8.4 /10 1 Votes
4.3/5 Barnes & Noble Language English Pages 462 pp Originally published March 2001 Series Women's Murder Club Followed by 2nd Chance | 4/5 Goodreads Country United States Publication date March 2001 ISBN 978-0-316-66600-8 Genre Crime Fiction Publisher Little, Brown and Company | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Media type Print (hardback & paperback) Similar Works by James Patterson, Women's Murder Club books, Crime Fiction books | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1st to Die is the first book in the Women’s Murder Club (book series) series, written by James Patterson. The series is about four friends who pool their skills together to crack San Francisco's toughest murder cases. The women each have different jobs: Lindsay Boxer, a homicide inspector for the San Francisco Police Department, Claire Washburn, a medical examiner, Jill Bernhardt, an assistant D.A., and Cindy Thomas, a reporter who just started working the crime desk of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Contents
Plot summary
The prologue introduces main character Inspector Lindsay Boxer, San Francisco P.D., who is in a depression and holding a gun to her head as a result of losing a love interest on a case called "The Honeymoon Murders".
Book One begins with David and Melanie Brandt, freshly married, in their hotel room at the Grand Hyatt. A man outside the door calls "Champagne" and David opens the door. The man, Phillip Campbell, then violently kills the bride and groom and immorally brutalizes the corpse of Melanie. The book then cuts to Inspector Lindsay Boxer in her general practitioner's office. The doctor, Dr. Roy Orenthaler, tells Lindsay that she has a rare, and deadly, blood disease called Negli's aplastic anemia. Throughout the book, Lindsay struggles with the physical side-effects of getting blood transfusions for Negli's, and the emotional aspect of having a life-threatening disease. During the appointment, she is called to the crime scene of a double murder at the Grand Hyatt. At that scene she is introduced to Cindy Thomas, covering the story. A second pair of bodies are found, and after Lindsay is told she has a new partner due to the sensitivity of the case, Cindy, Lindsay and medical examiner Claire Washburn join forces to attempt to solve the case.
A 3rd pair of bodies is found in Cleveland, Ohio, which are thought to be connected to the San Francisco cases. As Lindsay and company go through the case they acquire a fourth friend, Assistant D.A. Jill Bernhardt. Together, the four friends attempt to pin down a suspect, leading to the shocking conclusion. A subplot features Lindsay's attraction to Chris Raleigh, her new partner, but will the attraction last until she soon realizes that there is nothing to lose?
Film
In 2003, the novel was adapted into a television film starring Tracy Pollan, Carly Pope, Megan Gallagher, Pam Grier, Gil Bellows, Robert Patrick and Sean Young among others.