Macdonald’s writing built on the pithy style of his predecessors by adding psychological depth and insights into the motivations of his characters. …
Gradually he swapped the hard-boiled trappings for more subjective themes: personal identity, the family secret, the family scapegoat, the childhood trauma; how men and women need and battle each other, how the buried past rises like a skeleton to confront the present. …
In The Zebra-Striped Hearse (1962), Archer hunts a missing girl who may be dead, possibly murdered.
His path repeatedly crosses a group of young surfers who own a hearse painted in gay zebra stripes. To the youngsters, death is remote and funny. To the world-weary detective, it’s close and grim.
For a book written in the 60s, I found it surprisingly smart. The themes would be contemporary today.
In fact, I would not call it much dated — though women are an inferior species. 😀
Rebus retired at age-60 in book #17 — Exit Music. (2007)
But the man somehow carries on. 😀
In this book, John Rebus is in prison. Convicted of murdering his lifelong nemesis, Morris Gerald Cafferty
An interesting premise, but I wouldn’t call this one of the strongest in the long series.
JOHN REBUS SPENT HIS LIFE AS A DETECTIVE PUTTING EDINBURGH’S MOST DEADLY CRIMINALS BEHIND BARS. NOW, HE’S JOINED THEM. As new allies and old enemies circle, and the days and nights bleed into each other, even the legendary detective struggles to keep his head.
That is, until a murder at midnight in a locked cell presents a new mystery. They say old habits die hard…
However, this is a case where the prisoners and the guards are all suspects, and everyone has something to hide.
With no badge, no authority and no safety net, Rebus walks a tightrope – with his life on the line.
But how do you find a killer in a place full of them?
I’ve really gotten into the Women’s Murder Club novel series by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro.
When Maxine Paetro is co-author, Patterson books are better.
I’m not sure why.
That said, Detective Lindsay Boxer is annoying. It makes no sense that she’s such a good cop while simultaneously being an anxious human and terrible MOM.
I’d like to see more books written from the perspective of the other 3 in the Murder Club.
Just as bombs are starting to go off in her personal life, an explosive tragedy rocks San Francisco, plunging the city into chaos.
Pressed into duty to investigate a criminal plot that stretches around the globe, Detective Lindsay Boxer again finds herself following signs that lead to her own front door.
Thrown into a tailspin and fighting against powerful enemies trying to protect their operatives and conceal the truth at all costs, Lindsay turns to the Women’s Murder Club for help as she desperately searches for the elusive, and deadly, blonde …
Still recovering from her husband’s betrayal, Detective Lindsay Boxer faces a series of heart-stopping crimes and a deadly conspiracy that threatens to destroy San Francisco.
… a wave of mysterious and possibly unnatural heart attacks claims seemingly unrelated victims across San Francisco.
As if that weren’t enough, the bomber she and Joe captured is about to go on trial, and his defense raises damning questions about Lindsay and Joe’s investigation. Not knowing whom to trust, and struggling to accept the truth about the man she thought she knew, Lindsay must connect the dots of a deadly conspiracy before a brilliant criminal puts her on trial.
Write just 1 plotline, this is a self-contained novella that Patterson dubbed a Bookshot.
Bookshots were around 150 pages and were all-new original stories. James Patterson’s vision was that these would be sold on magazine racks and be marketed toward people who said they didn’t have enough time to read.
A (supposed) murder victim wakes up in Claire’s morgue dazed, confused, and obviously covering for someone. She claims she can’t recall the man she was sleeping with who was killed beside her in a hotel room be.
Medical Examiner Claire Washburn is the main character in this short story.
This one has an important story line ➙ a woman boss is accused of raping one of her male employees at gunpoint.
When a series of shootings exposes San Francisco to a mysterious killer, a reluctant woman decides to put her trust in Sergeant Lindsay Boxer. The confidential informant’s tip leads Lindsay to a disturbing conclusion: something has gone horribly wrong inside the police department.
The hunt for the killer lures Lindsay out of her jurisdiction and impacts her in dangerous ways. She suffers unsettling medical symptoms, and her friends in the Women’s Murder Club warn her against taking the crimes to heart. But with lives at stake, the detective can’t help but follow the case into terrifying terrain.
18th Abduction
This was the weakest of the four. Great premise for a book. But the action in San Francisco is simply stupid. Even for a Patterson book.
