the case, but also seems certain to cause a breach in his relationship with Glitsky, who has become increa

Lescroart Gets Better and Better

Besides the fact that John Lescroart's books are set in San Francisco where I used to live, I think it is his character development that make his books so good. Dismas Hardy and Abe Glitksy bring a sense of humor, intelligence and characterization more complex than usually found in mystery stories. The story is, of course, a murder story. It's complex enough that the heros have all kinds of struggles including evaluating their own lives, families and position in the community. Over his sixteen books he has developed his stories and his characters to a level rarely seen. This is a great addition to his library.

As Always - A Compelling Read

John Lescroart delivers another winner in his Dismas Hardy/Abe Glitsky series. Echoes of the past hang over their heads concerning the death of a SF police officer as they find themselves being drawn into the investigation of what is first thought to be a murder/suicide/arson investigation and which soon turns into a double murder/arson. Glitsky is asked to get involved by the Mayor. The only problem with that is this is not the chain of command. The Inspector in charge is not amused and in fact feels threatened by the interfearance, with interesting results. Hardy gets involved because a woman who has become the prime suspect of the police investigator assigned to the case is a former lover/friend and seeks his services when the focus of the investigation turns to her. The trial that ensues is well drawn, but only part of the story is told there. To say more would reveal too much, except to say that I have no problem with how the author decided to end this story. It is true to the facts presented and true to the characters of those who carry the action. I continue to wait for this author's next effort, as he has never failed to produce a compelling read.

Fantastic police procedural/legal thriller

When the fire is doused in Paul Hanover's Victorian house in San Francisco the charred bodies of two people are found. Dental records show that they are Paul and his live in lover, but both died from a bullet wound. Inspector sergeant Dan Cuneo is assigned to the case and he zeroes in on Catherine Hanover as the suspect, in part because she rejected his sexual advances. Deputy Chief Inspector Abe Glitsky is asked by the mayor to oversee Cuneo's investigation because Paul was a friend and a heavy contributor to her campaign. Cuneo hates Abe and makes a run around him with the district attorney so they take the case to the grand jury where they hand down an indictment. Caroline asks attorney Dismas Hardy to represent her; he agrees to do so because she was his first love and because he believes she is innocent. He has his work cut out for him because the prosecution has an overwhelming amount of circumstantial evidence that shows Caroline had means, opportunity, and motive to kill her father in law and his lover. John Lescroart has written a fabulous thriller that starts with the intense investigation and ends with a shocking climax in a courtroom; thus this exciting drama contains equal parts police procedural and legal thriller. THE MOTIVE is a mesmerizing reading experience that will satisfy fans of both sub-genres. The courtroom scenes are particularly gripping; especially when Dismas cross examines the prosecution witnesses. Harriet Klausner