Product Description
When an elderly antiques dealer is murdered, Muller's popular P.I. Sharon McCone follows a killer's trail to a museum where San Francisco's most elegant socialites gather. "Muller and McCone are still the class of the field."--San Diego Union-Tibune.MASS MARKET PAPER ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

GREAT BOOK .
This is the first in the Sharon McCone series.Sharon finds trouble around the corner in the "Antique" district. The people in this rundown neighborhood have been getting threats and lots of vandalism. Sharon is hired to find out who did it and why. Before she can someone is dead and now Sharon has to find out who before she's the next one.Great read.This is the first one in the series and its a good one!

A Decent Start to the Series, But Nothing Spectacular
Private eye Sharon McCone was hired by All Souls Cooperative, a San Francisco legal services plan, to discover who was vandalizing a small street of antique shops when one of the antique dealers was found murdered in her own shop.Sharon had no idea who had killed Joan Albritton, a pleasant older woman whose main fault was talking to the dressmaker's dummy, the stuffed German shepherd, and the little boy mannequin she kept in her shop, but she didn't feel confident in the police's ability to discover the killer.Especially after she met the unpleasantly patronizing Lieutenant Marcus who was in charge of the case.Uncertain of whether she would be paid for her work or not, but refusing to allow Joan Albritton's killer to go free, Sharon starts her investigation.

Suspects abound, with Charlie, the junkman who ran the shop across the street from Joan's, at the forefront.Charlie was Joan's former lover, recently jilted for a wealthier man, and he was the one who had discovered the body and called the police.Then there was Cara Ingalls, a real estate mogul with ice running through her veins.She made no secret of the fact that she was glad that Joan was gone so that she could buy the land and force the antique dealers out.Of course, Cara was not the only one trying to buy the land and then there was the slimy bond bailsman and the slick "antique-style" dealer who kept popping up at every corner.Not to mention the puzzling Lieutenant Marcus, who was grateful for Sharon's help and then pushing her aside the next.As Sharon takes more and more risks, she comes closer to solving Joan's death, but she also comes closer to being murdered herself...

Edwin of the Iron Shoes is the First Sharon McCone mystery and it was just okay.The book was well written, but the story was pretty simplistic and the characterization was pretty inconsistent.Sharon McCone is billed as this hard-boiled female private investigator, but I thought that she was pretty stupid myself.She took a lot of unnecessary risks and managed to solve the case more by being the only one around then following the clues properly.Also, I know that this book was written quite some time ago (I have the 1977 edition), but I have a hard time believing that the police ever invited female private investigators to look over the crime scene while the body was still there.With a stronger plot, more believe characters and some additional detail, this mystery would have been much better.Hopefully the series improves as it goes along...

Outstanding!
This is the 1st of the Sharon McCone books. I discovered it when another author's fictional detective referred to McCone on a "case." And holy cow! This book is copyrighted 1977. Where has it been hiding from me? Sharon McCone is quite a bit like Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone (or vice versa), which is truly high praise from me. It's savvy, sexy, exciting stuff. McCone is way cool. EDWIN OF THE IRON SHOES is set mostly in an antique shop with the eerie "characters" of a headless mannequin named Clothilde and a little "boy" named Edwin who has strange iron shoes. The author creates only a sketchy sense of place, but a definite sense of character, with some really fun potental villains. A very interesting ultimate motive for the murder makes for a satisfying ending. I can see why this is such a popular series. I loved it!

Sharon's First Outing
This is the first Sharon McCone mystery written by Marcia Muller. In it, we find beginning her career with the All-Soul Legal Co-Op. This is a fine first novel and gives an early taste of some wonderful stories to come.

