It’s a nice, easy holiday thriller, but at the same time, i feel like I’ve read this before and it’s a tad repetitive, forgettable and (dare I say it?) tired.

Not up the Patterson’s usual standard (but the last few instalments in this series has been very hit and miss with fans, and I can’t help feeling that the Women’s Murder Club should have ended at either 10th Anniversary or 12th of Never)And I say that even though I have a soft spot with this series (in fact, 3rd Degree was my first ever James Patterson, hence my soft spot) seems to be a theme with Patterson that he doesn’t know when/how to end a series… 

Maybe I’ve outgrown James Patterson thrillers and need to take a break. Maybe it because I keep picking up weaker instalments and need to pay attention to Patterson fans on their reactions. 

This is a nice, easy read, perfect for reading by the pool or on an airplane, but it lacks substance.

This it the 24th instalment of the Women’s Murder Club. I’d heard great things about the Women’s Murder Club but hadn’t yet read one so I was excited to read a copy. 

The story opens with the four main players in the Women’s Murder Club celebrating with a meal out. A scream is heard from the second floor and Lyndsay goes upstairs to find a lady who has been sexually assaulted, and she points to the perpetrator. 

The rest of the book is focused on Yuki’s trial to convict the rapist. Alongside that storyline are two others: a husband-wife murder and a cyber crime where a hospital’s computer system is being held hostage. 

I thought the book worked as a standalone you didn’t need to have read the previous books as I got to know the main characters: Lyndsay, Claire, Yuki and Cindy, pretty quickly, however I found the three stories and multiple players hard to keep on top of at times. It was fast-paced the short chapters kept momentum when the story switched from one plotline to another. 

I found the book underwhelming compared to what I expected from the popularity of the Women’s Murder Club series. The trial was my favourite plot, and I was looking forward to finding out how the victim with Dissociative Identity Disorder (formerly multiple personality disorder) would play out in court. However, I found the ending rushed and dissatisfying. Similarly, the cyber crime plot was solved through no effort of the Women’s Murder Club and felt rushed. The only plotline that felt like it was actually solved was the husband-wife murder of Jamie and Holly Fricke. 

Based on this book I wouldn’t rush out to buy another Women’s Murder Club, but other reviews say that they were better at the start so I won’t write them off completely.