I've just had the privilege of playing through Death in Scarlet — a hidden object game starring the women of James Patterson's Women's Murder Club. I say hidden object game, but truthfully, Death in Scarlet is so much more. Honestly, I felt like I was playing through a murder mystery that I just couldn't put down.

Death in Scarlet stars the characters from the James Patterson series, but this story is completely new for the game. It's not a long story, but I found it meaty and satisfying none-the-less. While there are four main characters in the Patterson stories, you'll only actually be playing three of the characters in Death in Scarlet. Lindsay is the homicide detective. Claire is the forensic examiner. Cindy is the newspaper reports. Jill, the assistant district attorney, makes some appearances during the game, but you won't actually play as that character. Of the main characters from the books, Jacobi, Lindsay's partner, is also part of the story. You'll see him and he'll be part of keeping things moving along, but you won't be playing him either.

I begin the story as Lindsay. I'm called to the scene of the first homicide. I get to have a peek at the body (don't worry parents — it's handled well and not at all gory) and get to search the scene for clues. What sets this apart from most hidden object games is that a number of objects that I find will have to be used to solve puzzles to further the story. My hat is off to the game developers for that decision. Well done!

The hand-off between characters is nicely handled. When I finish my initial investigation as Lindsay, I call in Claire to do the forensic work. If we need gossip gathered or archives searched, Cindy is our go-to gal. You always know which character you're playing by their picture in the upper-left hand corner of the screen. I like that each character is handling parts of the investigation appropriate for what they actually do.

I found each scene to be beautifully detailed and extremely well done. Yes, some of the objects I need to find are in unusual places, but everything was to scale for the room it was in. If you're looking for a chess piece, for example, you'd better think small and realistic. I love that the dust motes dance in the light, that lights flicker, and that steam rises from a cup of tea, just to name a few of the visual effects.

As far as the characters are concerned, I found all the people to be nicely drawn. While the characters don't match their television counterparts one hundred percent, it's possible that they are a closer match to the descriptions from the books. It's been a bit since I read one of them, so I'm not really sure in this area.

The music is equally well done. It's atmospheric and went well with the action. I never found it annoying (as can sometimes happen with such things). Sound effects were appropriate — like typing noises in an office or police radio chatter in a police station. There isn't any voice acting, true, but the sound that is there is just right.

There are puzzles to be solved for nearly every scene. While repeat visits to the same scene have variations on the same kind of puzzle, the puzzles between different scenes are always different. You'll arrange bottles of chemicals before doing analysis in Claire's lab. You get to figure out patterns for microfiche cartridges at Cindy's desk. There's a nifty word game puzzle at the Deadlines Coffee place that Cindy favors. I enjoyed the Chinese zodiac puzzle at the orphanage, though the puzzle with the little glass men at the same location was something of a stumper for me.

You will have five hints available for each chapter of the investigation. There were a few scenes where I needed that extra help, but I went through the entire game always having some hints left. If the puzzles give you trouble, you do have an option to bypass. I'm not sure if you can bypass more than one. I didn't bypass any so it wasn't an issue. I will give you a free hint for doing the microfiche searches at Cindy's desk. This isn't Google you're working with. You have two lines and can type one key word on each line. Keep it simple and you'll do fine.

In keeping with the feeling of more playing a story and solving a crime, I wasn't racing any clock. I didn't get any penalties for clicking around either. I'm glad I was able to savor each scene on my way through the store. Watching a timer would have totally ruined that. As far as the random clicking — it doesn't really help you in this game. It's not like a ton of items are piled on top of each other. Each thing is in its place. If you see it, you can click it. There's so much ground to cover in each scene, just clicking like a madman is not going to get you anywhere — and since you're not going to run out of time — there's no point to random clicks anyway.

The mystery story itself was intriguing enough to keep me doing just one more scene, far longer than I should have. I played all the way through over the course of the weekend. I really felt invested in what was going on, and was shocked at some of the twists and turns. You, dear gamer, may be a cleverer detective than I, but I was totally surprised at the end of the game when I found out whodunit.

I'm pretty sure this won't be part of the retail release of the game, but I was totally delighted when my review copy of the game arrived in a sealed evidence bag. Even better, my name had been written in as next in the chain of custody. Go me! And yes, I am saving the bag.

My understanding is that the television series for Women's Murder Club was not renewed — and I wonder how much is owed to the whole writer's strike mess for that… The book series is already seven strong and not showing any sign of stopping. I can only hope that enough people love Death in Scarlet as much I have that the adventure/puzzle/hidden object game series continues as well. In case you have any doubts at this point, I highly recommend Women's Murder Club — Death in Scarlet. Get playing already!