Debut of a long-running series
It took me a long time to discover Marsha Muller, but I am glad that I finally did.This is the first installment of her Sharon McCone Mystery Series which had a strong influence on later female authors and heroines.Sue Grafton, in a quote on the book jacket calls Muller the "founding mother of the contemporary female hard-boiled private eye".That's quite a claim considering how many well-known female investigators there are in fiction now.In this first installment, Sharon McCone is the investigator for a group of attorneys called All Souls Cooperative.Her boss Hank asks her to investigate the murder of an antique store owner who has been stabbed with one of her own knives.Sharon learns that the dead woman was about to make an important decision about selling her property and she feels that this might be a motive.She also discovers some shady goings-on among the art dealers and tries to fit this in to a motive for murder.Add to this some past and present romances, and there are several possible suspects.Muller's writing is clear and to-the-point.She tells a good story and carefully wraps up each loose end.I look forward to reading the other books in this series, which has so far spanned a 25-year period. ... Read more

Product Description
When Sharon McCone receives the distressing news of her fathers death, she immediately goes to San Diego to help her brother scatter their fathers ashes and settle his affairs. But while going through his legal papers, Sharon uncovers a 1959 petition for the adoption of a Baby Girl Smithan infant who, from the day of adoption, has been known as Sharon Elizabeth McCone. Now, determined to find her biological parents, Sharon finds herself deep in Idahos Flathead Reservation. Met with resentment, she discovers a few locals who will stop at nothing to make sure certain secrets are kept hidden. Marcia Muller is the recipient of the Private Eye Writers of America Lifetime Achievement Award. Her previous eight novels for Mysterious Press were Main Selections of The Mystery Guild. Her books have received critical praise and have been translated into eight languages. This novel is slick and fast with a well plotted mystery. In short, vintage Muller. ~ The Globe and Mail on A Walk Through The Fire The novel hits an increasingly, intriguing, stride that keeps its surprises and uncertainties going to the end. ~ The Toronto Sun on A Walk Through The FireAmazon.com Review
Sharon McCone (A WalkThrough the Fire, McCone & Friends, Both Ends of the Night, etc.) is used to solving problems. She's been doing it for over 20 years in Marcia Muller's pioneering and acclaimed series about the San Francisco PI. And thanks to her extended and occasionally dysfunctional family, she's no stranger to the consequences of revealing the occasional skeleton in the closet. But her latest case is both personal and deeply devastating. After her father dies, Sharon discovers documents that have been hidden for her entire life and they launch her on a voyage of self-discovery. Intent on exploring her own past, Sharon travels from a Shoshone Indian reservation in Montana to a ghost town in northern California, and she becomes involved in a larger story of deceit--and murder.

Writing a series means treading delicately on a high wire between repetition and revelation. Having once created a character who will voyage through two or 10 or 10,000 books, an author must decide what facets of the character's life will reappear as touchstones in each book, what items may be left by the wayside, how the past will inform the present, and how the present will indicate the future. With each new novel, the author reaches out to readers who may be comfortably familiar with the series and to readers who may be discovering it for the first time. There is no shortage of mystery writers whose series are immensely rewarding (think Sara Paretsky or Sue Grafton), but it's a difficult balancing act nonetheless. With Listen to the Silence, Marcia Muller seems to stumble slightly, just enough to leave readers wondering whether a safety net is in order. It's as if the burden of the past becomes too heavy for either character or author to support. Sharon seems a trifle flat, and Muller's integration of family and familiarity seems forced and abrupt. A first-time reader would do well to seek out earlier volumes in the series, but confirmed Muller fans will still relish the intensity with which the novel plunges into deeply unsettling territory. --Kelly Flynn ... Read more

Customer Reviews (25)

fast moving and thought provoking
this book centers around tragedy,the discovery of Sharon's adoption and her quest to locate her birth parents.An unbelievable journey, both spiritually and geographically, with all the emotion and surprising greed.

A fast paced, totally involved experience, bringing to life her complex
and enjoyable characters.I heartily recommend!

book
Listen to the Silence (Sharon McCone Mysteries)Our Book Club read this book.It included places I had visited and was very realistic.Good book!

Another Muller Masterpiece
Another flawless Marcia Muller mystery with the perfect blend of personal life and mystery. This entry in the Sharon McCone series offers a deeper look into McCone's past, including some earthshattering news she discovers after the death of her father.

I like how Muller's books further every facet of her characters' personalities, instead of ignoring the personal in favor of the professional (a la Sue Grafton's latest books) or vice versa (as many of the "cozies" do).

