Third Degree

Lindsay Boxer, Cindy Thomas, Jill Bemhardt and Claire Washburn are The Women's Murder Club. A homicide inspector, journalist, attorney and coroner, they're four sassy women who pool their spirit and resources to solve San Francisco's grimmest crimes.

And they certainly find they've got their work cut when terror strikes the streets of San Francisco, as those at the very top of the city's business are picked out for murder and innocent bystanders are killed.

Strategically placed bombs, poisons that can turn the human flesh to jelly, these are the methods used by the breed of criminal The Women's Murder Club is trying to track down. Their resolve to do so becomes even more detemmined when the terror takes on a tragically personal nature.

James Patterson is dealing in a world which has become all too familiar on our television screens and in the press. But through the grim reality there is an inner core of good in humanity -- and this time, just perhaps, Lindsay Boxer has found the man of her dreams.

The thriller is what we've come to expect from James Patterson and, rest assured, he does not disappoint.

Third Degree by James Patterson (Headline, £17.99)