The 9th Judgment (The Women's Murder Club) [Paperback]

Friday, March 23, 2012

The 9th Judgment (The Women's Murder Club) [Paperback]

Product Details

Paperback: 416 pages
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; Reprint edition (April 12, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0446565504
ISBN-13: 978-0446565509
Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 1.1 x 8.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

By : James Patterson
List Price : ~~$14.99~~
Price : $8.99
You Save : $6.00 (40%)

Customer Reviews

I've read all of the Women's Murder Club novels - some were excellent (books 1-5 and book 7), some were awful (books 6 and 8) and I'm so glad I went with my gut on this one and bought it as I thoroughly enjoyed it, in fact I'd go as far as saying that this was my favourite of the whole series.
Like most of the others in the series, there's two main cases going on - the first is a psychopath known as "The Lipstick Killer" who is terrorising San Francisco by murdering mothers and their babies on the street and at random. The next is a cat burglar called "Hello Kitty" who is being framed for murder when a well known movie star shoots his wife following a robbery at their home. Lindsey and the gang have their hands full in this one, so there isn't a slow moment. Some of the scenes were so exciting I was flying through the pages as I just couldn't stop reading - a quick hour's read turned into a whole evening's binge and I had the book finished in 4 hours! Some bits of the story were a little predictable, maybe because I read a lot of James Patterson novels so I am very familiar with his formulas now, but that didn't stop it from being one of the best I've read from him for a while.
One thing I noticed in this book was that the main attention has been turned to Lindsay again, which is great as some of the other characters - Cindy and Yuki in particular - make the stories in the previous novels quite dull and I find these characters to be too arrogant and generally annoying, so didn't enjoy the ones when they were in the spotlight so much.
Although it is the ninth in the series, this could still be picked up by someone new to the Women's Murder Club novels and easily get into the characters and the gripping story. Fans of the series, like myself, should find this very satisfying and will have their faith in the series restored after the below average attempts over the past few years (excluding 7th Heaven (The Women's Murder Club)). I definitely recommend reading this book!

3 1/2 stars
My rating on this novel was on the plus side of three so I gave it a 3 1/2 star rating.
The Prologue of the novel reveals a cat burglar who is stealing valuable jewels from Casey Dowling, the wife of movie star, Marcus Dowling. As the thief leaves, she knocks over the console table and wakes the Dowlings. Their marriage was on the rocks and Markus realizes that he has a chance to murder his wife and ger away with it. He kills Casey and blames the thief.
Another case involves a psychopatathic killer whose motto is "Women and Children First." He kills women with their babies and then, needlessly, kills the baby. He becomes know an The Lipstick Killer and terrorizes San Francisco.
Detective Lindsay Boxer of the homicide division is working with her partner, Rick Conklin, to catch both killers.
As the killer of the woman and baby strikes again, Det. Boxer intensifies her search but is hindered by the lack of witnesses.
Spending more time together, Lindsay and her partner, Rick find their emotions toward each other growing and they have difficulty concentrating on the cases and not giving in to their feelings toward each other.
Lindsay is an well described character who is easy to like with her courage and determination. The plot had plenty of action but was predictable.