Great plotting, seamless storyline, great, unique characters. A terrific book as either a standalone mystery or anentry in the series.

Muller and McCone both growing to maturity...
I just read Marcia Muller's Ask the Cards a Question and can say that I wasn't very impressed.But a friend of mine encouraged me to try another book (Muller is one of her favorite authors), and I'm happy to report that Listen to the Silence is a big improvement.Not only has Sharon McCone (San Francisco private investigator) grown as a character but Muller has definitely improved as a writer as this series progressed.

As Listen to the Silence opens, Sharon McCone receives two back-to-back bombshells.First, her father dies suddenly.Then, as she is cleaning out his papers, she discovers adoption papers--for herself.With strong Native American features, McCone looks nothing like her 4 siblings.She was always told that she inherited her Shoshone great-grandmother's genes.But now she's not sure who she is or where she came from.Her mother refuses to give her any information about the adoption and McCone is only able to gather bits and pieces of clues about her background.So she puts her business on hold to travel to the Flathead Reservation in Montana to discover her roots.

Unfortunately for McCone, there is a deep, dark secret that someone is trying to keep hidden about her adoption.The closer McCone gets to discovering the truth, the more her life becomes endangered.

When first introduced to McCone in Ask the Cards a Question, I thought she was a woman without substance and the plot was terribly trite.But Muller has developed the PI into a multidimensional character, and Muller herself has shown much growth as a writer.We also get a mini-lesson in Native American Affairs involving the US Government.Now I know why Muller has such a strong following.

A story worth your time.
Mystery authors have created numerous awards, many it might appear primarily designed to influence our buying behavior, to improve current and future sales of the nominated and winning authors.The process progresses with these authors then recommending other authors on their jacket blurbs, thus providing a useful marketing network.In spite of the often self-serving nature of these awards, they often can help to point us to works that focus on our reading interests, but they may also screen out works that deserve our attention.Unfortunately, in more than a few cases, I found award-winning works or their authors somewhat wanting, and I often find personal recommendations far better than award recognition.

Thus, when starting Marcia Muller's "Listen to the Silence" I was somewhat wary, as I had selected this not because of a personal recommendation, but on Muller's status as a Lifetime Achievement Award winner. Fortunately, I need not have been concerned. The story starts strongly and continues that way to the end.Instead of the typical division of the story into chapters, Ms. Muller divides the story into days.The story begins on September 2nd and ends September 28th.In the course of just these few days we learn a good deal about Sharon McCone and her background, and are treated to an intriguing mystery along the way.

This novel is like the early movie serials where each chapter builds interest so you want to return to the theater next week to see the next episode. Each day of this story ends that way, i.e; you will want to continue reading to see what the next day will bring. The mystery Sharon sets herself to solve involves the solution of some of her own family's secrets.In the course of its resolution, we are gently exposed to some Shoshone history, culture, and traditions.

In summary, this is an exceptionally well-told story without "dead spots". It moves along quickly, with new revelations occurring each day, and it ends has a pleasant and surprising twist. This is a story that will hold your interest from beginning to the end, and Ms. Muller's easy writing style makes in readable in one sitting- definitely recommended.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Silence of Echoes
Marcia Muller's WHERE ECHOES LIVE is a transition novel as Sharon McCone edges her way into a new romance and life while the shades of the past still haunt her. It is not the best of Muller's work, but it sets up the series to be one of the strongest in female crime fiction.
An abandon gold mine, a deranged owner, desert rats who eke a living from the over worked streams of California are pitted against the dregs of a dying ecosystem with Sharon poised to wield the sword of justice.
A good read on a cold day, when nothing much else is happening.
Nash Black, author of SINS OF THE FATHERS.

Not the best in the series
Private Investigator Sharon McCone joins her friend Anne-Marie from the All Souls' Legal Cooperative to find out what is going on at Tufa Lake, California.There is a tug of war between a company that wishes to resume mining operations at the lake, and the local environmentalists.It is thought by the latter group that commercial mining would destroy the ecology of the area.As a result of the disagreemnt, there are break-ins, and eventually a murder.McCone investigates the people connected with both sides, and has a hard time differentiating the good guys from the bad guys.This book rambles a bit and is not as tightly written as most of Muller's books.Still, the descriptions are wonderful and Sharon's lovelife evolves as a result of her acquaintance with a new man she meets during her investigation.

