A Review: 7th Heaven by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

Hardcover: 376 pages
Language: English
Women's Murder Club
Publisher: Little Brown & Co Feb 2008
ISBN-10: 0316017701
ISBN-13: 9780316017701




I've always been a fan of Patterson's Women's Murder Club series and this novel is no exception. It was gripping and suspenseful with characters you can relate to. Someone is setting fires to homes of the wealthy in and around San Francisco, leaving the residents dead, burned alive. We know who is committing the murders, but we don't know why. Detective Lindsay Boxer and her partner, Rich Conklin, are trying to find the arsonists while already working on another prominent case, the disappearance of Michael Campion, the son of a former governor. This is one of Patterson's strengths as a writer...the ability to weave together two separate mysteries and tie them together at the end, delivering a satisfying conclusion.

The other members of the Women's Murder Club, DA Yuki Castellano, news reporter Cindy Thomas and medical examiner Claire Washburn, don't play as prominent a role as in past novels. The focus, as it pertains to the characters' personal lives, is on Lindsay, her devotion to her work and her partner and how that relationship affects her relationship with her boyfriend, Joe.

I would easily recommend all of the Women's Murder Club books to anyone who enjoys suspense and mystery. It is not really necessary to read them in order although they occasionally refer to something in a previous book. But even so, these references don't confuse.

Synopsis (from the author's website)

The beloved son of California's former governor disappears into the ether. The angel-faced prostitute Junie Moon admits to the crime and Yuki Castellano is faced with the media circus surrounding her prosecution. But is Junie Moon really to blame? At the same time, a serial arsonist is torching some of San Franciso's most beautiful homes and leaving it's occupants to suffer terrible deaths in the flames. It doesn't add up, but Lindsay Boxer is charged with finding the truth.