MARY MARY By James Patterson

Published : 2005
Pages : 435
Overall Mark : 7/10

Alex Cross is called in to help investigate the mysterious serial killer known as Mary Smith, who is apparently murdering random A-List celebrities whose only seeming connection is that they are all young women and good parents. As he becomes more and more involved in the case, his personal life takes a beating as his one time partner and mother of his youngest child fights him for custody, whilst all the while the FBI find themselves having to contend with a very secretive LAPD.

Almost from the very first page Patterson manages to confuse the reader by filling this novel with red herrings and misdirection. A number of the characters are there simply to lead the reader away from discovering who the real killer is, and it’s interesting in hind sight that the killer is introduced reasonably early on without it being entirely obvious who they are.