Too Many Echoes?
This is not one of Ms. Mullers' best stories. I've actually been throughthe Mono Lake area and Bridgeport. I even visited Bodie once. Muller has agood feel for the locale. On the other hand, the plot here is a bitstraightforward, and the evil Transpacific Corp. is trite. I found the"explosive" ending rather unsatisfying, as well. Again, thisisn't a bad book. I have enjoyed all of the Sharon McCone mysteries thatI've read so far. But this one is not quite as good as some of the others.My average rating for these stories is 4 stars. Within that context I putthis one at 4-. A bit below average but still worth the time. Fans willappreciate the update on the lives of several familiar characters.

excellent book-makes me want to read the whole series
It was interesting to see where Hy Ripinski came in.The descriptions of the area are fantastic.It's also nice to see all her side characters remain.The ending is explosive.You find yourself wanting to meet thecharacters.The references to the past couple of books make you want to gobackwards and read them all.One of her best. ... Read more

Product Description
Attending a private eye convention in her hometown, Sharon McCone catches up with old friends, until one is suddenly killed in a suspicious fall and recruits Wolf, the Nameless Detective, for her investigation. Reprint. PW. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Female private investigators are strange
When Sharon McCone was home visiting her family, her mother wanted her to speak to her brother John who was planning to fight for custody of his children.Her father, retired Navy, was a cabint maker and the husband of her sister Charlene was a musician.Sharon was supposed to be the stable, the together member of her family.She was in town attending a convention.Sharon's friend Elaine Picard was in charge of hotel security.The Nameless Detective, Wolf, was also at the convention which was being held in San Diego.

Elaine Picard fell from a balcony.Her death did not seem to be the result of an accident.Wolf witnessed the fall.He and Sharon proceeded to investigate the matter, informally.Sharon was nearly arrested for having committed a breaking and entering at Picard's residence.I should tell the prospective reader that the narration is in the first person, double first person that is to say.

Sharon discovered that Elaine had written to her lawyer that the hotel was being used for some illegal purpose and that she had not yet determined the nature of the illegal acts.Sharon felt that Elaine's death had something to do with the disappearance of a business tycoon.There was a chain reaction as the deaths and disappearances in the case escalated.

A Nearly Perfect Duet after an Off-Key Beginning
Anyone who is a fan of either Marcia Muller (or her detective, Sharon McCone) or Bill Pronzini (or his detective, "Nameless") should be sure to read this book.By enjoying two top mystery writers at the top of their game sharing a common plot, you will learn more about each author's style and their characters.

The book seems primarily inspired by two earlier Pronzini books about the Nameless Detective, Twospot, a "he-said, he-said" collaboration with Collin Wilcox, and the award-winning Hoodwink, set at a pulp writers' convention.As wonderful as those book are, this one vastly exceeds them.

The story is told from the alternating perspectives of the two detectives who are both attending a private detectives' convention at the Casa del Rey on Coronado in San Diego harbor.For Nameless fans, there's quick excitement as Sharon McCone supplies a nickname for Nameless, "Wolf," after newspaper reports of his operating as a lone wolf detective during the years before he teamed up with Eberhardt.

They each stumble onto the sense that something's amiss at the hotel . . . but for different reasons.Wolf finds a boy wandering around among the cottages on the grounds, and later finds that no one was registered to the cottage that he was staying in.Sharon runs into her old boss, Elaine Picard, who runs security at the hotel.Elaine wants to speak with Sharon about something that's bothering her, but there's no time to get together.Then the two leads coalesce as Wolf watches Elaine take a header from a high tower in the hotel to her death.At first the two detectives occasionally share observations, but before long both abandon the convention and begin to search together for answers to the puzzles.

The convention backdrop provides lots of opportunities for humor about the profession, which has increasingly become based on electronic surveillance.Neither Sharon nor Wolf like that development, and you'll enjoy their take on it.

