The Motive (Dismas Hardy) [Audiobook] [Audio Cassette]

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 increasingly fearful that Cuneo will see any further investigative attempts by Abe as proof of the fact that his personal relationship with Diz is sufficiently strong to cause them to attempt to subvert the law.

While the the author provides enough background for this novel to be very enjoyable as a standalone read, it probably deserves no more than four stars on that basis. The emotion evoked by THE FIRST LAW is so raw that no summary can completely capture its intensity; thus while I actually did not rate that story as highly as THE MOTIVE, I strongly suggest that it be read first. While THE SECOND CHAIR is a transition story and is not essential background for this book, I nevertheless highly recommend it. As readers of Lescroart's work know, his character development is excellent and an integral part of the success of this series. The characters age as the series proceeds; their kids grow up, spouses die (as has happened to both Diz and Abe), and close friends can get shockingly murdered. Some cops are heroes and some are crooked, many are dedicated to the truth and avenging the victims but a few such as Cuneo have their own agenda. This is a worthy entry in the series, although the police work is often shoddy (including some of Glitsky's efforts), the courtroom scenes are riveting. Finally, while many readers will probably guess various elements of the murder plot; there is enough misdirection to keep the reader interested and Glitsky's dectective work at the end of the story leads to an unexpected twist that ties together the loose ends while providing a truly bittersweet conclusion.

Tucker Andersen

I enjoyed this book, although I would strongly recommend not making this your first John Lescroart novel (which is what happened with me). I think in order to truly appreciate this book, you have to read some of the prior novels in the series, since a lot of references are made to events that take place in those books.

This book is divided into three parts. The First Part is the crime (arson/murder) and resulting police investigation. The Second Part is the trial of the major suspect. The Third Part is the resolution of the story.

Parts one and two are very well done. The trial, in particular, was very well handled. Lescorart is, without question, a good writer. I definitely plan on reading some of his other novels.

In my opinion, however, the Third Part of this novel is a major let down. It is very short, unrealistic, and seems very tacked on. It also provides a resolution to the story that is totally out of left field (hint: the CIA suddenly gets involved!).

In short, I found the ending of the book anti-climactic and highly disappointing. If you plan on reading a Lescroart book, my advice is to skip this one and read one of the earlier ones.

This legal thriller centers around the brutal killing of a prominent, politically connected socialite (Paul Hanover) and his beautiful fiancee', Missy. Who killed the high-powered duo before setting their newly redecorated masion on fire and why? So, to get to the bottom of the mystery, San Francisco Mayor West asks Deputy Chief Abe Glitsky to look into the death of her friend and biggest supporter. She doesn't believe that her friend killed his lover and then turned the gun on himself, nor does she have confidence in the lead Detective, Dan Cuneo, who suffers from a bad attitude and some kind of compulsive disorder. While the investigation appears to be a "slam dunk" for the police and prosecutor (a suspect is quickly identified, the daughter-inlaw, Catherine Hanover, who appears to have the most powerful motive of all greed and desire for money), Glitsky's instincts suggest that there is more to this case than meets the eye. Unfortunately Glitsky has a lot on his plate. Although he is middle aged (approaching 50, with grown children), he has a young child and one of the way. He also feels guilt about something (that must have been explained in previous books, because it wasn't really explained here...only that it involved a shoot-out)and doesn't want to alienate Cuneo or others in the department. And on top of that, his old partner and holder of the same "secret", Dismis Hardy, is the ex-boyfriend and defense attorney of the prime suspect. And finally, when Abe's son is born, something is wrong (won't tell you exactly what, you will have to read for yourself), and that takes his focus off the investigation.

While the story takes you through their personal lives, the investigation and the trial, you come to agree that sometimes doing your job (i.e., solving a case) is influenced by politics and frankly bad blood between various law enforcement agencies. I work in law enforcement and I know, but I am not saying that this book is 100% realistic, just accurate about that conflict. But most of all, Hardy finds that believing in what someone (Catherine) use to be or use to represent, could influence how you represent them, and may causes you to make mistakes and not see what is really there. Dismas has to face certain things about himself and his life before he can successfully defend a woman who he once loved.

Anyway, I enjoyed the story immensely although there was a great deal going on....it started out as a simple murder investigation, and blossomed into a great deal more (i.e., espionage, terrorism, federal nominations for cabinet positions, Mob relations, identity theft, embezzlement, CIA, FBI, infidelity, etc). But I also liked the underlying theme of "life regrets" (I am not going to tell you all everything, again you have to read the book). For me, that was what is so potent about the story...."if you know what you know now, would you have taken the same road? And this is true for Missy, Glitsky,Cuneo and especially Hardy. And when the puzzle is solved, you find that like "real life investigations", the solution was always there, you just have to be willing to see it.

The only thing that I would suggest is that you read the other books that are possibly in this series. Because I have never read any of the other books, some of the stuff I just didn't get or understand. And although it didn't take anything away from my enjoyment of the story, I was left with a few questions that I could not answer. For example, Abe made reference to his "Senator" wife who killed herself (he never said why), and that Dismas's first wife died, and then there was the whole "shootout" incident that apparently not only was Abe and Dismas involved in, but Cuneo's Lieutenant, who was killed was too. And as a reader, who has not read any of the other books, I still don't know what happened that was so upsetting to Abe and Dismas? So, I just would have liked a few sentences to explain those incidents. But overall, I liked this book and would recommend it.