25 Alive

The thriller 25 Alive (2025) by prolific author James Patterson and his long-time collaborator Maxine Paetro is the 25th installment in the popular Women’s Murder Club series, which follows a group of female justice system professionals who solve crimes in San Francisco. Patterson is known for creating enduring characters and series, including the popular Alex Cross series, and for receiving numerous accolades, including the National Humanities Medal for his literacy advocacy. In 25 Alive, homicide investigator Sergeant Lindsay Boxer and her friends investigate a former colleague’s brutal murder, a case that soon connects to other killings, while also confronting the violent fallout from a dangerous cartel trial. The narrative uses the framework of a police procedural to examine themes including The Personal Toll of a Law Enforcement Career, The Corrupting Force of Vengeance, and Determining the True Measure of Legacy and Reputation.

This guide refers to the 2025 Little, Brown and Company first edition.

Content Warning: The source material and this guide feature depictions of graphic violence, emotional abuse, and illness or death.

Plot Summary

The narrative opens with Warren Jacobi, a retired homicide lieutenant, staking out Golden Gate Park. He intends to single-handedly apprehend a killer he has been tracking, driven by a past failure to stop a murder near the park’s Lily Pond. He observes his target shoot at a heron and discard a gun in the water. As Jacobi prepares to act, he is ambushed from behind, stabbed multiple times, and left to die. His final thoughts are of his family and his former partner, Lindsay Boxer.

Lindsay, a San Francisco Police Department homicide investigator, wakes to find that her husband, FBI Agent Joe Molinari, has taken their aging dog Martha to the veterinarian. Joe returns alone, telling Lindsay and their five-year-old daughter, Julie, that the vet is keeping Martha overnight for tests.

Soon after, Lindsay receives an urgent call from her best friend, medical examiner Dr. Claire Washburn, summoning her to a murder scene in Golden Gate Park. Lindsay arrives to discover the victim is Jacobi, her former partner and close friend. Overcome with grief, she vows to find his killer. A search of the area uncovers a matchbook from a bar called Julio’s with the message “I SAID. YOU DEAD” written inside. Lieutenant Jackson Brady assigns Lindsay and her partner, Rich Conklin, to lead the investigation into Jacobi’s death.

Meanwhile, crime reporter Cindy Thomas, a member of Lindsay’s close circle of friends, which they humorously call the Women’s Murder Club, learns of Jacobi’s death from an anonymous letter to a New York newspaper that has been published online. The letter contains specific details from the crime scene, indicating either a leak or that the killer wrote it.

Soon after, Lindsay and Brady learn of a second homicide. Frances Robinson, a successful romance novelist, has been found shot to death in her apartment, which is near Golden Gate Park. At the scene, Lindsay finds the same message—“I SAID. YOU DEAD.”—typed on the victim’s laptop, linking the two murders.

A parallel storyline follows Assistant District Attorney Yuki Castellano, another member of the Women’s Murder Club, as she prepares for the trial of Esteban Dario Garza, a wealthy young man from a powerful cartel family who is accused of murder. The trial is fraught with tension due to public protests and threats from Dario’s family, which disrupt the proceedings and force a reevaluation of the trial’s security.

An SFPD task force led by Lindsay is formed to investigate the connected murders of Jacobi and Robinson. Lindsay meets with Jacobi’s girlfriend, Miranda Spencer, who reveals that Jacobi was preoccupied with the old, unsolved murder at the Lily Pond and had been using bird-watching as a cover to investigate. Miranda gives Lindsay external hard drives containing Jacobi’s photos, which show a hooded figure in the park but offer no clear identification. The investigation expands further when Cindy discovers a similar murder in Verne, Nevada—the victim, Sadie Witt, was also found dead with the killer’s signature note, after recently inheriting a house.

Lindsay’s investigation soon uncovers a potential motive for the murders, as all three victims recently acquired significant wealth through settlements, success, or inheritance. The case takes a dramatic turn when the presiding judge in the Dario Garza trial, Martin Orlofsky, and his wife are found murdered and decapitated in their home. The professional nature of the killing immediately leads police to suspect cartel involvement, directly connecting the serial murder investigation with Yuki’s high-profile case.

FBI Special Agent James Walsh arrives from Boston, revealing that the serial murders are part of a national pattern. He confides in Lindsay that he suspects a fellow FBI agent, Brett Palmer, whose two ex-wives died under suspicious circumstances after receiving large divorce settlements. One of the deaths was marked with the killer’s signature phrase. While Lindsay and Walsh agree to cooperate, Cindy independently investigates Palmer. She interviews the mother of Palmer’s second wife and obtains a digital recorder on which Palmer is heard alluding to killing his ex-wife with the words, “I said, ‘You dead.’”

The Dario Garza trial is relocated to a new, high-security Judicial Building at Folsom Prison. During the testimony of the key witness, the trial culminates in a violent rescue attempt when a helicopter carrying cartel members lands on the courtroom roof, causing it to collapse. In the ensuing chaos, Dario Garza, two prison guards, and several cartel members are killed. Dario’s father, Tiago Garza, the mastermind behind the rescue attempt, is captured at the scene.

In custody, Tiago Garza confesses to murdering Jacobi, whom he killed for shadowing him, as well as Frances Robinson, whom he killed randomly to confuse the police, and the Orlofskys. He admits he wrote the “I said. You dead” message on the matchbook at the Jacobi crime scene as a red herring to mislead the police. Tiago’s confession solves the murders of Jacobi, Robinson, and the Orlofskys. The separate serial killer case is solved when DNA from a fork Brett Palmer used at a restaurant matches DNA found on the most recent victim, Caroline Ford. Using this evidence and the recording provided by Cindy, Lindsay and Agent Walsh arrest Palmer at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel.

Concurrently, Lindsay’s husband, Joe, and his partner, Agent Bao Wong, are in Mexico investigating the cartel’s connection to the Orlofsky murders. They are ambushed by cartel members; Bao is injured, sent to the hospital, and eventually evacuated back to the US for her safety, while Joe is detained by local authorities. After tense diplomatic negotiations, Joe is released, only to be attacked again. He manages to call Lindsay during his escape, assuring her he is safe and on his way home.

The Women’s Murder Club gathers at their usual spot, Susie’s Café, to process the harrowing events. Yuki is recovering from a minor wound sustained in the courtroom attack, and Lindsay is relieved by the news of Joe’s impending return.