Treasure Hunt (Wyatt Hunt, Book 2) (edition 2010)

Well-structured, almost a paean to the classic whodunit - the necessarily obvious suspect, plenty of excellent red herrings, and the scene at the end with the revelation that the real criminal was . . . but I don't want to spoil it for you.

A wealthy philanthropist is murdered, and the attractive young girl who served as a part-time driver for him is the prime suspect, but there are plenty of people who have been drooling over the philanthropist's life style, and can't wait to take his place.

Fun reading. ( )

entertaining and fast read with a predictable ending. nice to see that real places are used in san francisco and living in san francisco that was lots of fun to read. ( )

I won this book but it never arrived. Then someone gave me a copy so I got to read it anyway. Although this is the second Wyatt Hunt novel, it didn't suffer at all from my not having read the first one.

This is about a private detective service in San Francisco called The Hunt Club which has been suffering from a lack of business since the economy tanked. It's so bad that Wyatt Hunt has been dreading the day when he will have to let employees Mickey Dade and his sister Tamara go even though they are like his own kids. In fact Wyatt had saved the two from the foster child program and they love him like a father.

Then Mickey sees a hand protruding from a lagoon beside the Palace of Fine Arts and is interviewed on television because the dead man is Dominic Como, a high profile, publicity-loving citizen who serves on the board of several charitable organizations. Suddenly business at the Hunt Club is booming as former clients, and new ones seem to realize they are still in business. Meanwhile, they are trying to solve Como's murder.

Suspects are plentiful because of the nature of his life and the fact that he was associated with such bountiful sums of money in his charitable work. Follow the money is the best advice on this case, although his wife is a good suspect and his associate, the young beautiful Alicia.

Mickey has been studying to be a chef, as a back-up plan in case the firm went under but also because he loves cooking. Cooking, therefore, is a feature of the book, and also San Francisco's renowned restaurants. A funny part of the book is the response they get when they set up a tip line for people who are not fond of the police to phone in anything they think might be related to the murder. The calls they get are hilarious, but one might be a solid tip after all.

I loved the characters Mickey and Wyatt, and was happy to see Tamara come out of what seemed to be a dangerous depression. Wyatt's home is a bit of a stretch to believe, but that's a minor quibble in a very enjoyable read. The mystery isn't easy to solve but at the end I was able to see where clues had been there all along. I'm easily led down the garden path to a red herring. I recommend this book; I think I'll find and read the first Wyatt Hunt novel. ( )

John Lescroart writes character-driven thrillers set in San Francisco. He is, in his own way, a definitive writer of the city. When I think of writers who capture the feel of San Francisco I always think of John Lescroart.

This is the second in a relatively new series by Lescroart and it's a pretty good book. His strengths are on display here with great characterization and wonderful setting of place. Where the book is not up to his usual standard is in its plotting - there's convoluted and then there's Convoluted and this is definitely the latter. When it starts becoming too difficult to keep track of (or care about) all the minor characters and plot threads then it's just too Convoluted.

Still and all a fun read and I'll be interested to see how the series progresses, but my heart belongs to Dismas Hardy (the main character in Lescroart's other long-running series). ( )

Excellent Legal Thriller!