Detective Lindsay Boxer’s investigation into the disappearance of three teachers escalates from missing persons to murder …
For a trio of colleagues, an innocent night out after class ends in a deadly torture session. They vanish without a clue — until a body turns up.
As the chief of police and the press clamour for an arrest in the “school night” case, Lindsay turns to her best friend, investigative journalist Cindy Thomas. Together, Lindsay and Cindy take a new approach to the case, and unexpected facts about the victims leave them stunned.
While Lindsay is engrossed in her investigation, her husband Joe meets an Eastern European woman who claims to have seen a notorious war criminal — long presumed dead — from her home country. Before Lindsay can verify the woman’s statement, Joe’s mystery informant joins the ranks of the missing women.
Lindsay, Joe, and the entire Women’s Murder Club must pull together to protect their city and one another — not from a ghost, but from a true monster.
In her real life, Simon is a museum director and futurist.
Her book reminds me of some Nora Roberts book. Easy to follow. Strong personalities.
Almost Y.A. No sex. No profanity.
Mother-Daughter Murder Night is about a grandmother-mother-daughter trio who come together as amateur sleuths to solve a murder in their coastal California town.
She now lives off-the-grid in the Santa Cruz mountains with her family.
She wrote this novel while her own Mom had a serious health issue.
It’s been well known for many decades that exercise provides many benefits to our health.
But a new scientific consortium is revealing new insights into just how profound exercise can be for the human body. William Brangham discussed more with Euan Ashley, a professor of cardiovascular medicine and genetics at Stanford University and the newly named chair of its department of medicine. …
BUT I nearly quit his 2024 book because the otherwise intelligent protagonist was making unbelievably bad mistakes. Lying unnecessarily, as well.
I’m glad I got through it. The twist and turns are interesting.
… a teacher’s act of heroism inadvertently makes him the target of a dangerous blackmailer who will stop at nothing to get what he wants.
How would you react in a life-or-death situation?
It’s a question everyone asks themselves, but few have to face in real life.
English teacher Richard Boyle certainly never thought he would find himself talking down a former student intent on harming others, but when Mark LeDrew shows up at Richard’s school with a bomb strapped to his chest, Richard immediately jumps into action. Thanks to some quick thinking, he averts a major tragedy and is hailed as a hero, but not all the attention focused on him is positive.
Richard’s brief moment in the spotlight puts him in the sights of a deranged blackmailer with a score to settle.
The situation rapidly spirals out of control, drawing Richard into a fraught web of salacious accusations and deadly secrets. As he tries to uncover the truth he discovers that there’s something deeply wrong in the town—something that ties together Mark, the blackmailer, and a gang of ruthless drug dealers, and Richard has landed smack in the middle of it. …
Lindsay Boxer is pregnant at last! … But her work doesn’t slow for a second.
Lindsay is called next to the most bizarre crime scene she’s ever seen: two bodiless heads elaborately displayed in the garden of a world-famous actor. Another head is unearthed in the garden, and Lindsay realizes that the ground could hide hundreds of victims.
12th of Never
Lindsay Boxer’s beautiful baby is born … but it’s a drama.
A rising star football player for the San Francisco 49ers is the prime suspect in a grisly murder. At the same time, Lindsay is confronted with the strangest story she’s ever heard: An eccentric English professor has been having vivid nightmares about a violent murder and he’s convinced is real. Lindsay doesn’t believe him, but then a shooting is called in-and it fits the professor’s description to the last detail.
Unlucky 13
Mackie Morales is back. The most deranged and dangerous killer the Women’s Murder Club has ever encountered.
San Francisco Detective Lindsay Boxer is loving her life as a new mother. With an attentive husband, a job she loves, plus best friends who can talk about anything from sex to murder, things couldn’t be better.
Then the FBI sends Lindsay a photo of a killer from her past, and her happy world is shattered. The picture captures a beautiful woman at a stoplight. But all Lindsay sees is the psychopath behind those seductive eyes: Mackie Morales …
14th Deadly Sin
Quite good.
With a beautiful baby daughter and a devoted husband, Detective Lindsay Boxer can safely say that her life has never been better. In fact (for a change), things seem to be going well for all the members of the Women’s Murder Club …
Rick McCharles 