The book starts off slowly as the two narratives repeat each other excessively in the beginning pages.That bogs the book down, and makes it seem clumsy.Soon, the separate action begins and the narration becomes strong and independent.

One of the high points of the book is that three different characters have to locate the same undisclosed place.Each uses a different method to identify the location.From this and other multifaceted perspectives, you get a strong sense of how the same mystery can be attacked from many different directions.

There's also a nice contrast between Sharon's willingness to bend the rules, and Nameless's commitment to following all of the rules.

The book has a wonderful blend of characters, subplots (including both detectives' personal lives), motives and action.Because it has both a "she said, he said" perspective, the book has a balance that few detective novels manage.Perhaps the fact that Ms. Muller and Mr. Pronzini are wife and husband in real life helped contribute the chemistry that makes this book so wonderful.

If you only read one mystery this year, make it this one!

After I finished this book, I wondered about how I could employ a female perspective to round out my thinking more often.

Interesting collaboration
Marcia Muller and Bill Pronzini team up with their characters Sharon McCone and "the nameless detective" to create an intriguing mystery.Sharon and the detective she calls Wolf meet in San Diego at a convention for private investigators.Sharon is also pleased to see an old boss of hers who is now head of security at the hotel where she's staying.When Sharon's friend falls over a balcony, she and Wolf decide that it is no accident and they set about to prove that there has been foul play.Sharon and Wolf take turns telling the story and they each work on bits and pieces of the murder plus other mysterious happenings which seem to be related.This book has a deliciously convoluted plot and a mystery which Muller and Pronzini develop to a crescendo and then reveal to the reader bit by bit.The addition of the character Wolf is a nice departure for this series, and it's interesting to catch a glimpse of McCone's family as well.

Double the Fun
Bill Pronzini and Marcia Muller are my 2 favorite mystery writers working today."Double" offers both Sharon McCone and the Nameless Detective working together.They team up to investigate the murder of Elaine Picard, a former friend of McCone, head of security at the Casa del Ray hotel in San Diego where a private investigator's convention is being held.McCone and Nameless (whom McCone calls "Wolf") alternate chapters.This novel sizzles with action and it is one of my favorites of both Pronzini and Muller.I'm hoping that one day the husband and wife team of Pronzini and Muller will write another joint venture featuring Sharon McCone and the Nameless Detective.An excellent novel that is highly recommended.

2 Writers Equal A Good Mystery
In the beginning of this book I found the changing of viewpoints every other chapter disruptive of the flow of the story, but this improved as the book went on.Overall, this is a good book and I would recommend it.

I prefer the Sharon McCone books written only by Marcia Muller, but this book is definitely important to the history of Sharon McCone and is worth reading. ... Read more

Product Description
Someone is seeking revenge on Ricky Savage, Sharon McCone's brother-in-law and a two-time Grammy Award-winning country singer, and the danger escalates as Sharon realizes that more than one person has been playing dark, twisted games. Reprint. PW. "Amazon.com Review
The 17th novel in Muller's series featuring San Francisco private eyeSharon McCone, The Broken Promised Land finds McCone assigned toprovide security for Ricky Savage, a country-and-western superstar who happensto be McCone's brother-in-law. Savage has been the target of hate notes thatare terrorizing the singer, his wife, and six kids. McCone's job is to turn upthe culprit before Savage's tour to promote his new album collapses under theweight of his fear and paranoia. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

A welcome return to form for Muller
It took me almost a month to get through the previous book in the McCone series, "A Wild and Lonely Place."The characters were so dull, the plot so mechanical and the writing so cliched, I feared that Muller had run out of gas.

Not to worry!I read "Broken Promise Land" in less than 24 hours because the characters and situations were interesting and the writing was just fine.This is the Muller I've come to expect.One of the best in this very fine series.

P.S. If you're new to Muller, I URGE you to read her books in order.She's very careful about not giving away previous mysteries, but the characters really do grow and develop over time in these books.Additionally, there are plot developments that I would not want to have spoiled for me. Unlike authors who take a few books until they hit their stride, Muller was good from the very first Sharon McCone book, "Edwin of the Iron Shoes".Even though the series began in the 1970's, the older ones are suprisingly fresh.If you like character-driven mysteries with strong women at the center, you'll like this series.

