The Motive
John Lescroart
Dutton, Jan 2005, $25.95, 400 pages, ISBN: 0525948449
reviewed by Harriet Klausner

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.