Motive

by Jonathan Kellerman

Part of Alex Delaware, book 30

First published 2015

LAPD Lieutenant Milo Sturgis carries the weight of every unsolved case, especially Katherine Hennepin's brutal murder. The young woman died from strangulation and stabbing in her own home. The investigation hit a wall when their sole suspect produced an unshakeable alibi that even psychologist Alex Delaware cannot crack. A new case demands their attention when Ursula Corey turns up dead. The successful divorcee was executed by gunshot in what appears to be calculated revenge rather than random violence. Two prime suspects emerge: her business partner who happens to be her ex-husband, and her divorce attorney who was secretly her lover. Just as Alex and Milo close in on Corey's killer, an unexpected clue surfaces that mirrors the Hennepin case. When investigators uncover a third crime scene marked by identical forensic signatures, they realize they may be hunting a serial killer. This predator operates with calculated precision, using manipulation and cunning that challenges everything the detectives thought they understood about the cases.

Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, detective

Vibes: dark, fast-paced, suspenseful

Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, unreliable-narrator

Setting: LAPD, Los Angeles

336 pages · Hardcover · Ballantine Books

Content warnings: violence

More by Jonathan Kellerman

Readers who liked Motive also liked

View on Siftivo