This Land Is Pretty Entertaining
THE BROKEN PROMISE LAND is another entry in Muller's popular Sharon McCone series. I don't know if I'd characterize myself as a fan of these tales. At least, not like somebody who joins a "fan club" or buys hardcover copies and tries to get the author's autograph on them. I do enjoy the series enough, however, to have read all of them up through this one. In general, I rate the McCone mysteries about four stars. That's above average and explains why I keep coming back.

THE BROKEN PROMISE LAND is, in my opinion, one of the better stories in the series so far. Regular readers will enjoy the update on changes taking place in McCone's life and in the lives of other familiar characters that surround her. Beyond that, though, this is one of Ms. Muller's better plots. Both McCone and her current beau, Hy Ripinsky, get drawn into the action when her brother-in-law, Ricky Savage, who is a genuine country music star, becomes involved with a stalker. From there, the action is fast-paced, both in terms of the mystery and the personal turmoil it entails for McCone and some of her friends and family members.

I have just two minor problems with this story (if you don't want to know anything about what happens in the book you should skip this paragraph). First, I thought that Ricky falling out of his marriage and directly into the welcoming arms of Rae a bit too easy, too convenient. It keeps Ricky in the mix and gives Charlotte an easy entree for future stories, but it was just too pat to suit me. Second, I thought the the events in the final moments, when everything finally becomes clear and the reader is all set for the big final showdown, was a letdown. Too quick and too easy an end after all the effort to uncover the wacko stalker.

THE BROKEN PROMISE LAND is a book that will please and entertain McCone fans, but beyond that it's a good mystery that a casual reader will also find engrossing. Once you get going, it's one you won't easily put down. I've given it a strong four stars and I recommend it. Give it a try.

A real winner!
Private Investigator Sharon McCone's brother-in-law, Ricky Savage, is a famous and successful Country Western singer.He calls on Sharon to help him uncover the source of threatening notes which he has been receiving.When Sharon begins to investigate, she finds that Ricky's marriage to her sister is in danger, as well as his life.As she digs into Ricky's past, she discovers some sordid things he has done, and finds people who might have a motive to harm him.This is a fast-paced mystery, full of interesting characters and enough twists and turns to keep things interesting.There have been many changes in Sharon's life during the course of this series, and this book is full of them.Marriages and partnerships are made and broken, and the reader gets a fascinating look at part of Sharon's family and at the backstage life of a music star.This is a very entertaining book!

Great reading - couldn't put it down
Another great Sharon McCone novel - Marcia Muller can't write them fastenough for me!!I love the characters, their development andinter-relationships as well as the witty dialogue.Of course the mysteryis wonderful too.

Can't put it down!!
Great book!! Sharon McCone, Rae Kelleher, Hank Zahn, Mick Savage come to life after reading only a few pages. I'm an avid mystery reader, and the Sharon McCone series is one of my favorites! Keep writing, Ms. Muller!! ... Read more

Product Description
The hunt is on for a cunning stalker who has been impersonating P.I. Sharon McCone with alarming results. What first seemed like a harmless party prank becomes a bizarre game of cat and mouse through the sinister streets of San Francisco as the impostor escalates her assault on McCone by invading her home, canceling her credit cards, and frightening her family with fraudulent phone calls. But when McCone is almost arrested for a crime the impostor committed, it's payback time with a vengeance--and a final face off with her doppelganger.Amazon.com Review
In the old days, Sharon McCone was a scrappy, idealistic investigatorworking out of a rambling old San FranciscoVictorian that housedthe AllSouls legal collective.In the 1990s, All Souls is a conventionallysuccessful law firm, and McCone is on her own. These days her profile is alot higher, thanks to a People magazine article, and her digs, bothpersonal and professional, are decidedly more upscale. But the price offame is higher than she knows; somewhere there's a woman with Sharon'sface, Sharon's name, and a supply of Sharon's business cards. Theimpersonator isn't just drumming up business on her own--she's sleepingwith McCone's clients and then stealing from them, destroying the agency'sreputation, and threatening Sharon's family and friends as well as her livelihood.The mystery woman may even have found a way to screw upSharon's relationship with Hy Ripinsky, her long-time lover.What'scertain is that she knows the most intimate details of McCone's private aswell as public life, and thatwhereverSharon goes,her impersonator hassomehow managed to get there first.What seemed at first like an innocentcase of heroine-worship turns decidedly deadly, especially since McCone hasno clue as to the mystery woman's motives, plans, or identity.

