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A review by martyfried
The Motive by John Lescroart
4.0
4 1/2 stars.
This series by John Lescroart is one of my favorites of this type of book. A lot going on, situations that look hopeless and then get worse, but lots of humor that I like, especially between Dismas Hardy and Abe Glitsky. I think it gets better after reading other books in the series, as some of the jokes or pranks are sort of inside jokes.
In this one, Hardy's client (his high school girlfriend) has been in jail for a double murder with special circumstances for close to a year, and it's not looking good. The victims were shot, then burned beyond recognition, but are positively identified as the owner of the house, a rich lawyer, and his fiance.
The investigators are against her, and therefore they can influence witnesses - after all, if she was arrested, she must be guilty, right? The neighbors, with a little prodding, identify her as the woman they saw leaving the house right before the fire, and gasoline was found in her trunk matching the signature of the gas used to start the fire. Not looking good, and getting worse.
In fact, the investigators are coming down on Hardy, Glitsky, and their friend the mayor, too, and are still looking into a conspiracy from an earlier book where the good guys actually did have a shootout with the police (bad ones) who were threatening them. Nobody really knows what happened, but Hardy and Glitsky do not want anyone opening up that case.
Throughout the story, one of the victims is unusual in that nothing is known about her. She was going to marry the other victim, and of course his ex-wife and kids are all worried that he is going to give all his money to her, not them, so they all have motives, and a few don't have good alibis.
The client may have an alibi, but she lied about where she was because she didn't want her kids to know she was looking into an affair her husband seemed to be having. So, since she lied, it looks bad for her.
This series by John Lescroart is one of my favorites of this type of book. A lot going on, situations that look hopeless and then get worse, but lots of humor that I like, especially between Dismas Hardy and Abe Glitsky. I think it gets better after reading other books in the series, as some of the jokes or pranks are sort of inside jokes.
In this one, Hardy's client (his high school girlfriend) has been in jail for a double murder with special circumstances for close to a year, and it's not looking good. The victims were shot, then burned beyond recognition, but are positively identified as the owner of the house, a rich lawyer, and his fiance.
The investigators are against her, and therefore they can influence witnesses - after all, if she was arrested, she must be guilty, right? The neighbors, with a little prodding, identify her as the woman they saw leaving the house right before the fire, and gasoline was found in her trunk matching the signature of the gas used to start the fire. Not looking good, and getting worse.
In fact, the investigators are coming down on Hardy, Glitsky, and their friend the mayor, too, and are still looking into a conspiracy from an earlier book where the good guys actually did have a shootout with the police (bad ones) who were threatening them. Nobody really knows what happened, but Hardy and Glitsky do not want anyone opening up that case.
Throughout the story, one of the victims is unusual in that nothing is known about her. She was going to marry the other victim, and of course his ex-wife and kids are all worried that he is going to give all his money to her, not them, so they all have motives, and a few don't have good alibis.
The client may have an alibi, but she lied about where she was because she didn't want her kids to know she was looking into an affair her husband seemed to be having. So, since she lied, it looks bad for her.