THE WRITER – JAMES PATTERSON AND JD BARKER

NYPD Detective Declan Shaw gets a call: How fast can you get to the Beresford building on Central Park West?

In the tower apartment, Shaw finds a woman waiting for him. She’s covered in blood. A body is lying dead on the floor of the luxurious living room.

Every book in the apartment’s floor-to-ceiling shelves is by the same author: bestselling true-crime writer Denise Morrow. “This is you?” Shaw asks the woman. “You’re a writer?”

Only one person knows the ending to this story. Is it the victim or the killer?

This is my second James Patterson book, and the second with JD Barker. I was expecting some kind of mystical, other world considering that The Noise, the first book of theirs I read, had such elements, but no, this was a straight-out cop, crime, murder mystery thriller.

It had so many twists and side-steps I was constantly going, oh, hello, oh, they did what, oh you’ve killed off…damn! It’s the cat…what the hell did he do? And OH MY FREAKIN GOD THAT LAST PAGE AND A HALF!!!!!

If you love books about writers, and Denise Morrow, the female lead, is one, then you’ll probably love this, even though it’s a crime thriller.

It’s easy to read and you’re not overwhelmed with cop speak and legalese, but I just wish there was something…more. I can’t put my finger on it, but something else needed to be added to make it a complete mental freakout.

I gave it 8/10.

HOLMES, MARPLE, AND POE – JAMES PATTERSON AND BRIAN SITTS

Brendan Holmes, Margaret Marple and Auguste Poe run the most in-demand private investigation agency in New York City.

The three detectives make a formidable team, solving a series of seemingly impossible crimes which expose the dark underbelly of the city – from a priceless art theft, high-stakes kidnapping and a decades-old unsolved murder, to a gruesome subterranean prison and corruption and bribery at the highest levels of power.

But it’s not long before their headline-grabbing breakthroughs, unconventional methods – and untraceable pasts – attract the attention of the NYPD and the FBI.

After all, it’s no surprise that there’s a mystery or two to unravel in the city that never sleeps . . . not least, who really are Holmes, Margaret and Poe?

I’ve given the book its American title because it’s better and we know who Marple is. Margaret might confuse people with the French detective, Jules Maigret, which is what I thought initially.

This is my third James Patterson book and I loved it. I would watch it if it was turned into a TV series. Netflix and Amazon, I’m looking at you.

The pros of this book are just the one. It’s a fresh take on the names Holmes, Marple and Poe. While one is a real-life author’s name, the other two are writer’s creations and makes this book incredibly interesting.

There are cons.

1 – This book gives some information as to who they are, but also hides secrets about them. While the cop, Helene Grey, looks into them, and you get little hints here and there, it doesn’t continue past this.

2 – The relationship between Poe and Grey happens way too fast. A slow burn of a relationship, to me, is better.

3 – There were too many mysteries to solve and the shortest one, about a missing model, was not gone into and was over pretty quick.

4 – It really made the NYPD look utterly incompetent.

I gave it 8/10

HOLMES IS MISSING – JAMES PATTERSON AND BRIAN SITTS

It’s their toughest case yet. And their best detective is missing.

Holmes, Margaret and Poe’s Brooklyn-based detective agency solves the crimes no one else can. Or they did – until Holmes decided to leave the business.

There is no time to waste as the team are called to a fresh NYPD crime scene – and tasked with looking into the disappearance of six children.

Time is ticking as they work to unravel the mystery.

But they need Holmes.

If they’re going to solve the crime of the century, first they must save their friend.

Holmes wasn’t actually missing. They knew where he was and went to get him. Whether or not the title was appropriate, maybe it was meant in a different way. As in, he was missing mentally, not physically.

Still liked this book and still want it to be a series, though, but the cons outweigh the pros.

1 – I’m giving away a small part of the plot here. Babies. I blubber like one if a baby dies in a book. Sadly, one did.

2 – The mystery of who Holmes, Marple and Poe are was not continued in this book. But we did find out Holmes’ mother was not dead.

3 – The relationship between Poe and Grey sped up, and is still too fast for me.

If there’s going to be more books in this series, I’ll read them. And if they are planned, then the relationship between Poe and Grey could have been spread out. The same for the romance between Holmes and Marple that got dumped on us at the end.

They had to introduce a nemesis for Holmes, giving a Moriarty vibe, which, to me, was also way too fast.

Maybe there will only be two books, hence the speed of the storylines.

Either way, again, I’d definitely watch if this was turned into a series.

I was going to give it 8/10, but have knocked one off for the baby, so 7/10.