How in the world did a nice girl like me get involved with James Patterson?  I loathed his books (having read 1 one time) but The Women’s Murder Club drew my attention for some reason.  I tried a holiday themed book, 19th Christmas, at holiday time a few years ago. That was pretty good so I tried some others and ended up going back to #1 and not liking the books until Paetro was authoring them with Patterson, 4th of July.  

15th Affair 
by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro 
2016 / 
Read by January Levoy 7h 22m
Rating – A+ / thriller procedural 

Meanwhile I’ve been reading the new ones as they come out.  Somehow I’ve been able to keep track of what’s happening in the story arc of the series that is with the private lives of Lindsay, Yuki and the others.  (If you followed that paragraph you can tell I’ve only got 3 books left and I’ll. Be all caught up. Those last books are #s 16, 17 and 18. I may get in a hurry like I did with the Slough House books and indulge in some binge reading.

These are procedural thrillers which means the action follows law enforcement, in this case the San Francisco police department, as they track down suspects and pursue them. Because the stories include the medical and legal teams those aspects are sometimes included and there is also a crime reporter who is a regular member of a regular group of women who call themselves the “women’s murder club.”  

It’s probably a good idea to read the books in order starting with book 1, but the first 3 were too unrelentingly gritty for me.  When Paetro joined Patterson they seemed to lighten up. Also, I got annoyed with the romance in the first 10 or so books, but I knew that there was better stuff to come because I’d started with #19.  Sure enough, after these ladies get their love lives settled down the focus turns to more thriller/procedural matters and that’s why I read them, but I really enjoy the characters.

And about this book, 15th Affair. True to form, it’s almost immediate and unrelenting but expertly crafted tension and bloody violence. There are breaks where “the club” gets together to eat or drink or just chat, support each other, etc. I’m not sure I like this aspect either – “the girls” should not be discussing Lindsay’s current cases even if she does set some limits.  

Lindsay’s personality is very similar to the male cops who don’t take directions well.  Harry Bosch (Michael Connelly), Dave Robicheaux (James Lee Burke),  Joe Pickett (CJ Box) – made even Cormoran Strike – they do “what needs to be done, ” by golly – heh.  

15th Affair is one of the better books so far.  The cases are interesting – a plane bombing and a murder in a hotel room, Joe (Lindsay’s husband) goes missing. Enjoy a few hours of pure escape.