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Women's Murder Club Series Reading Order.

Quick Answer

Start Women's Murder Club Series by James Patterson with "First To Die", then follow the publication sequence. This order preserves the intended narrative twists and world-building progression.

A group of four professional women in San Francisco solve murder cases together.

Reader's Guide

This series spans 25 main titles released between 2022 and 2025. For the best experience, we recommend following the Publication Order below to preserve key plot reveals.

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Official Verdict

Short Answer:
Start with "First To Die"

To experience the narrative as intended, read the main sequence in Publication Order.Ignore novellas and side stories until you finish the first 3 core novels. This resolves all timeline confusion and preserves every major twist.

Community Consensus

Low Debate

"The provided comments are entirely about the Dragonlance fantasy series (recommending starting with Chronicles 1-3, then Legends, then Dragons of Summer Flame). No comments discuss or provide a reading order for the Women's Murder Club Series."

Key Reddit Advice

No reading order advice is provided for the Women's Murder Club Series.

Why This Order Is Confusing

Many reading lists for Women's Murder Club Series conflict because early publishers often labeled short story collections as standalone novels, or rearranged internal chronologies for marketing. This guide follows original author intent and narrative continuity to settle the debate for good.

Can I skip the short stories?

Technically yes, but we strongly advise against it for Women's Murder Club Series. The shorter volumes often establish the core character motivations and world-building that the main saga assumes you already know.

I watched the show/movie first — where should I start?

Ignore the screen adaptations' timeline. Start with "First To Die" to see the original depth of the world. The books offer a significantly different (and usually more complete) experience than the on-screen versions.

Why do people disagree on the order?

Disagreement usually stems from the conflict between purely chronological order and publication order. Most long-term fans recommend publication order to preserve the emotional arc and mystery reveals.

Curator's Strategy

Recommended Reading Order Strategy

The authoritative way to read the "Women's Murder Club Series" series is in Publication Order. This is a massive universe. Focus on the 'Main' sequence first before diving into the novellas and spin-offs.This ensures you experience character reveals and plot twists exactly as the author intended.

Complete Series Reading Order

Publication Reading Order25 Titles

Why Publication Order?We recommend reading in Publication Order (default). This follows the author's release schedule, ensuring you experience plot twists, character growth, and world-building exactly as intended without spoilers.
Best Start Here
1

First To Die

Pub: 2022

In this prequel to the bestselling phenomenon They Both Die at the End, two new strangers spend a life-changing day together after Death-Cast first makes their fateful calls. #1 New York Times bestseller! It's the night before Death-Cast goes live, and there's one question on everyone's mind: Can Death-Cast actually predict when someone will die, or is it just an elaborate hoax? Orion Pagan has waited years for someone to tell him that he's going to die. He has a serious heart condition, and he signed up for Death-Cast so he could know what's coming. Valentino Prince is restarting his life in New York. He has a long and promising future ahead and he only registered for Death-Cast after his twin sister nearly died in a car accident. Orion and Valentino cross paths in Times Square and immediately feel a deep connection. But when the first round of End Day calls goes out, their lives are changed forever--one of them receives a call, and the other doesn't. Though neither boy is certain how the day will end, they know they want to spend it together...even if that means their goodbye will be heartbreaking. Told with acclaimed author Adam Silvera's signature bittersweet touch, this story celebrates the lasting impact that people have on each other and proves that life is always worth living to the fullest. * A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year *

2

Second Chance

Pub: 2017

Plot details hidden until you finish "First To Die".

She’s his One True LoveBen Sinclaire has loved Hope Hansen since grade school. Between a scandalous age difference and a family feud, a romance between them was always forbidden. When Hope returns to Prairie, Ben’s finally ready to make his move, but he’ll have to get around her brothers and a field of admirers to do it. He’s her biggest mistakeEight years ago, Ben crushed Hope’s dreams for a Happy Ever After. She’s never forgotten him or the painful lesson she learned and has no desire to pick up where they left off.But Ben’s not giving up. Nothing is getting in the way of his plans to win Hope back - not meddlesome family members, ice storms, or Hope’s darkest secret. A spicy hot second-chance romance that will have you staying up all night and cheering for Ben & Hope’s HEACowboy, Second Chance, Star Crossed Lovers

3

3rd Degree

Pub: 2009

Plot details hidden until you finish "Second Chance".

Detective Lindsay Boxer and the Women's Murder Club race against the clock when a ruthless serial killer begins targeting women, leaving a mysterious degree symbol at each crime scene. As the body count rises, the team must untangle a web of secrets, betrayals, and hidden motives to stop the murderer before the next "degree" is struck.

4

4th of July

Pub: 2005

Plot details hidden until you finish "3rd Degree".

