Spotlight Series: The Women's Murder Club

James Patterson is the creator of the top-selling new detective series of the past dozen years, featuring Alex Cross and including the Hollywood-adapted "Along Came a Spider" and "Kiss the Girls," starring Academy Award-winning actor Morgan Freeman. He is also the creator of the #1 new detective series of the past five years, featuring Lindsay Boxer and the Women's Murder Club, from which the ABC television drama series was adapted. He has authored books behind six films on the Hollywood fast-track, including the upcoming Maximum Ride movie forthcoming from Avi Arad, the producer of X-Men and Spiderman.

He is the author of novels — from The Thomas Berryman Number (1976) to Honeymoon (2005) — that have won awards including the Edgar, the BCA Mystery Guild's Thriller of the Year, the International Thriller of the Year award, and the Reader’s Digest Reader’s Choice Award. And, he has won a Children’s Choice Book Council’s Children’s Choice Awards “Author of the Year” award (2010).

James Patterson novels are often dismissed as short fluff, but Patterson's Women's Murder Club novels were the books that really got me into crime fiction beyond Agatha Christie novels. I love this series, even if it's easy reading. Patterson has always had a flair for unforeseen twists and you can always count on at least one in every Women's Murder Club book.

Important Characters to Know
Lindsey Boxer - Homicide inspector for the San Francisco Police Department.

Dr. Claire Washburn - Medical examiner.

Cindy Thomas - A reporter for the San Fransisco Chronicle.

Jill Berhardt - Assistant D.A.

Yuki Castellano - Assistant D.A.

Warren Jacobi - Lindsey's partner.

Joe Molinari - Lindsey's major love interest. Works for Homeland Security.

The Women's Murder Club
(in reading order, links lead to my reviews)

1. 1st to Die
2. 2nd Chance
3. 3rd Degree
4. 4th of July
5. The 5th Horseman
6. The 6th Target
7. 7th Heaven
8. The 8th Confession
9. 9th Judgment
10. 10th Anniversary

If you like the The Women's Murder Club series, you should try:

The Kay Scarpetta series by Patricia Cornwell

The King-Maxwell series by David Baldacci

The Alex Cross series by James Patterson

The Michael Bennett series by James Patterson

The Lucas Davenport series by John Sandford