Review - 10th Anniversary

Title: 10th Anniversay
Author: James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Publication Date: May 2, 2011
Format: Audio
Genre: Mystery
Source: Library

The Women’s Murder Club is the only series by James Patterson that I read. I have tried a couple of the others, but this is the one that I keep coming back to. I have been trying to figure out what it is exactly that pulls me back and all I have come up with is that I am not completely sold on Lindsay Boxer, the main character, but I adore the down to earth common sense of Dr. Claire Washburn, the medical examiner. There is something very appealing about her character that has me paying closer attention when her character is taking center stage. Which in my opinion should happen more often.

What keeps me engaged are the multi-story lines. Some I seem to pay closer attention to and others allow my brain to check out from time to time. Occasionally, in the books, the storylines come together with a neat little bow at the end but others do not and you have to keep the cast of characters straight and the importance of little details with each vignette.

Lindsay is investigating a teenage girl left to fend for herself after delivering a baby, but where is the baby, who is the daddy and which lie is actually the truth? Then you have Yuki Castellano prosecuting a make or break case that has many twists and turns and Lindsay must risk her friendship with Yuki when she doubts the facts in that case. Plus, Cindy Thomas is once again getting in over her head on a story. In addition to all that is going on, you must also keep straight who is dating whom, but most importantly, why is Lindsay getting so emotional.

The best way to describe Patterson’s books is brain candy with an occasional chewy part. They are easy to pick up and put down at will without feeling that you have to go back and reread the previous chapter to get back into the flow. This is book number 10 with the 11th due out soon and with Patterson’s co-writers, there is no telling how long and how far this series will go.

Just wonder where he will go next with the little teaser at the end of this book. Oh, and by the way, please bring back more Claire and I will be a happy little reader.