Detective Lindsay Boxer and the Women's Murder Club race against the clock as a series of brutal murders erupts around Independence Day. A cunning killer targets women connected to a high‑profile case, forcing the team to confront old secrets and new threats while the nation celebrates the holiday.

5

Plot details hidden until you finish "4th of July".

It is a wild race against time as Lieutenant Lindsay Boxer and the newest member of the Women's Murder Club, attorney Yuki Castellano, lead an investigation into a string of mysterious patient deaths--and reveal a hospital administration determined to shield its reputation at all costs. And while the hospital wages an explosive court battle that grips the entire nation, the Women's Murder Club hunts for a merciless killer among its esteemed medical staff. The newest addition to the top selling new mystery series takes the Women's Murder Club to the most terrifying heights of suspense they have yet to encounter. THE 5TH HORSEMAN proves once again that James Patterson is "the page-turningest author in the game right now " (San Francisco Chronicle).

6

The 6th Target

Pub: 20074

Plot details hidden until you finish "The 5th Horseman".

When a horrifying attack leaves one of the Women's Murder Club struggling for her life, the others fight to keep a madman behind bars before anyone else is hurt in this thriller from the world's #1 bestselling author. Lindsay Boxer and her new partner in the San Francisco police department are racing to stop a series of kidnappings that has electrified the city. Children and their nannies are being plucked off the streets, but the kidnappers aren't demanding a ransom. Amid uncertainty and rising panic, Lindsay juggles the possibility of a new love with an unsolvable investigation, and the knowledge that one member of the club could be on the brink of death. And just when everything appears momentarily under control, the case takes a terrifying turn, putting an entire city in lethal danger. Lindsay must make a choice she never dreamed she'd face—with no certainty that either outcome has more than a prayer of success.

7

7th Heaven

Pub: 20085

Plot details hidden until you finish "The 6th Target".

The Women's Murder Club investigates a series of brutal, seemingly random killings targeting the wealthy elite of San Francisco.

8

The 8th Confession

Pub: 20093

Plot details hidden until you finish "7th Heaven".

As San Francisco's most glamorous millionaires mingle at the party of the year, someone is watching--waiting for a chance to take vengeance on Isa and Ethan Bailey, the city's most celebrated couple. Finally, the killer pinpoints the ideal moment, and it's the perfect murder. Not a trace of evidence is left behind in their glamorous home. As Detective Lindsay Boxer investigates the high-profile murder, someone else is found brutally executed--a preacher with a message of hope for the homeless. His death nearly falls through the cracks, but when reporter Cindy Thomas hears about it, she knows the story could be huge. Probing deeper into the victim's history, she discovers he may not have been quite as saintly as everyone thought.As the hunt for two criminals tests the limits of the Women's Murder Club, Lindsay sees sparks fly between Cindy and her partner, Detective Rich Conklin. The Women's Murder Club now faces its toughest challenge: will love destroy all that four friends have built? The exhilarating new chapter in the Women's Murder Club series, The 8th Confession serves up a double dose of speed-charged twists and shocking revelations as only James Patterson can. And remember, this is the only Murder Club episode of the year.

9

The 9th Judgment

Pub: 20104

Plot details hidden until you finish "The 8th Confession".

The most personalA 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 most dangerousThe 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. The most exciting Women's Murder Club novel everLindsay spends every waking hour working with her partner, Rich--and her desire for him threatens to tear apart both her engagement and the Women's Murder Club. 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? With unparalleled danger and explosive action, The 9th Judgment is James Patterson at his compelling, unstoppable best!

10

10th Anniversary

Pub: 20244.5

Plot details hidden until you finish "The 9th Judgment".

Detective Lindsay Boxer's long awaited wedding celebration becomes a distant memory when she is called to investigate a horrendous crime: a badly injured teenage girl is left for dead, and her newborn baby is nowhere to be found. Lindsay discovers that not only is there no trace of the criminals, but that the victim may be keeping secrets as well. At the same time, Assistant District Attorney Yuki Castellano is prosecuting the biggest case of her life, a woman who has been accused of murdering her husband in front of her two young children. Yuki's career rests on a guilty verdict, so when Lindsay finds evidence that could save the defendant, she is forced to choose. Should she trust her best friend or follow her instinct? Lindsay's every move is watched by her new boss, Lieutenant Jackson Brady, and when the pressure to find the baby begins interfering with her new marriage to Joe, she wonders if she'll ever be able to start a family.

11

11th Hour

Pub: 20123.5

Plot details hidden until you finish "10th Anniversary".

Investigating the murder of a millionaire who was killed with a weapon linked to the deaths of four San Francisco criminals, pregnant detective Lindsay Boxer is horrified to realize that the killer could be among her closest friends. When Chaz Smith is gunned down, Lindsay Boxer discovers the murder weapon is linked to the deaths of four of San Francisco's most untouchable criminals. The coauthor is Maxine Paetro. The plot contains profanity, sexual situations, and violence.

