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Summary
Summary
The sensational killings that have rocked San Francisco appear to be unrelated except in their brutality. But detective Lindsay Boxer senses there's some thread connecting them all, so she calls her friends in the Women's Murder Club together to see if they can discover what it is.
Working with Chronicle reporter Cindy Thomas, Assistant DA Jill Bernhardt, and medical examiner Claire Washburn, Lindsay discovers there is indeed a link. Each of the victims had a close relative in a particular profession-a profession that sends a chill through Lindsay's heart.
The partners in the Women's Murder Club deduce where the killer is likely to strike next and set a trap that can't be resisted. But if their calculation is wrong, the consequences will be lethal. And there will be no second chance.
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
It's been a long time since we've seen a bestselling author of Patterson's clout credit an assistant author on the cover, and good for Patterson for that. The credit is deserved. This is Patterson's richest, most engaging novel since When the Wind Blows and, as the second in his Women's Murder Club series (after 1st to Die), yet more evidence that this prolific writer can roam beyond Alex Cross with style and success. Like all Pattersons, the narration mixes first and third person the first here is voiced, as before, by San Francisco homicide detective Lindsay Boxer, while the third-person sections cover the doings of the other three members of Boxer's informal club, a reporter, a pathologist and a prosecutor, as well as the villain's shenanigans. The basic story line is vintage Patterson, i.e., a serial killer (here, one known as Chimera) goes on a calculated rampage until stopped by the good guys or in this case, gals. As the victims a young girl shot dead, an elderly black woman hanged, two cops pile up, it becomes clear to Boxer and others that they're up against a racist who hates black cops; is the killer a cop himself? The story ripples with twists and some remarkably strong scenes, particularly Boxer's in-prison interview with a crazed con. But what makes this Patterson stand out above all is the textured storytelling arising from its focus on Boxer's personal issues. In the first novel, Patterson personalized Boxer by dealing with her rare blood disease; here, it's the emotionally powerful introduction of Boxer's long-lost father into her life that galvanizes the plot, particularly as Patterson ties the man into Chimera's rampage. Prime Patterson; first-rate entertainment. (On sale Mar. 4) Forecast: Patterson's name, major ad/promo and a 10-city author tour add up to #1; simultaneous Time Warner Audio and large-print edition. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
A murder outside San Francisco's La Salle Heights Church brings back the Women's Murder Club, extending a series (1st to Die, 2001) that could rival Kinsey Millhone for sales, if not for ingenuity, warmth, or humanity. How could the killer have sprayed the sidewalk with casual gunfire and yet managed to hit young Tasha Catchings, and only her, twice? wonders Lt. Lindsay Boxer. He must have been aiming at her instead of the rest of Aaron Winslow's church choir-presumably for the same reason he strung up Estelle Chipman in her Oakland basement and disguised the murder as suicide. Since the killer, whoever he is and whatever his motives are, is running rings around the SFPD, Lindsay calls in "the Margarita Posse": her best friend Claire Washburn, the city's Chief Medical Examiner; ADA Jill Bernhardt; and Cindy Thomas, the Chronicle's lead crime reporter. In no time at all, the Women's Murder Club-"three of the sharpest law-enforcement minds in the city"-have swung into action. One of them gets shot at, one gets pregnant, and one gets to date Aaron Warner. Meantime, the killer dubbed Chimera is continuing to take blood-soaked revenge for a 20-year-old injustice involving a figure from Lindsay's past, her long-estranged ex-cop father Marty Boxer, in a way that another author might make morally agonizing. Patterson, not one to stop and smell the roses, keeps up the pace by showing Chimera taunting Lindsay and attacking her and her buds, the SFPD running to and fro to counter the latest threat, and the body count rising en route to a showdown introduced by the killer's cool assessment that there's "no one to kill right away." Lots of slam-bang action, though, except for Lindsay, the alleged action heroines mostly have it happen to them instead of dishing it out. Author tour
Booklist Review
Patterson, who published no less than three novels last year, returns with his first entry for 2002. It is the second installment in his new series, the Women's Murder Club, which focuses on four females--a police detective, a medical examiner, an assistant DA, and a reporter--who team up to solve grizzly murder cases. Lindsay Boxer, newly made lieutenant, is called to the scene of a shooting that leaves a 12-year-old African American girl dead. When her friend, reporter Cindy Thomas, connects the killing to another murder that appears racially motivated, Lindsay is convinced that the department has a hate crime on its hands. But the subsequent murder of two police officers reveals that the truth about the killer is much more complex than they first realized. Following the only lead they have--a symbol depicting a creature with two lion heads--takes them back to a decades-old crime that has a surprising connection to Lindsay. While she deals with this case and tries to recover from the death of her lover, Lindsay is also contending with the reappearance of her father, who abandoned the family when Lindsay was a child. As with Patterson's best novels, the surprises keep coming until the final pages. This novel solidifies the new series and helps guarantee that readers will flock just as eagerly to the Women's Murder Club books as they do to the Alex Cross novels. --Kristine Huntley
Library Journal Review
The second adventure in the Women's Murder Club (the first was 1st To Die) places San Francisco homicide detective Lindsay Boxer on the trail of another serial killer. While the murders seem like unrelated hate crimes, a pattern emerges with the discovery of the "chimera" icon and a white powdery substance left at the scenes. Reporter Cindy Thomas researches the icon, assistant district attorney Jill Bernhardt combs likely cases filed, medical examiner Claire Washburn provides forensic clues, and Lindsay chases down the most likely suspect. When that suspect dies, and the killings continue, Lindsay, Claire, and Cindy narrowly miss becoming victims. Written in Patterson's no-nonsense style and read by Melissa Leo and Jeremy Piven, the story is suspenseful, grim, and not altogether predictable. Recommended for fiction collections.-Joanna M. Burkhardt, Coll. of Continuing Education Lib., Univ. of Rhode Island, Providence (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
