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A review by weaselweader
The Keeper, Volume 15 by John Lescroart
4.0
“Transmogrifying anchovies. Dave Barry would say that’s a good name for a rock band.”
The back cover marketing blurb gives a great overview of the basis for the plot, “A young wife and mother named Katie Chase has been missing for days, her husband Hal – a guard in the San Francisco County Jail – the prime suspect. When the police begin talking murder, attorney Dismas Hardy calls on his friend Abe Glitsky, a former homicide detective, to investigate.”
That the police would chase the most obvious suspect, the husband, and adopt the strategy of “follow the money” (a 7-figure insurance payout not to mention adultery with a drop-dead gorgeous multi-millionaire jet setter) is hardly new plot material but Lescroart does a very workmanlike job of using the mundane as a basis for a solid police procedural that leads into the realm of police corruption, multiple murder, black marketing to prisoners in the local jail, and a cover-up conspiracy. For those who follow the series, it should be noted that, this time around, the lawyer Dismas Hardy plays second chair to Abe Glitsky’s leading role as an erstwhile private investigator for defense counsel after his retirement from active duty as a homicide detective with the SFPD. Their relationships with their wives are also used to heartwarming effect to complement the basic story line.
If not particularly memorable (as is the case with most novels of this genre), it is certainly enjoyable fast-paced reading and very easy to recommend to those who like a good thriller.
P.S. NOTE TO JOHN LESCROART: "Too many syllables. I don’t think there’s ever been an eight-syllable band name.” CREDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL has eight syllables and CHICAGO TRANSIT AUTHORITY has nine! Just sayin’!
Paul Weiss
The back cover marketing blurb gives a great overview of the basis for the plot, “A young wife and mother named Katie Chase has been missing for days, her husband Hal – a guard in the San Francisco County Jail – the prime suspect. When the police begin talking murder, attorney Dismas Hardy calls on his friend Abe Glitsky, a former homicide detective, to investigate.”
That the police would chase the most obvious suspect, the husband, and adopt the strategy of “follow the money” (a 7-figure insurance payout not to mention adultery with a drop-dead gorgeous multi-millionaire jet setter) is hardly new plot material but Lescroart does a very workmanlike job of using the mundane as a basis for a solid police procedural that leads into the realm of police corruption, multiple murder, black marketing to prisoners in the local jail, and a cover-up conspiracy. For those who follow the series, it should be noted that, this time around, the lawyer Dismas Hardy plays second chair to Abe Glitsky’s leading role as an erstwhile private investigator for defense counsel after his retirement from active duty as a homicide detective with the SFPD. Their relationships with their wives are also used to heartwarming effect to complement the basic story line.
If not particularly memorable (as is the case with most novels of this genre), it is certainly enjoyable fast-paced reading and very easy to recommend to those who like a good thriller.
P.S. NOTE TO JOHN LESCROART: "Too many syllables. I don’t think there’s ever been an eight-syllable band name.” CREDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL has eight syllables and CHICAGO TRANSIT AUTHORITY has nine! Just sayin’!
Paul Weiss