12

12th Of Never

Pub: 2013Optional

Plot details hidden until you finish "11th Hour".

Lindsay Boxer's baby is born. But after only a week at home with her new daughter, Lindsay is forced to return to work to face two of the biggest cases of her career. A rising star football player for the San Francisco 49ers is the prime suspect in a grisly murder. And an eccentric English professor has been having vivid nightmares about a violent murder he's convinced is real. Lindsay doesn't believe him, but then a shooting is called in - and it fits the professor's description exactly.

13

Unlucky 13

Pub: 20143

Plot details hidden until you finish "12th Of Never".

De vriendinnen van de 'Women's Murder Club' krijgen het aan de stok met een oude bekende, een buikbom-moordenaar en zestien terroristen aan boord van een cruiseschip naar Alaska.

14

Plot details hidden until you finish "Unlucky 13".

With a beautiful baby daughter and a devoted husband, Detective Lindsay Boxer can safely say that her life has never been better. In fact (for a change), things seem to be going well for all the members of the Women's Murder Club as they gather to celebrate San Francisco Medical Examiner Claire Washburn's birthday. But the party is cut short when Lindsay is called to a gruesome crime scene, where a woman has been murdered in broad daylight. As Lindsay investigates, shocking video footage of another crime surfaces. A video so horrific that it shakes the city to its core. Their faces obscured by masks, the cold blooded criminals in police uniforms on the tape could be anyone -- and now all of Lindsay's co-workers are suspects. As a rash of violence sweeps through San Francisco, and public fear and anger grows, Lindsay and her friends must risk their lives in the name of justice -- before it's too late. --

15

15th Affair

Pub: 2016

Plot details hidden until you finish "14th Deadly Sin".

When an alluring blonde with ties to the CIA disappears from a murder scene, Detective Lindsay Boxer and her colleagues track down an elusive suspect—her husband—in this Women's Murder Club novel. As she settles into motherhood and a happy marriage, Lindsay Boxer thinks she has found domestic bliss. But when a beautiful woman with links to the CIA disappears from the scene of a brutal murder at a downtown luxury hotel, Lindsay's life begins to unravel. Before she can track down the woman for questioning, a plane crash plunges San Francisco into chaos and Lindsay's husband Joe vanishes. The deeper she digs, the more Lindsay suspects that Joe shares a secret past with the mystery blonde. Thrown into a tailspin and questioning everything she thought she knew, Lindsay turns to the Women's Murder Club for help as she tries to uncover the truth. Filled with the pulse-pounding intrigue that has made James Patterson the world's #1 bestselling author, 15th Affair proves that all is fair in love, war, and espionage.

16

16th Seduction

Pub: 20174

Plot details hidden until you finish "15th Affair".

Still reeling from her husband's betrayal, Lindsay Boxer investigates a wave of possibly unnatural heart attacks claiming the lives of seemingly unrelated victims while assisting the prosecution of a bomber with a hostile defense team.

17

Plot details hidden until you finish "16th Seduction".

A series of shootings exposes San Francisco to a methodical yet unpredictable killer, and a reluctant woman decides to put her trust in Sergeant Lindsay Boxer. The confidential informant's tip leads Lindsay to disturbing conclusions, including that something has gone horribly wrong inside the police department itself. The hunt for the killer lures Lindsay out of her jurisdiction, and gets inside Lindsay in dangerous ways. She suffers unsettling medical symptoms, and her friends and confidantes in the Women's Murder Club warn Lindsay against taking the crimes too much to heart. With lives at stake, the detective can't help but follow the case into ever more terrifying terrain. A decorated officer, loving wife, devoted mother, and loyal friend, Lindsay's unwavering integrity has never failed her. But now she is confronting a killer who is determined to undermine it all.

18

Plot details hidden until you finish "The 17th Suspect".

Detective Lindsay Boxer and the Women's Murder Club race against the clock when a cunning serial kidnapper targets women across San Francisco. As the victims vanish without a trace, Yuki, Claire, and Jill pool their expertise to uncover a chilling pattern that points to a personal vendetta. The team must navigate hidden motives, corrupt officials, and a shocking twist that brings the case uncomfortably close to home, testing their loyalty and resolve.

19

Plot details hidden until you finish "18th Abduction".

As the holidays approach, Detective Lindsay Boxer and her friends are celebrating the fact that crime is down. Soon, a criminal known only as "Loman" shows up in the headlines.

20

Plot details hidden until you finish "The 19th Christmas".

Sergeant Lindsay Boxer tackles an ambitious case that spans San Francisco, L.A., and Chicago in this pulse-pounding Women's Murder Club thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author James Patterson. Three victims, three bullets, three cities. The shooters' aim is as fearsomely precise as their target selection. When Lindsay realizes that the fallen men and women excel in a lucrative criminal activity, she leads the charge in the manhunt for the killers. As the casualty list expands, fear and fascination with this suspicious shooting gallery galvanizes the country. The victims were no angels, but are the shooters villains ... or heroes? Find out in The 20th Victim.

