Product Description

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 when Paul Hanover's multimillion-dollar home went up in flames, it was all over very quickly. And when the bodies of Hanover and his girlfriend were found in the charred debris, it appeared that the end came even more quickly for them-judging from the bullet holes in their heads. But this isn't just any double homicide. Hanover was a friend-and donor-to the mayor, who wants answers. And in trying to provide them, Abe Glitsky and Dismas Hardy will face an old lover and an old enemy-and follow a trail of evidence that stretches far beyond their usual jurisdiction.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #227755 in Books
• Published on: 2005-12-27
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 448 pages

From Publishers Weekly
In the latest installment of the Glitsky-Hardy crime-solving series (The 13th Juror; The Second Chair; etc.), San Francisco–based Lescroart again demonstrates his mastery of how things work in the city by the bay. Arson investigators at a Victorian townhouse fire do not call in Abe Glitsky or Dismas Hardy when they discover two bodies believed to be the remains of influential businessman Paul Hanover and his girlfriend, Missy D'Amiens. Glitsky, now deputy chief of inspectors, doesn't handle individual cases, and attorney Dismas Hardy has long since left the police force. Sgt. Dan Cuneo takes charge, quickly jumping to conclusions and slowly rekindling his grudge against the detecting duo. Unhappy with Cuneo's approach, the mayor puts Glitsky on the job, while Hardy is hired by Hanover's daughter-in-law, who was also Hardy's college sweetheart and is now a murder defendant with no alibi but plenty of motive. Parallel inquiries uncover contradictory evidence as well as loose ends: at the time of his death, Hanover was up for a federal appointment, his company was up for a city contract and his girlfriend has a mysterious past. Lescroart draws the reader in with a step-by-step description of the fire, mesmerizes with an account of the intricacies of the auto-towing business and winds up with a disturbing parable of intrigue abroad, adding the wistful touch of a new baby in the Glitsky household. Lescroart may be testing the waters for fiction with an international flavor. For now, the winningly ironic author remains more credible on urban and legal ground than spy craft, but his authentic voice, methodical presentation and ability to juggle red herrings until all pieces fall into place will keep fans following wherever his cop-lawyer friends-heroes lead.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Success has its disadvantages. Abe Glitzky, once a homicide cop and now a high-level administrator in the San Francisco Police Department, is none too thrilled to be called upon by the mayor, his longtime friend Kathy West, to help investigate a case. Both Paul Hanover, a wealthy businessman and significant contributor to West's campaign coffers, and a woman were found dead in Hanover's home, and the fire that leveled the house wasn't the cause: both victims died of gunshot wounds. Although it looks like a "clean" murder-suicide, forensics proves otherwise, much to the mayor's relief. But now there's a double-homicide to solve. Normally, Glitzky wouldn't mind helping out his old department, but the lead investigator on the case is Dan Cuneo, someone Glitzky, along with his friend, attorney Dismas "Diz" Hardy, had locked horns with some time ago. The likelihood of Glitzky and Cuneo working together amicably is remote, especially when it turns out that the chief suspect is Diz's ex-girlfriend. In typical Lescroart fashion, personal conflicts, political favors, and top-notch courtroom drama converge for a gripping, page-turning drama. Mary Frances Wilkens
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
Surpasses anything Grisham ever wrote and bears comparison with Turow. -- Washington Post

Customer Reviews

(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 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

Good Book, but Anti-Climactic Ending
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.

Back to the Courtroom for One Dismas Hardy
The first John Lescroart book I read was The 13th juror. I have always been a huge legal fiction fan, and when I saw another law of a crafty defense lawyer defending a seemingly innocent client form from an unwarranted murder charge, I got excited. Here's another series written by a lawyer about a crusading defense attorney. I expected a series of dramatic trial stories, of the good Dismas Hardy fighting against the corrupt system, aided by his good police buddy Abe. Basically, I expected the same old legal series.

Yet, I shouldn't had assumed anything. My first bad assumption was that Mr. Lescroart was a lawyer. This isn't true. My second assumption was he was going to write a series where the legal system was the driving force behind the stories. Also, not true. This is much more than a tale of a lawyer. This series is character study of two friend, their families and one crazy city called San Francisco. Lescroart has taking his characters across the expected sub genre lines, at times a family tale, at time a police procedural, at times a story of corruption and intrigue, at times an action thriller, this series is never scared to take the unexpected turn or change the story up in some integral way. So, when I picked up The Motive, I had finally told myself that I shouldn't expect another The 13th Juror.

Yet, of course, I guess I had forgotten my lesson once again. With the motive, Lescroart had gone back to what drew me to him in the first place, a good old fashion Murder Trial. Not that this was your typical tale of legal maneuvering. Lescroart starts it off proving that he knows how to do his research. A fire is ravaging a home in a picturesque San Francisco neighborhood , and the firefighters are performing their trade well. During the fight of the fire, two bodies, burned beyond recognition are discovered. They may have been just unfortunate victims of the fire, except for the bullet holes in their heads and the fact that they were drenched in gasoline.

This of course sets off the series of events that drive this book.. At first, it just looks like a murder suicide, but the victim has some high powered friends, and one of them, the current mayor calls upon Hardy's friend, and now high ranking brass Abe Glitsky to take a interest in this case. Abe's involvement doesn't sit to well with the investigating detective, and things turn even more sour when Abe quickly disproves the detectives murder/suicide theory. This leads, the detective on a quest to out do his rival, and he quickly focuses his attentions on the victim's daughter in law, a women who spurned his sexual advances. To make matters even worst, the suspect just happens to be an ex-girlfriend of one Dismas Hardy.

Such a small world.

The book then takes the predictable, yet highly entertaining turn towards the impending murder trial, with Glitsky taking heat for his unofficial involvement in the case and accusations of collusion being tossed at Abe, Hardy and the mayor. Hardy, now having to defend his ex-lover, and worrying about a secret he just can't allow to surface seems to become more and more emotionally drained. Both he and Glitsky are desperately searching for the answers.