From Publishers Weekly
Bestseller Lescroart's lackluster third Hunt Club thriller (after The Suspect) finds PI Wyatt Hunt near the end of his rope. Business has slowed to a trickle; Hunt's relationship with his old high school friend, homicide detective Devin Juhle, is on the rocks; his receptionist, Tamara Dade, has walked out; and Tamara's brother, Mickey, is his only remaining employee. When Mickey discovers the body of Dominic Como, San Francisco's most prominent civic activist, he proposes a way for Hunt's agency to get involved in the murder investigation and perhaps return to solvency. Como's extensive charities, like the Sunset Youth Project and its subsidiaries, operated with a budget of about $50 millionβa sum large enough to put all sorts of murder motives into play. And just how jealous was Como's wife of her husband's young and pretty female driver? A labored gathering of suspects, police, and Hunt Club operatives allows Hunt to produce the killer in melodramatic fashion. (Jan.)
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From
Lescroart, the author of the New York Times best-selling series starring Dismas Hardy and Abe Glitsky, introduced new series lead Wyatt Hunt in 2005βs Hunt Club. Hunt makes appearances in both The Suspect (2006) and A Plague of Secrets (2009), but he returns to center stage in this new thriller set amid San Franciscoβs thriving nonprofit world. When the body of Dominic Cuomo is found in a lagoon, the movers and shakers in local charity organizations are shocked. Cuomo had been doing good work for years, sat on the boards of six major charities, and was loved by many. Hunt and his associates decide to run interference for the police, setting up a hot-line number and a substantial reward for any tips leading to an arrest. They have plenty of work cut out for them when they are soon flooded with calls from psychics and crackpots. However, they find any number of suspects when they discover that the nonprofit world is rife with corruption and that beloved do-gooder Cuomo had a soft spot for the ladies. With in-depth characterizations of two loyal Hunt associates, siblings Hunt rescued from their heroin-addicted mother; a lovingly detailed San Francisco backdrop; and an intricately developed plot, Treasure Hunt is sure to satisfy Lescroartβs legion of fans. --Joanne Wilkinson