Book ~ "The 9th Judgment" (2009) James Patterson and Maxine Paetro

From Goodreads ~ A young mother and her infant child are ruthlessly gunned down while returning to their car in the garage of a shopping mall. There are no witnesses and Detective Lindsay Boxer is left with only one shred of evidence: a cryptic message scrawled across the windshield in bloodred lipstick.

The same night, the wife of A-list actor Marcus Dowling is woken by a cat burglar who is about to steal millions of dollars' worth of precious jewels. In just seconds, there is a nearly empty safe, a lifeless body and another mystery that throws San Francisco into hysteria.

Before Lindsay and her friends can piece together either case, one of the killers forces Lindsay to put her own life on the line - but is it enough to save the city? 

There are four members of the Women's Murder Club ... Lindsay, Cindy, Claire and Yuki.

Lindsay and her partner, Rich, are investigating two cases in this book.  Someone is going around shooting mothers and their children and leaving cryptic messages in lipstick.  Claire, the medical examiner, is a new mother and urges everyone to arm themselves.  The killer makes it more personal for Lindsay because he uses her to deliver a ransom demand.  In the other case, a cat burglar has been robbing rich people right under their noses as they have been having parties downstairs.  In the last one, though, the wife of an actor is shot and murdered and the cat burglar is getting blamed for it ... but they didn't do it.  Cindy and Rich are dating and getting more serious.  I like that Lindsay has finally realized that it's Joe she wants rather than being torn.  I thought the last couple chapters re Joe were a bit of a waste ... it seems like the bood was setting itself up to be a cliffhanger but then it resolved itself on the next page.

This is the ninth in the Women's Murder Club series (and the tenth one I've read). Though it is part of a series, it does work as a stand alone.

I enjoyed the writing style and it went at a good pace. 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 everyone else ... but it was easy to figure out.  As a head's up, there is swearing, adult activity and violence.

I thought the stories were interesting and that this book was okay.  I will continue to get caught up on the series.