21

21st Birthday

Pub: 2021

Plot details hidden until you finish "The 20th Victim".

Detective Lindsay Boxer vows to protect a young woman from a serial killer long enough to see her twenty-first birthday in this thrilling Women's Murder Club novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author James Patterson. When young wife and mother Tara Burke goes missing with her baby girl, all eyes are on her husband, Lucas. He paints her not as a missing person but a wayward wife—until a gruesome piece of evidence turns the investigation criminal. While Chronicle reporter Cindy Thomas pursues the story and M.E. Claire Washburn harbors theories that run counter to the SFPD’s, ADA Yuki Castellano sizes Lucas up as a textbook domestic offender ... who suddenly puts forward an unexpected suspect. If what Lucas tells law enforcement has even a grain of truth, there isn't a woman in the state of California who's safe from the reach of an unspeakable threat.

22

22 Seconds

Pub: 2022

Plot details hidden until you finish "21st Birthday".

SFPD Sergeant Lindsay Boxer has guns on her mind and only twenty-two seconds until she loses her badge—or her life—in this thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author James Patterson. There’s buzz of a last-ditch shipment of drugs and weapons crossing the Mexican border ahead of new restrictive gun laws. Before Lindsay can act, her top informant tips her to a case that hits disturbingly close to home. Former cops. Professional hits. All with the same warning scrawled on their bodies: You talk, you die. Now it’s Lindsay’s turn to choose.  

23

Plot details hidden until you finish "22 Seconds".

From the world's #1 bestselling author, an attention-seeking copycat from the Women’s Murder Club’s past is recreating murders by a famous killer—with devastating new twists. Detective Lindsay Boxer put serial killer Evan Burke in jail.    Reporter Cindy Thomas wrote a book that put him on the bestseller list.   An obsessed maniac has turned Burke’s true-crime story into a playbook. And is embellishing it with gruesome touches all his own.    Now Lindsay’s tracking an elusive suspect, and the entire Murder Club is facing destruction.

24

The 24th Hour

Pub: 2024

Plot details hidden until you finish "The 23rd Midnight".

As enemies lurk in the shadows, "Tough-but-tender cop Lindsay Boxer" (People) leads the Women's Murder Club in the high-profile murder investigation of a billionaire San Francisco couple--will Cindy, Claire, Yuki, and Lindsay still be standing when the clock strikes midnight?​ ​ SFPD Sergeant Lindsay Boxer, Medical Examiner Claire Washburn, Assistant District Attorney Yuki Castellano, and crime writer Cindy Thomas gather at one of San Francisco's finest restaurants to celebrate exciting news: Cindy is getting married. Before they can raise their glasses, there's a disturbance in the restaurant. A woman has been assaulted. Claire examines the victim. Lindsay makes an arrest. Yuki takes the case. Cindy covers it. The legal strategy is complicated by gaps in the plaintiff's memory--and the shocking reason behind her ever-changing testimony. As Yuki leads the prosecution, Lindsay chases down a high-society killer whose target practice may leave the Women's Murder Club short a bridesmaid ... or two.

25

25 Alive

Pub: 2025

Plot details hidden until you finish "The 24th Hour".

“Those who haven’t read any of the novels in the Women’s Murder Club series are cheating themselves” (BookReporter). Sergeant Lindsay Boxer, medical examiner Claire Washburn, Assistant District Attorney Yuki Castellano, and crime reporter Cindy Thomas investigate the shocking murder of a former SFPD chief in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. SFPD homicide detective Lindsay Boxer knows her way around a crime scene. But nothing can prepare her for the shock of recognition: the victim is Warren Jacobi, Lindsay’s onetime partner who rose to chief of police. A top investigator until the end, Jacobi managed to leave Lindsay a clue. Following a trail of evidence along the west coast, the Women’s Murder Club pledges to avenge Jacobi’s death before the killer can take another one of their own.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is it okay to skip books in the Women's Murder Club Series series?

We recommend ignoring novellas and short stories until you finish the core sequence. However, main sequence novels should never be skipped as they contain critical character development and plot progression.

What is the best order to read Women's Murder Club Series?

The final answer for the best experience is to start with "First To Die" and proceed in publication order. This sequence preserves character developments and plot reveals exactly as James Patterson intended.

Can I read Women's Murder Club Series books in any order?

No. The main narrative is strictly sequential. Skipping volumes or reading out of order will lead to significant plot spoilers and confusion regarding character arcs.

Are there spin-offs or companion books?

Yes, the Women's Murder Club Series universe includes several companion works. These are marked as 'Optional' in our guide and can be read at any time without disrupting the main storyline.