The master of murder mystery twists brags that no-one can guess the killer.

I certainly didn’t.

Think Twice is his 2024 book.

How can a man who’s already dead be wanted for murder?

Three years ago, sports agent Myron Bolitar gave a eulogy at the funeral of his client, renowned basketball coach Greg Downing.

Myron and Greg had history: initially as deeply personal rivals, and later as unexpected business associates. Myron made peace and moved on – until now, when two federal agents walked into his office, demanding to know where Greg Downing is.

According to the agents, Greg is still alive—and has been placed at the scene of a double homicide, making him their main suspect. Shocked, Myron needs answers.

Myron and Win, longtime friends and colleagues, set out to find the truth, but the more they discover about Greg’s whereabouts, the more dangerous their world becomes.

Secrets, lies, and a murderous conspiracy that stretches back into the past churn …

Wow.

Very intriguing plot. Very original format.

The mystery concerns a long-ago triple — or was it quadruple? — suicide in a London cult, involving a leader self-styled as the Angel Gabriel.

The cult was called the Apperton Angels.

Leader Gabriel survived but is in prison for life for another murder.

Amanda Bailey, a terrier-like true-crime author, decides to write a retrospective book focused on the baby in the incident who will soon be turning age-18.

The Angels had believed that baby was the Antichrist. They had planned to sacrifice the child to save the world. Happily, the mother ran off with it.

The story is told using something called the “Dossier Method”.  

It’s simple: background information is revealed about a principal character via two or more side characters looking over written text—tweet, Facebook post, Instagram post, DM, etc. —about said principal character and discussing it.

The book feels more like the outline of a planned book.

It gets even more complicated when a second journalist decides to write a retrospective on the Atherton Angels at the same time.

In any case — it’s recommended.

The dumbest of the Alex Cross series I’ve read, so far.

The novel has received a mostly negative response, and maintains a 2.5 rating (out of a possible five) on Amazon.com.^[2] Several critics have attacked the story’s graphic scenes of violence and torture …

Seems Patterson REALLY wanted to draw attention to atrocities in Africa — so devised a plot to get Alex over there unofficially.

Cross Country (2008) is the 14th novel in the Alex Cross series by James Patterson. 

The bad guy is really BAD. An African warlord known as the Tiger. He trains young boys from refugee camps to become killers.

Why? WHY when the Tiger has plenty of money and access to private jets?

It one of dozens of plot holes.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Win is a 2021 mystery/thriller novel by Harlan Coben.

Win is the most interesting character in the Myron Bolitar series. An anti-hero.

I was quite keen to learn his backstory.

Following eleven novels in Coben’s series featuring sports agent-turned-crime solver Myron Bolitar, this is the first novel to completely feature Myron’s best friend and sidekick, the wealthy and mysterious Windsor “Win” Horne Lockwood III. …

An elderly man who appears to be a recluse and hoarder is found murdered in his luxury Manhattan apartment.

The FBI contacts Win when two items connected to the Lockwood family – an original Johannes Vermeer painting that was stolen 20 years ago and a suitcase bearing Win’s initials – are found in the apartment.

The FBI’s interest becomes clear when the victim is revealed to be Ry Strauss, one-time member of the underground group known as the Jane Street Six, who were responsible for a fire bomb attack that killed seven people in the early 1970s.

Win runs his own concurrent investigation, as he “has three things the FBI doesn’t; a personal connection to the case; an ungodly fortune; and his own unique brand of justice. …

Win’s investigation has him searching for the four remaining members of the Jane Street Six, with two known to be deceased, while he also digs into family secrets over his father’s objections.

Along the way, a vigilante act Win carried out against a basketball coach and abuser leads to repercussions, nearly costing Win his life.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

The 8th book (2014) in the Virgil Flowers series ➙ Deadline.

This is the one many people remember vividly.

Investigating kidnapped dogs. And a murdering School Board.

Very entertaining.

In Southeast Minnesota, down on the Mississippi, a school board meeting is coming to an end. The board chairman announces that the rest of the meeting will be closed, due to personnel issues.

“Issues” is correct. The proposal up for a vote before them is whether to authorize the killing of a local reporter. The vote is four to one in favor.

Meanwhile, not far away, Virgil Flowers is helping out a friend by looking into a dognapping, which seems to be turning into something much bigger and uglier—a team of dognappers supplying medical labs—when he gets a call from Lucas Davenport. A murdered body has been found—and the victim is a local reporter. . . .

I read the 1st book in this series —Murder on the Oxford Canal (2004) — and got pissed off with Faith Martin, the author.

I was turned off by the barrage of (mostly negative) comments about the looks of the female characters.

Trying again, I jumped to more recent books:

• Murder Never Retires (2012)
• Murder of a Lover (2013) … a sequel

The super star of the book series is Detective Inspector (DI) Hillary Greene.

Though she’s the best investigator by far anywhere near Oxford, England — I’m irked by Hillary’s ego.

Just like the author.

There’s still far too much criticism of the looks and weight of characters in the book, both women and men now.