People Weekly by Tom Gliatto

Motive isn't ingenious enough to motivate imitations or spinoffs, but it's smooth and diverting. [27 May 2013, p.40]

New York Post by Sara Stewart

If you’re a genre fan, Motive is a satisfyingly different way to get your murder-mystery fix.

Philadelphia Inquirer by David Hiltbrand

Its nonlinear, whydunit approach makes the show stand out. The fractured loop-de-loop narrative creates not just surprise but suspense.

Uncle Barky by Ed Bark

It’s a reasonably involving series made better by the chemistry between the two leads.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette by Rob Owen

It doesn't reinvent the genre by any stretch but this lighter tone is noteworthy.

San Francisco Chronicle by David Wiegand

Instead of being a whodunit, Motive is a "whydunit," which, except for the appeal of the show's star, amounts to a "whocares."

Newsday by Diane Werts

Lehman is good, most everything's OK, but nothing is especially fresh or compelling.

Hitfix by Alan Sepinwall

The characters don't feel any richer here than they do on CBS' various cop shows, and the series doesn't even commit to how much it wants to keep you guessing about why the crime occurred.

RedEye by Curt Wagner

Both believable and appealing as the hard-bitten homicide investigator, Lehman provides the only real motive for tuning in.

The New York Times by Mike Hale

It’s reasonably smart, reasonably interesting and reasonably well acted without being particularly good.