10th Anniversary

10^th Anniversary is the latest release in the Women’s Murder Club series by James Patterson. From the inside cover flap.~

Detective Lindsay Boxer finally gets married. But a missing newborn and a series of violent attacks push the Women’s Murder Club back to full throttle before the wedding gifts are even unwrapped.

FOR EVERY SECRET

Detective Lindsay Boxer’s long-awaited wedding celebration becomes a distant memory when she is called to investigate a horrendous crime: a teenage girl is badly injured and left for dead, and her newborn baby is nowhere to be found. Lindsay discovers that not only is there no trace of the criminal-but the victim may be keeping secrets as well.

FOR EVERY LIE

At the same time, Assistant District Attorney Yuki Castellano is prosecuting the biggest case of her life-a woman who has been accused of murdering her husband in front of their two young children. Yuki’s career rests on a guilty verdict, so when Lindsay finds evidence that could save the defendant, she is forced to choose. Should she trust her best friend or follow her instinct?

THERE’S A DIFFERENT WAY TO DIE

Lindsay’s every move is watched by her new boss, Lieutenant Jackson Brady, and when the pressure to find the baby begins interfering with her new marriage to Joe, she wonders if she’ll ever be able to start a family.

I started reading The Women’s Murder Club books when ABC started advertising they were doing a TV series. Loved the TV series and was very sad to see it cancelled. When I first found the series, the first 7 books were out and I read them as fast as possible. I put these books on hold with the library as soon as I hear they will be released. This time I ended up getting the book even before it was released in the store.

The Women's Murder Club series is really the only series I've ever read by James Patterson. I'm a big fan of the series. I really liked 10th Anniversary, but didn't love it like some of the early books. Really thought it had too much going on for one book. Usually only has a couple of things going on the books. This time you had Yuki, Cindy, and Lindsay each had their own cases to deal with and we didn't really get to see the WMC actually work together enough to solve all the cases.

We did get some time with just Lindsay and Claire, and I loved that time, but missed all 4 women working together to solve 1 big mystery. Claire helped Lindsay search for teenage mom, Avis Richardson’s newborn son, only to discover Avis had been lying to them at every turn. Yuki feels like she has an open and shut case, only to be brought up short when Lindsay starts looking into the case. Once again, some lies from the defendant are important to figuring out the case. Even Cindy is working a case without the help of the WMC. She is investigating women who have been raped and then taken to a location close to their homes. Of course, Cindy being Cindy, she gets a little too close and is lucky to have both Lindsay and Rich in her corner. The most romantic portions of the book were when Joe and Lindsay finally got married and Cindy and Rich got engaged.

As I said, I enjoyed 10th Anniversary, but not as much as some of the earlier books. Hope for the next WMC book we get more time with all 4 women working together.