THE HUNT CLUB by John Lescroart
I have some good news and some bad news for fans of author John Lescroart. The good news is he has a new book out; the bad news is it doesn't concern Dismas Hardy and Abe Glitsky. THE HUNT CLUB introduces us to a new Lescroart creation and that is private investigator Wyatt Hunt He lives and works in San Francisco which also happens to be the city housing Hardy and Glitsky, but their characters only mildly cross paths with Hunt. This new character stands alone. Maybe in time he will provide reading adventures comparable to those of Hardy and Glitsky - but not now.
Hunt starts out in this book being an investigator for children's services. When that position falls apart he opens his own investigative business. He assembles a group of investigators, lawyers and policemen and calls them "the Hunt Club." His closest friend and charter member of this group is Inspector Devin Juhle of the San Francisco Police Department.
The primary focus of THE HUNT CLUB is the mystery surrounding the murder of a federal court judge and an unidentified young woman in his home. Shortly after the murder, Andrea Parisi, a well-known lawyer and television commentator, disappears. She is a friend of Hunt's so he initiates a search for her. When it becomes known that she and the federal judge knew each other Juhle joins the search. He is searching for her as a possible murder suspect while Hunt is searching for her as a friend and potential romantic interest.
The search to find the judge's killer is labyrinthine. The police head off into a million and one directions. Various suspects are discovered and then discarded. At first this is interesting but towards the end of the novel it just gets tedious.
The relationship between Hunt and Juhle is not as much fun or as interesting as the one between Hardy and Glitsky. Maybe it will develop in future novels but at this point their relationship is more antagonistic than the reader wants it to be. With friends like Juhle, Hunt doesn't need enemies.
Even with its flaws THE HUNT CLUB is still notches above most other novels of suspense. Lescroart is one talented writer and when he paints a picture of a crime or an investigation it is done with passion and detail. Such is the case of THE HUNT CLUB.
Most fans of Lescroart's writing will hope the next novel is a return to the stories of Hardy and Glitsky. Still THE HUNT CLUB has piqued our interest in Hunt enough to make us willing to read a further adventure.
THE HUNT CLUB isn't Lescroart at his best, but any Lescroart novel is worth reading - and this one certainly is.
THE HUNT CLUB is published by Dutton. It contains 416 pages and sells for $26.95.