Treasure Hunt

Synopsis

Mickey Dade hates deskwork, but that’s all he’s been doing at Wyatt Hunt’s private investigative service, The Hunt Club. His itch to be active is answered when a body is discovered: It’s Dominic Como, one of San Francisco’s most high profile activists — a charismatic man known as much for his expensive suits as his work on a half-dozen nonprofit boards. One “person of interest” in the case is Como’s business associate, Alicia Thorpe — young, gorgeous, and the sister of one of Mickey’s friends.

As Mickey and Hunt are pulled into the case, they soon learn that the city’s golden fundraiser was involved in some highly suspect deals. And the lovely Alicia knows more about this — and more about Como — than she’s letting on. Treasure Hunt is both a nail-biting thriller and a coming-of-age story, filled with Lescroart’s trademark San Francisco flavors. Mickey Dade, its young protagonist, gradually learns the hard lessons Hunt knows only too well, as the world he thought he knew unravels around him.

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 million—a 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.)