Park's 'Women's Murder Club' Scores Big Its First Week

Though her last show, Raines, suffered an early death in the ratings despite fair reviews, Linda Park (Sato) is now on a show that appears to be both a critical and commercial hit.

The Hollywood Reporter (via Reuters) called Women's Murder Club "a crime to miss", describing it as "a new chick drama that guys also can get into." The drama focuses on a San Francisco homicide inspector and the women she works with, whom the review described as "independent without being overly bitchy." Park plays Denise Kwon in the series, based on novels by James Patterson.

Newsday found the show overly cute - in general, the reviewer had nothing nice to say about anything in the ABC lineup - but added, "the women's friendship radiates authentic undertones, beneath all the gooed-up personal drivel."

According to The Orlando Sentinel, the series was the most watched show in its Friday night time slot, averaging 10.9 million viewers. This puts it ahead of NBC's well-reviewed but struggling Friday Night Lights and a new CBS series, Moonlight.

USA Today gave the show a largely positive review, saying, "The show is built around old-fashioned TV virtues: beautiful women, likable characters and textbook mysteries...the actors are enjoyable, and their series in large part does what it sets out to do."

And The Los Angeles Times said, "It isn't the newest dramatic tension ever visited on female protagonists, but sadly, the balancing act between love and work or family and work remains as relevant as it was...it's the women who will make or break this show, which is clearly hoping to appeal to crime procedural fans and female drama devotees."

The official site for Women's Murder Club at ABC has episode recaps and a message board.

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