This is the latest installment of the Women's Murder Club. I love this series. I have become friends with these ladies and can't wait to see them again. This latest book has it all, guns, drugs, dirty cops, threats. Lindsay Boxer may have the biggest and possible one of the most dangerous cases this time. Ex cops are turning up dead with their mouths stapled shut with the message You talk you die on their forehead. A new law passed in California has the second amendment people bent out of shape. There are rumors of huge gun and drug shipments being transported from Mexico to California to be distributed across the country. What could happen next? Oh yea. Lindsay is followed and threatened by what appears to be some lower level thugs. She will do whatever it takes to protect her husband and little girl. Will she get the bad guys and save her family?

This is the 22nd in the Women's Murder Club series (I've read them all). Though it is part of a series, it works as a stand alone. There are four members of the Women's Murder Club who have been friends for years ... police officer Lindsay, reporter Cindy, medical examiner Claire and prosecutor Yuki. Like most of the books, Lindsay storyline is the focus. Yuki is barely there in this one and Claire momentarily has some unrelated side story about a child's death in another town. Cindy has a small part in Lindsay's storyline and has an unrelated side story about writing a convicted murderer's bio.

The gun laws have recently changed in the U.S. and there are protesters. Plus guns and drugs are illegally being brought up from Mexico. Lindsay and Joe, her husband who is recruited by the FBI, are both working on these cases for their respected agencies. Former police officers are turning up murdered with the same message ... "you talk, you die". Lindsay and Joe are trying to find out who is behind it all and to stop them.

I liked the short choppy chapters. The point of view shifted ... it was first person perspective when the focus was on Lindsay and third person perspective when the focus was on others such as Joe, Cindy, and Claire. I found this story long, draggy and drawn out ... it might have been more interesting if it has been tighter. I found Julie, Lindsay and Joe's young daughter, annoying and doesn't add anything to the story. As a head's up, there is swearing.

Another rip-roaring murder club book, and a terrific read for my long flight from Africa. Lindsay and group never disappoint, and I’m anxious for the next one

Name of Book: 22 Seconds ~ Women’s Murder Club #22
Author: James Patterson & Maxine Paetro
Publisher: Little Brown and Company
Genre: Mystery Thriller
Pub Date: May 2, 2022
My Rating: 4 Stars!


I am a “Women’s Murder Club” fan. This is #18 for me. I did miss a few of the earlier stories.
Members of the ‘Women’s Murder Club’ are: Lindsey Boxer ~Sergeant with the San Francisco Police Department (married to Joe Molinari, a high level consultant with FBI agent; Cindy Thomas ~ a senior crime reporter with the San Francisco Chronical, (fiancé is Rich Conklin, a homicide inspector and Lindsey’s partner;
Claire Washburn, Chief Medical Examiner; and Yuki Castellano, San Francisco District Attorney ~ her husband is Lieutenant Jackson Brady, Lindsey’s boss.

These ladies have been together for many years. I love all the ladies but Lindsey is my favorite.
Yep! I Love this series!! They do not disappoint!!

I always enjoy reading the author’s “Acknowledgements”. Both James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
thank their many researchers who shared their expertise. They also thank Captain Richard Conklin with the Bureau of Criminal Investigators in Stamford, CT Police Department! Yep there is a real live Rich Conklin.

I want to thank NetGalley and Little Brown and Company for this eGalley. This file has been made available to me before publication in an early form for an honest professional review.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for May 2, 2022.

James Patterson and Maxine Paetro brings us back to the New Women's Murder Club series. We go on yet another adventure with Lindsay Boxer and her gang of women as they race against time to solve a case that seems to involve everyone including her husband. Ever since the gun ban in California, there have been riots and selling of illegal guns all around them. When there are whispers of a big shipment coming over the border and former cops being murdered, it takes everyone to set a plan in action. With the deadline fast approaching, Lindsay must rely on partners, friends, and coworkers to make it work and prevent even more death from coming their way. Will they be able to stop this shipment in time, or will false leads take their attention away from their main goal?

Patterson and Paetro brings us back to Lindsay and her gang of ladies as they race against a deadline to bring justice to those who are breaking the law to justice. It is always nice to see what is going on with everyone as we visit them again. I have enjoyed this series from the very beginning, so I am always excited when there is another installment in this series. Because of the fast pace of action, you keep turning the page to see what happens next until you realize that you have reached the end of the book and you have spent hours with them. Then you just want to read the next chapter in their lives. I look forward to seeing what they get into next.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I would like to thank NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for this privilege.

James Patterson’s latest installment of The Women’s Murder Club, 22 Seconds, pulls in all the familiar characters we have come to expect to seeing in this series. That is one of the things I really like about this series, revisiting the much loved characters we have come to know. This action packed series always provides an entertaining, fast paced and quick read for its audience.

In this installment, Lindsay and Joe get pulled in to a case involving drugs and gun runners from Mexico. A series of murders may or may not be related to the drugs and guns but all have a central theme of “you talk, you die.” When Lindsay and Joe start getting death threats, things begin to heat up.

Although this was not one of my favorites from this series, I would still recommend it for a quick summer read. Fans of The Women’s Murder Club and James Patterson in general, will not want to miss this one.

I have been reading James Patterson novels for years and own a lot of them however the last several I’ve gotten from the library or other sources. I would like to thank NetGalley for a prerelease copy of this one. It has lots of crime solving and action for especially Lindsay.Boxer and her husband but I was a little disappointed that the rest of the women in the “club” didn’t have bigger parts and more interaction

The Women’s Murder Club series by James Patterson (and Maxine Paetro, who has co-written the series since number 4) has a lot of fans who will always read the next installment, no matter what. I started this series years and stopped for some reason around the 8th book (probably just life got in the way), so I was wondering if I could dive right in on number 22 and still enjoy the characters and plot. James Patterson is a genius thriller writer and yes, it was a great dive and a great book. Now I feel I can easily go back to books 9-21 whenever I need a reliable good crime novel.

Lindsay, Cindy, Claire, and Yuki are the Women’s Murder Club and Lindsay’s husband Joe gets a larger role in this installment. As with almost all Patterson books, there are over a 100 chapters and each chapter ends with a bump in the suspense. As police procedurals go, this is still one of the best series around. 4 solid stars!

Thank you to Little Brown and Company and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

Literary Pet Peeve Checklist:
Green Eyes (only 2% of the real world, yet it seems like 90% of all fictional females): NO Perhaps the womens’s eye colors were described in past books, but not here.
Horticultural Faux Pas (plants out of season or growing zones, like daffodils in autumn or bougainvillea in Alaska): NO The landscape isn’t much of a supporting character.

This is a series that never gets old, each book better than the last. Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and to James Patterson for continually adding more book’s in this series.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an ARC of 22 Seconds by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro!!

This is the first book I have read in this series and I really enjoyed it! It was a fast paced thriller from beginning to end and I could not wait to see what was going to happen next.

I will definitely read the rest of the books in this series. Thank you for letting me read an advanced copy of this book for an honest review.

This book was sent to me by Netgalley electronically for review…one of ,y favorite authors…two of my favorite authors…one of my favorite series…I have read every book in this series more than once…the characters are so true to life…the mysteries true crime…this is a book of fiction, of course, but the reader has to remember it is fiction. There are not enough adjectives to describe how much I enjoy reading about these characters, especially Boxer and her family…in this book…which of the characters can be trusted? The criminals of course not…but what about the law enforcement? What will happen next? This is a can’t put down mystery written by two talented authors…I can’t wait until the next one…