4.5 stars out of 5
Well, with a couple of relatively minor exceptions. San Francisco detective Lindsay Boxer, who arguably is the star of the show, had a daughter Julie, who is now five years old. She and the rest of the so-called Women's Murder Club - medical examiner Claire Washburn, San Francisco Examiner crime reporter Cindy Thomas, assistant district attorney Yuki Castellano - are more experienced and wiser. Otherwise, it's basically same old, same old, but that's certainly not a bad thing.
This one begins with the unthinkable - and a happening that ain't happening in my review. Suffice it to say there's a single clue - the words "I Said, You Dead" left at the scene. That happening rallies all the troops, including Lindsay's boss, Jackson Brady, Cindy (who can smell a great story a continent away). Close on the heels of that one comes another one - and again, those same words.
Meantime, Yuki is prosecuting a murder case against a member of a Mexican cartel, who's also a suspected serial killer. Almost immediately, it becomes clear that someone - most likely others in the cartel - are intent on making sure the trial never takes place, and their methods take jury tampering to a whole new level.
On that front, Lindsay's husband, FBI agent Joe Molinari, gets involved, and readers begin to suspect a link between the "I Said" events and the trial. Bringing both to a close, though, takes up most of the pages and leads readers through another nail-biting adventure right up to the end. With which, I'm satisfied. I'm also happy to thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to get back in the game via a pre-release copy. Good job once again!
25 Alive by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro (Little, Brown and Co., April 2025); 336 pp.
