Every time I’m about to give up on this series, James Patterson and Maxine Paetro actually deliver a good novel. The 9th Judgment isn’t devoid of soap opera style drama that’s been slopped over the last few novels in the series, but it is all kept in its place—with actual character development!—amid two equally compelling plotlines. 

 

Police sergeant Lindsay Boxer is called to the scene of a horrific murder of a mother and child in the mall parking garage. Scrawled on the windshield in lipstick is the cryptic phrase WTC. There’re no witnesses, no suspects, no motive, and the killer seems poised to strike again. That same night, the wife of A-list actor Marcus Downing is murdered and millions of dollars of jewelry are stolen. It seems like an open and shut case, if they can only find the cat burglar, but there just may be something more to the story. 

 

In most of these books there’s been a clearly dominant storyline, but in The 9th Judgment Patterson and Paetro balance the story well. Both storylines are compelling. Both are competing for attention—both the readers’ and the characters’. Obviously, for media reasons, finding the killer of actor’s wife takes priority. But the mother/child killings keep happening and Paetro details the murders with horrific precision. Thematically, the reader is asked to weigh the single murder of a glamorous celebrity against the gritty and brutal deaths of children. It’s a provocative contrast that’s brought into greater tension because the reader knows who killed Downing’s wife…and it wasn’t the cat burglar. 

 

Also like most of the novels, while Lindsay and her team don’t know who the murderer is, Patterson and Paetro take the reader into the killer’s eyes and psyche. The Lipstick Killer’s backstory is both believable and compelling. While not exactly a nuanced character, he has enough depth that you can begin to understand his twisted motivations. It all leads to a terrifying conclusion. 

 

This may be the first Women’s Murder Club novel to adequately use every member of the club. Lindsay, our police sergeant protagonist leads the way into an investigation of both crimes. Cindy, the reporter, is both a friend of Downing’s wife and a reporter trying to get the inside scoop on the stories. Yuki, an assistant DA, is in charge of the court case that results after a suspect is arrested in the Downing case. And Claire, who is all too often in the background, comes to the forefront with a strong and controversial public statement about protecting one’s children. 

 

Is this still the equivalent of junk food? Of course. Patterson’s storytelling is characterized by papering over a lack of depth with a fast pace and short chapters. But sometimes junk food is fun. At least these fries are fresh.