Marcia Muller almost single-handedly invented the genre of female P.I.'s,and she's in top form here, capitalizing on McCone's vulnerabilities aswell as her strengths in a tightly plotted mystery with a dramatic climax,strong characters, and solid characterization. In prior installments,both Muller and McCone had started to lose their edge a bit, but fans oflongstanding will be delighted by this engrossing adventure. --Jane Adams ... Read more

Customer Reviews (20)

A psychological thriller...
I can now declare that I'm officially addicted to Marcia Muller's Sharon McCone series, and I'm determined to read every book.While Other People Sleep is about as riveting as this series gets.

San Francisco private investigator, Sharon McCone, is faced with her most challenging case yet--and a personal one at that.A woman who looks and is built very much like McCone has developed a fixation with her.This imposter is passing herself off as McCone all around San Francisco and engaging in unsavory behavior.She also breaks into McCone's house, steals her credit card information, takes unlisted phone numbers of friends and family, etc.This woman does everything in her power to disrupt McCone's life.It is almost as if she has gotten into McCone's brain.Unfortunately, McCone can't figure out exactly what motivates this woman or what her intentions are.At the same time, McCone must deal with the odd behavior of her office manager, Ted Smalley.He is obviously hiding something that is very disturbing and it is affecting his personal and professional lives.It can also prove dangerous.

While Other People Sleep is a true psychological thriller, as McCone delves into the mind of a stalker.As the story unfolds, it is a tossup as to who will end up being the better McCone.Because McCone feels so personally and professionally violated, she takes unnecessary risks in her efforts to catch her stalker.

While Other People Sleep is another fine Muller book.

Keeping It Going
A major pleasure of a series like Muller's Sharon McCone mysteries is getting an update on the characters you've become familiar with. It's somewhat akin to meeting an old friend and getting caught up. On that basis, WHILE OTHER PEOPLE SLEEP works just fine. Indeed, that's enough reason to buy and read it if you've read most of these and enjoy the company it allows you to keep.

There are actually two mysteries going on simultaneously here. The main plot revolves around McCone's attempt to identify and stop an imposter who is threatening her reputation and interfering in her personal life. A secondary plot revolves around McCone's gay receptionist, Ted, who seems to be having personal problems of his own. Both plots proceed satisfactorily enough through most of the book, but seem to bog down at in the end. The "Ted" plot, in particular, ended rather weakly, in my opinion.

Finally, I'm getting a little weary of the flying angle. So McCone is a pilot. OK, I have no problem with that, but when you reach a point where flying is a major factor in the outcome of every story, it's gotten out of hand. Enough, already! It's time to devote less energy to rhapsodizing on the joys of flying and more on writing an engaging whodunit.

WHILE OTHER PEOPLE SLEEP is a passable installment in the ongoing saga of Sharon McCone. If McCone is almost like one of your old friends, then getting this update is probably going to be enough to justify reading it. I was for me. As a stand-alone mystery, though, it's mediocre. A soft four stars for people into the series, but if you're a first-timer or occaisional reader, you might want to look for a better one.

Stalkers, unlimited!
Sharon McCone, female PI, begins to hear reports of someone who is impersonating her.This person uses her credit cards, breaks into her house, has affairs while using Sharon's identity, and begins to seriously mess up Sharon's life and psyche.At the same time, Sharon's secretary Ted is exhibiting strange and irrascible behavior.Eventually it comes to light that he, too, is battling with a stalker.Are these incidents related and is it the same person doing all of this mischief?Sharon has to investigate these problems without the support of her lover, Hy Ripinsky, who is off on an assignment for his company.The identities of the stalkers are revealed before the end of the book, but Muller still spins a good tale of Sharon's investigation and pursuit of them.As usual, flying plays an important part in this book and there is a good mystery told.This book will please Sharon McCone fans, old and new.

