The 23rd Midnight by James Patterson (Women's Murder Club #23)

Synopsis

Detective Lindsay Boxer put serial killer Evan Burke behind bars. Now a new killer has recreated Burke's most infamous crimes-and disappeared without a trace.

Detective Lindsay Boxer put serial killer Evan Burke in jail.

Reporter Cindy Thomas put Burke on the bestseller list, in her true-crime book about the case.

An obsessed fan is studying every detail-and committing fresh horrors that carry Burke's signature.

Now Lindsay's tracking an elusive suspect, one who's penning a deadly playbook featuring Cindy's name in blood-red ink.

'The 23rd Midnight' was a great follow up to a very solid '22 Seconds' novel. I said in my review of that one that I expected it to be more intense from the synopsis. Where that one lacked in some tension, suspense, and intensity - 'The 23rd Midnight' made up for it PLUS some. 

And appealing to my personal wants, we got a classic "Women's Murder Club" meetup to sift through evidence and bounce ideas around. But this time, Cindy was not there - because it was her they needed to save.

Speaking of the Women's Murder Club, it was a good novel for most of them - 

Lindsay Boxer

We got to see a new side of Lindsay. After so many years and so much pain and trauma, she's not quite sure if she wants to continue with her job or move on. If there is a plan for this series to continue, I have to imagine she takes a vacation and comes back ready to take down more criminals. It wouldn't be the same if Lindsay wasn't working cases as a cop. 

Cindy Thomas

Cindy is who this novel revolves around. She's seeing some great success due to her new True Crime novel, but it also puts her life in danger. While she may not have actually appeared in as many scenes as she sometimes does, a good majority of the chapters touched on how the story goes back to her, her novel, and her connection to a psychotic serial killer. 

Yuki Castellano

I love the books in this series that have one of Yuki's court cases as a heavy feature. The chapters are always interesting and keep me turning the page fast to see if she comes out on the victorious side. 'The 23rd Midnight' was full of tension and suspense with Cindy in danger. But Yuki's chapters were almost more gripping to me. Almost. She's a great character and isn't always super involved in the books. It's a treat when she is. 

Claire Washburn

Unfortunately, with so many strong story lines featuring the other three, Claire didn't see as much time in this one. That was the only thing I was bummed about. But, it wouldn't have made sense with the flow of the story to insert her randomly where she wouldn't normally be. 

A classic, thrilling Women's Murder Club installment. 

5/5 Stars

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21st Birthday (Women's Murder Club #21) by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro

 Synopsis

Detective Lindsay Boxer vows to protect a young woman from a serial killer long enough to see her twenty-first birthday.

When young wife and mother Tara Burke goes missing with her baby girl, all eyes are on her husband, Lucas. He paints her not as a missing person but a wayward wife—until a gruesome piece of evidence turns the investigation criminal. 

While Chronicle reporter Cindy Thomas pursues the story and M.E. Claire Washburn harbors theories that run counter to the SFPD’s, ADA Yuki Castellano sizes Lucas up as a textbook domestic offender . . . who suddenly puts forward an unexpected suspect. If what Lucas tells law enforcement has even a grain of truth, there isn't a woman in the state of California who's safe from the reach of an unspeakable threat.

I say this every time, but it's always great to jump back into the Women's Murder Club universe. It's like visiting and catching up with an old friend. 

This time, we were met with a pretty gruesome case with twists and turns everywhere. What starts out as a missing woman and child turns into so much more. Is the husband responsible? That's up to Lindsay Boxer and the SFPD to figure out. 

But it's not as simple as one cut and dry case. There are so many layers to it. It'll keep you interested until the very end. 

And even when it got to the end, I wanted more. I'm not sure I can say it ended on a cliffhanger, but it was pretty close to one. I hope there's a continuation of the story in the next installment. It could be Cindy's huge break!

5/5 stars for this one. It was a great read!

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The 20th Victim by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro (Women’s Murder Club #20)

Synopsis:

Three victims, three bullets, three cities. The shooters' aim is as fearsomely precise as their target selection. When Lindsay realizes that the fallen men and women excel in a lucrative, criminal activity, she leads the charge in the manhunt for the killers. As the casualty list expands, fear and fascination with this suspicious shooting gallery galvanizes the country.
The victims were no angels, but are the shooters villains . . . or heroes?

I’m not sure what this recent trend is with Patterson books, but there’s such a large build up to the end . . . and then the capture of the bad guy takes about a paragraph. It’s been that way in the last few that I’ve read I feel like. It’s very odd.

The rest of the story was good. It was nice to see the Women’s Murder Club working together again. We also got to see more of Cindy’s working life which I enjoyed and thought was interesting. There was a wrench thrown in their friendship with some bad news about Claire. But they rallied together. I know that wasn’t the main storyline of the book, but it almost seemed forgotten at times. It would get mentioned again and I’d be like OH YEAH, THAT’S HAPPENING.

There were a lot of different storylines going on all at once. They didn’t all necessarily get the attention they deserved. This book probably could have been a lot longer and I would have been fine with that.

Cindy’s co-worker drama was pretty unnecessary especially with how it ended. The storyline with Joe was random.

After all of that, it’s still nice to be back in their world. Lindsay’s main crime storyline was rather interesting. I wish we could have heard more about that.

3.5/5 Stars

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19th Christmas by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro (Women’s Murder Club #19)

Synopsis:

As the holidays approach, Detective Lindsay Boxer and her friends in the Women's Murder Club have much to celebrate. Crime is down. The medical examiner's office is quiet. Even the courts are showing some Christmas spirit. And the news cycle is so slow that journalist Cindy Thomas is on assignment to tell a story about the true meaning of the season for San Francisco. 

Then a fearsome criminal known only as "Loman" seizes control of the headlines. He is planning a deadly surprise for Christmas morning. And he has commissioned dozens of criminal colleagues to take actions that will mask his plans. All that Lindsay and the SFPD can figure out is that Loman's greed -- for riches, for bloodshed, for attention -- is limitless. 

Solving crimes never happens on schedule, but as this criminal mastermind unleashes credible threats by the hour, the month of December is upended for the Women's Murder Club. Avoiding tragedy is the only holiday miracle they seek.

This was a fast-paced and infuriating ride from beginning to end. If stress from the holidays wasn’t enough, imagine being sent on a wild goose chase by a criminal. You can feel the tension building and building as the SFPD is ripped from their families around Christmas and being forced to track down a bad guy with no solid leads.

I was hooked from the very beginning and finished it in a day. Jumping back in with Women’s Murder Club crew usually does this to me, but I didn’t expect to get through it quite this quickly. But, I just couldn’t stop. I needed to know what was going to happen and how everything was going to unfold.

I’m just glad I got book #20 in the mail yesterday so I don’t have to wait to dive right back in.

5/5 stars

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