I was sadly underwhelmed by this book. At about 20% in I nearly gave up but I did finish it because the storyline was very good. I just didn't like the execution. It felt a bit disjointed at times. Some lines were repeated and it jumped around too much.
I think the story had a lot of potential it just needed better execution.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I just love James Patterson’s books and the Women’s Murder Club is one of my favourites. I actually bought this book and I have to say for me this is the best so far. Totally gripping , a page turner but highly emotional too. James Patterson is a master story teller and I for one will never stop reading his books. Brilliant.

20th Victim by James Patterson. The Women's Murder Club meets again!
-Can you believe we're onto the 20th Women's Murder Club novel by James Patterson, featuring cop Lyndsay Boxer, Medical examiner Claire Washbourn, defence attorney Yuki Castellano and star reporter Cyndi Thomas?
Well I can because Patterson is one of the most prolific writers around and is noted for teaming up with other writers to produce his series books. So what did this twentieth outing of the incredible quartet have to offer?

Like many readers when I pick up a James Patterson nevel I know exactly what I'm going to get; a fast paced read interspersed with details of the personal lives of the characters and I enjoy that. If you want a deep 'get your brain cells working' sort of book, then this probably isn't for you. but, if you're after a 'fly through the pages, enjoyable, not too mentally taxing read' then this is exactly the sort of book you should pick up.

Despite having missed a few in the series I found 20th Victim easy to catch up with and as ever enjoyed the deep friendship the four women have forged despite their busy and sometimes contradictory lives. I flew through it very quickly and it was a perfect read for me after reading some much more detailed, thought provoking novels recently.

The storylines were finely balanced between the ongoing sniper hits taking place around the country and the personal storylines as well as a coulple of nice little sub plots involving Lyndsay's partner's friend, Dave in Napa and Yuki's prosecution of a young lad who refuses, for fear of his life, to rat on the big drug dealer.
Enjotable, light hearted, fun

I love these Women’s Murder Club books and their intertwining stories. I guess they are getting slightly predicable but I just love reading them and after reading this one I feel I could start again at book 1. The girls are fun “to be with in print” and long may the stories continue. As always with this series of books, once started you don’t get much sleep until the book is finished. Fab read and cannot praise the storyline enough

Great, easy read as all James Patterson books are. I’ve always enjoyed the Women’s Murder club series of books and this one continued that opinion. Lots of sub stories running alongside the main book, the characters still have complicated busy lives. Thank you for letting me review this book.

Great to meet up with the characters again. Nice easy read to while away a few hours. Good plot and highly believable.

I've read many of James Patterson's books, most recently some of the Private series but not one of the women's murder club books for a while.
As the 20th installment in this series you know exactly what to expect if you've read one of them before and it delivers what's expected.
The usual short, sharp chapters are here making it an easy book to pick up and dip into when you have 5 minutes spare and typical of James Patterson books, something to just whizz through and enjoy the ride without to much thought or emotional investment.
4 stars from me- you're getting what you came for but nothing too memorable. Sometimes that's how I like it.
Many thanks for the preview copy.

I have't read one of this series for many years but I soon felt at home reading this book. The characters were familiar straight away and the story was a good one.

This did not come across as a James Patterson novel at all His books are usually fast, gripping, twisty and unputdownable.
This one seemed like none of those things. Too many subplots and character building (although by the 20th installment, we know them pretty well already) and not enough about the crimes and the WMC solving them.
Very disappointing for me.

This is the first one of the series I have read. I have enjoyed Pattersons books before but I found this one tedious. Although there was a lot of murders it was very repetitive. Two thirds of the way in I wished it would hurry up end. Maybe if I had built up a rapport with the 4 ladies from previous books I might have enjoyed it more. They were all very self-centred; I felt sorry for the husbands and Lindsay's child. Mrs Rose, the childminder was treated like a doormat.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and feel it was one of the better ones in this series. I should add that I have read them all so was very excited to get this one prior to being published as an e-arc. Thankyou Netgalley and publishers.

