Nell B. reviewed on 4/2/2006 + 67 more book reviews

2nd Chance is the second of James Patterson's Women's Murder Club mystery series, and as with most of his books, the action is fast and furious.

After book number one, First to Die, Lindsey Boxer has been promoted to lieutenant. She now heads San Francisco's homicide division. The calm of San Francisco shatters when it appears that a serial killer is again at work. At first, the targets are black and they seem to be random shootings. But Boxer figures out that all the victims have ties to the police. The killer leaves a trademark: a drawing of an unusual sort-part lion, part goat and part snake. The Women's Murder Club (Lindsey and her three gal-pals) discover that this is the symbol of a white supremacist hate group from prison. But they're especially upset to learn that this just might be an inside job. As with most Patterson books, just when you think the story has ended, there is a lot more still left.

One interesting aspect of 2nd Chance is that it gives the reader a look inside the politics of a homicide case. The African-American residents of San Francisco demand justice. The mayor pressures the chief of police to make a quick arrest. The chief of police breathes down the neck of Boxer and her staff for a quick solution, while his PR people try to put a positive spin on things. The longer the case goes unsolved, the more victims there are. And the FBI is forever on the sidelines, waiting for the chance to muscle in on the case. I'm sure it's something that goes on during all high-profile cases in big cities, but of which most of us are unaware.

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