Along Came a Spider (Alex Cross, #1)

by James Patterson

I had already decided to wear my old Harris Tweed jacket. It was a murder day, and that meant I’d be seeing white people. Over the sport coat, I put on my Georgetown warm-up jacket. It goes better with the neighborhood. On the bureau, by the bed, was a picture of Maria Cross. Three years before, my wife had been murdered in a drive-by shooting. That murder, like the majority of murders in Southeast, had never been solved.

The most interesting aspect of the Cross books is not the murders, though the crimes do hook and surprise readers. How Alex relates to the people he cares about is just as compelling. Over the course of the series, Alex continues to face the deaths of women who’ve gotten close to him. He lost his first wife, Maria, to a drive-by shooting. I won’t spoil later books but just know that Alex has more heartbreak and loss in his future before finding a new partner.