Sunday, April 19, 2009

Book Review: 7th Heaven

Title 7th Heaven (Women's Murder Club)
Author
Paetro, Maxine
James Patterson
Rating ***1/2
Tags mystery, series, police procedural, san francisco, women's murder club

I've caught up now with all the Women's Murder Club series published so far. I haven't been reviewing the individual titles, but thought I'd say some things about the series as a whole.

Overall, I like it. The books are workable, the characters pretty good, the plots decent. The series centers around Lindsay Boxer, a homicide detective in San Francisco. Her best friend is the medical examiner, and in the first novel she gets to know a reporter, Cindy. The three form a Women's Murder Club that helps Lindsay figure out the cases she is working on. The are joined by Assistant D.A. Jill and in later books by another Assistant D.A.

The biggest problem I have iwth the series is one that is common to a lot of police procedurals. The authors seem to think a police procedural can't be interesting unless the main characters are in danger or get hurt or lose people they care for, and I don't believe that is the case. Certainly I don't think it is sustainable for something like this to happen in every book in a series, and it seems to happen in every book in the Women's Murder Club series.

In sum, readable, but not outstanding. I am still bummed though that they cancelled the TV series, which I really liked.
Other authors: Paetro, Maxine


Author – Paetro, Maxine
Publication Grand Central Publishing (2009), Edition: Reprint, Paperback, 400 pages
Publication date 2009
ISBN 0446199257 / 9780446199254

No comments: