1st to Die (Women's Murder Club)
The Women's Murder Club pits four San Francisco women professionals  against a serial killer who's stalking and murdering newlyweds in bestselling  author James Patterson's newest thriller. Lindsay Boxer is a homicide inspector  who's just gotten some very bad news. She deals with it by immersing herself in  her newest case and soliciting the personal as well as professional support of  her closest friend, who happens to be the city's medical examiner. The two  women, along with an ambitious and sympathetic reporter and an assistant DA,  form an unlikely alliance, pooling their information and bypassing the chain of  command in an engaging, suspenseful story whose gruesome setup is vintage  Patterson."What is the worst thing anyone has ever done?" the killer muses to himself  early in the narrative. "Am I capable of doing it? Do I have what it takes?"  Answering his own question, he embarks on a murderous spree that takes him from  the bridal suite in a Nob Hill hotel to a honeymoon destination in the Napa  Valley and thence to a wedding reception at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and  Museum in Cleveland, Ohio. Dispatching his victims on the happiest day of their  lives, he purposefully leaves enough clues for his distaff trackers to discover  his identity and put him behind bars. But just when the women think they've got  the case all wrapped up, the killer turns the tables on them in a bloody  denouement that even the most discerning reader won't see coming. Patterson,  author of the popular Alex Cross mysteries, promises future adventures for the  Women's Murder Club, which may give him an opportunity to develop his heroines'  characters more completely and win new fans among those who prefer their  detectives in high heels and lipstick.--Jane Adams