Great storyline, and thoroughly enjoyed it but I do have one or two little niggles this time. The main character seemed to leave her little daughter at home alone a few times. Not sure if this was done on purpose by the author, but there were at least two occasions when the neighbour Mrs Rose who usually helps with babysitting wasn't there and Lindsay gave daughter her a kiss and went out for a run while she was asleep or went for a walk. What would have happened if she woke up? Her husband wasn't at home. Not sure this is the right thing to be advertising or doing personally, particularly in the city she lives with all these murders going on.!!

Additionally Cindy, the crime reporter who works for the paper, seemed to be very attached to her police radio scanner. Since when? I don't recall any mention of this in any previous book, but the authors couldn't stop talking about it in this one and seemed to never leaver her side.

Sorry for my issues but you wanted an honest review. .

I have a weird love/hate relationship with James Patterson, something I always talk about when I do a write-up for one of his novels. I find him a light, fun read, something I would be ok reading on a sunny beach (almost perfect for me to read/audiobook at the current moment with my brain not ready to cope with Corona-Virus and something heavy), but he never offers anything of substance.

And yet, I seem to always go back to reading him after a few months/years. And I have a soft spot for his Women’s Murder Club series as Third Degree was my first James Patterson novel and I always like reading about the ladies.

So, when I saw 20th Victim, I was excited and intrigued. After trying to read 19th Christmas and DNFing it after a few chapters (and I seem to be not the only one to do that), I was intrigued to see how James Patterson and Maxine Paetro would celebrate 20 books in this series. Is it going to be something similar to how TV shows Eastenders and Neighbours celebrate 35 years and celebrate with a big bang, or is it going to be fall a bit flat?

Three simultaneous shootings happen at 8:30am one morning. And of them is at San Francisco on the Women’s Murder Club patch. Sergeant Lindsay Boxer is involved in investigating and reporter Cindy Thomas is reporting the crime. The shootings are precise and exact, the victims chosen with great care as each victim are involved in drug selling. As more shootings happen, the public debate wonders if the shooter are villains or heroes?

For what I wanted from it - a light, easy, audiobook to distract from the Corona - it did exactly what I wanted. It was light, fast and something that didn’t involve much brain power. So, I can’t complain about that!

However… and yet, it feels like a miss at the same time. Like I said earlier, this is the 20th instalment in this series, and I was expecting a huge birthday-like event. A huge celebration of the previous instalments and celebrating the future of the series.

And yet, we got a standard Women’s Murder Club story. There was nothing really special about it. It was very paint-by-numbers.

We had one huge story - the shooter going after drug dealers that Lindsey and Cindy were following - and three small subplots. Lindsey’s husband, Joe, is asked by an old friend to investigate his father’s death as he believe the doctor in charge is an Angel of Mercy, one of Club member’s, Yuki, is involved in a trial where she feels the young man is being used as scapegoat and the fourth member of the WMC, Claire, is told she has lung cancer.

Big things, right? So why am I annoyed over these subplots? Well, Joe’s subplot has been used in a previous Women’s Murder Club novel - 5th Horseman - as main plot and had added danger with Yuki’s mother being a possible victim. As for Yuki and Claire’s subplots - they felt like add-ons. A “blink and you missed it” kinda vibe came off them. I get that Yuki’s, in some sense, is linked VERY VAGUELY to Lindsey’s and Cindy’s but Claire’s… Claire’s lung cancer plot angered me the most.

Cancer is a big thing. According to cancer charities, cancer effects 1 in 2 of us in the UK AT LEAST. So, do we see Claire fight cancer? Nope. We’re told she has it then… then she’s written out of the book. She having an operation to remove the growth but it feels like she’s dismissed from the book. We see her at the end, saying she’s ok and need to keep appointments, but it all felt wrong. We had no emotional reaction to this horrifying news. Plus, whenever I dip in and out of this series, Claire is always the character I feel that Patterson and Maetro doesn’t know what to do with or, when they do, it always feels like a short-change story. She’s a medical examiner, USE THAT AND GIVE US A CASE THAT INVOLVE HER, HER JOB AND HER SKILLS HEAVILY! You do that with Lindsey, Cindy and Yuki so why not Claire?

