Jonathan Kellerman writes razor-sharp novels that cut to the quick. Now comes Motive, which pits psychologist Alex Delaware and homicide cop Milo Sturgis against a vicious criminal mind—the kind only Kellerman can bring to chilling life. Even having hundreds of closed cases to his credit can’t keep LAPD police lieutenant Milo Sturgis from agonizing over the crimes that don’t get solved—and the victims who go without justice. Victims like Katherine Hennepin, a young woman strangled and stabbed in her home. A single suspect with a solid alibi leads to a dead end—one even Alex Delaware’s expert insight can’t explain. The only thing to do is move on to the next murder case—because there’s always a next one. This time the victim is Ursula Corey: a successful, attractive divorcée who’s been gunned down—not a robbery but an execution, a crime that smacks of simple, savage revenge. And along with that theoretical motive come two strong contenders for the role of perp: the dead woman’s business partner/ex-husband and her divorce lawyer/secret lover. But just as Alex and Milo think they’re zeroing in on the most likely suspect, a bizarre new clue stirs up eerie echoes of the unsolved Hennepin murder. And the discovery of yet another crime scene bearing the same taunting signature raises the specter of a serial killer on a mission, whose twisted method is exceeded only by his manipulative and cunning madness.


作家強納森•凱樂曼的作品總是犀利精闢且切中要點。在本書中，心理學家亞力士‧達拉威和專門偵辦謀殺案的刑警米羅・史特吉斯再次與邪惡的罪犯對決。罪犯的心理透過凱樂曼的描寫，格外令人不寒而慄。即使洛杉磯警局督察米羅・史特吉思已偵破好幾百件案子，他始終因為那些未能解決的案子感到煩悶，尤其是那些沒能為往生受害者伸張正義的案子。凱薩琳•亨內就是一個例子。這名年輕女子在自家被勒頸刺殺身亡，唯一的嫌疑犯卻擁有毫無破綻的不在場證明，讓案子變成死局，就連擁有專業洞察力的亞力士•達拉威都無法破解。唯一能做的就是把注意力轉到另一起謀殺案，因為案件總是層出不窮。 這次案件的受害人是被槍殺的烏蘇拉•科瑞，一位成功且風情萬種的失婚女企業家。 此案並非奪財害命，而是一場殘酷的報仇，烏蘇拉遭歹徒執行了行刑式槍決。從動機來推測，最可能的加害者有兩個：一個是死者的貿易合夥人和前夫，另一個則是死者的離婚律師，也是她的秘密情人。然而，就在亞力士和米羅以為即將鎖定最可疑的嫌疑犯時，一個古怪的新線索，竟和未偵破的亨內謀殺案，激盪出令人毛骨悚然的共鳴。接著，在另一個犯罪現場，他們又發現了同一個連續殺人犯的嘲諷做案標誌；而他扭曲的作案手法，只不過反映出他充滿操控慾又狡詐無比的瘋狂內心的冰山一角。