The Motive (Dismas Hardy)

By John Lescroart

Book Overview

With their park view and old-fashioned detail, the Victorian houses on San Francisco's Steiner Street were highly valuable. But with their wooden construction, they were also highly vulnerable. So... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0451215729
• ISBN13: 9780451215727
• Release Date: December 2005
• Publisher: Berkley
• Length: 624 Pages
• Weight: 0.68 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.4" x 1.6" x 4.3"

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.

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