As something light to read to take mind off current, scary world events, this did exactly what it said on the tin. But it didn’t do what I hope - celebrate this long-running series.

I did enjoy this book but didn't think it was as gripping as some James Patterson books are. The characters are likable and the crimes believable which are always a good combo!

20th Victim by James Patterson just didn’t grip me in the way his books have previously done. The premise of the girlfriends and their interlocking lives is good but the overall plot development was really quite thin with few surprises. That having been said, it’s a decent light read and I could see it making the basis of a decent tv series. Three (and maybe a half) stars for this one.

You get what you pay for when you open a James Patterson book, entertainment, interacting characters and an engaging story. I love Patterson books with the short chapters, perfect for pick up and read in those moments when you have a quick opportunity to step away from the busy day. This book doesn't disappoint, builds the story up with lots of maybe ideas bubbling through, wont spoil the ending but will say i enjoy Patterson and will be looking out for my next fix.

Can the girls find their way through this latest case? Cindy Thomas might have a detective as a boyfriend but he isn't saying anything as yet about the shooting. She wants to be the first journalist to get a scoop on the shooting but things don't turn out the way that she wants. Yuki Castellano is trying to save a young man from a life sentence in prison but is too scared to say anything. And she knows that he is innocent of the shooting of the cop but there is nothing that she can do to save the young man unless he talks. She knows that she has no choice but to go forward with the case against him. Lindsay has just come back from being a trip with her husband Joe it was a good break but now it is back to the real world and she has just been thrown into a new case with another couple been murdered. But the chances of this been related to the last murder looks good. But can Lindsay and her team figure out what is going on before more people are killed? The cops have realized that the murders happening around the country are connected and that this could all be part of a game. But how do they stop it from continuing? Will they find the clues that they all need to close these cases? During all of this chaos they find out that their dear friend Claire has cancer and that she could possibly die, how will they all cope with this extra stressors? Will they pull together and get through this stronger? Another great read in the series. Love the characters as they all have an important role in the series. I was lucky enough to receive a copy via Netgalley & the publishing house n exchange for my honest review.

Book 20 in the series and it really should be the last. All a bit repetitive, predictable and formulaic I am sorry to say. It's fast paced and easy to read, with lots of shootings and can easily be read in one sitting. Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I am a fan of the Womens Murder Club having enjoyed these books for some time now. I enjoyed this one but not quite as much as some of the previous books. I question whether they are becoming a little formulaic for me? As always the plot is good, interesting and grabs and holds the readers attention. I have always loved the relationships between the four women. I have enjoyed reading how their relationships have intertwined and how they have grown and developed, this is something a new reader will not know. However the books are stand alone, you do not need to know the history and I am sure new readers will enjoy just as much as old.

Candy Thomas works at the San Francisco as an investigative journalist. She is one of 4 women that have built up a relationship that support one another. The others being Lyndsey (Sergeant) Claire (Medical examiner) Yuki (Assistant District Attorney).
There is a sniper taking out people vigilante style. The victims have had some involvement in drugs. They have in the eyes of the murderer killed more people by their dealing and so sees themselves as doing the greater good. It has some public appeal and is a source of social media debate.
The murders appear carefully planned and maybe involving more than one person. Candy has to use all her resources, including her close friend, a homicide inspector Richard Conkin, nemesis McKewen a journalist at the LA Sun and Zac Jordan defence lawyer to nail this story.
Whilst it is pacey, it took a while for me to get into the story. It didn’t for a while flow and seemed disjointed. As the story started to converge and gather pace and trajection, it became much more enjoyable. There is lots of curiosity created and some tension as some of the murders strike close to home, including law enforcement officers that have a checkered connection with drugs.
Strong interesting female characters, balanced by attention-grabbing male characters offers a good balance against a crime background, amidst personal struggles, and so a decent enough read.

This is another book in the woman's murder club series. The storytelling is pacy and exceptional, full of suspense, emotional and I read it in one weekend. Brilliant. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for letting me review this book.