Inadvertently appropriate title
After the initial 50 pages or so, I became one of the people the title mentions. The plot of this book does not deserve this name, the solution (i.e. the identification of the "bad person") is ridiculous. The final sections seem to have been written because a certain number of pages had to be filled. The basic idea of the book is not bad, but Muller did not manage to develop a full-blown mystery.

While Other People Sleep
"While Other People Sleep" is a different type of novel for Marcia Muller.There are no murders in this novel, but there are 2 mysteries.There is a woman who is stalking and impersonating Sharon McCone, and McCone's office manager, Ted Smalley has been acting very strange. I thought that the resolution to Ted's problems was somewhat lame, but I did enjoy the suspense in McCone's tracking down the impostor who is making her life miserable. This is not Muller's strongest effort, but I found it entertaining. ... Read more

Product Description
When a client of hers is murdered, detective Sharon McCone discovers that the dead man had disinherited his children and left his estate to four strangers, all with ties to a distant crime. Reissue. NYT. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Flashback to the 1960s...
Marcia Muller's Trophies and Dead Things is another strong effort in her Sharon McCone series.It was interesting to read how the Viet Nam Era is still affecting some people today.

Lawyer Hank Zahn, a friend and colleague of San Francisco private investigator, Sharon McCone, asks her a favor.A client of his, Perry Hilderly, was killed by a sniper.As Hilderly's lawyer, Zahn must take care of his estate and clean out his apartment.Zahn is surprised to find that Hilderly has recently written a new will, eliminating his two sons and leaving $1 million to be split between four unknown persons.Zahn (and the estate) hire McCone to find these four heirs.

In the process of finding the four heirs, McCone encounters stonewalling, denial and mystery.It is obvious that there is something major being hidden.It turns out that the common denominator is a militant political anti-war group from the 1960s and McCone goes about trying to solve this 30 year old mystery.It is also obvious that the events of the past have scarred everyone involved.

The 1960s were a turbulent time and Muller does a fine job of weaving fact with fiction.Muller finds an old pair of love beads and observes that the beads are "symbols of an era that was perhaps never as joyful or innocent as some of us remember it."Also, she reminisces about the legacy of the anti-war movement, "A war had been stopped, the will of the people had prevailed, society had been altered in profound ways.But there was a darker side to the legacy, and the personal cost had been high on both sides."

Trophies and Dead Things shows that Marcia Muller is not just a good mystery writer, but a good writer, period.

Didn't really read like a mystery.
Marcia Muller, Trophies and Dead Things (Mysterious Press, 1990)

Sharon McCone (in her tenth appearance) has what seems like a routine probate; a well-known Northern California activist and Vietnam War protestor (and acquaintance of her boss), Perry Hilderley, has died. While going through his things, McCone finds a superseded copy of his will, disinheriting his (divorced) wife and their sons, and leaving all of his assets to be divided equally among four people who seemingly have no connection at all to Hilderley. Who are they, and what connection did they have to him?

Muller is often referred to as the founding mother of the hardboiled female detective. All well and good, except there's not much hardboiled here. (My definition: a hardboiled detective is in true physical danger at any point during the story. Otherwise, it's a cozy.) Granted, everyone around McCone is in danger at least once, and some of them wind up dead, but she takes an almost Miss Marple attitude towards this at times; let's get them out of danger, give them a cup of tea, and get back to solving this mystery.

Not that a well-written cozy isn't a lot of fun, and this is a well-written cozy. It does get a bit slow now and again, but like the mysteries of Robert Parker, the McCone novels are that wonderful type of series where the background soap-opera-style info merges so seamlessly with what's going on that you can hop in at any point in the series and be caught up on what's gone on before in a few pages, tops. And it doesn't get in the way of the present story, which is the all-important rule in writing series novels.

If the book does have a failing, and this is something that the individual reader will have to decide, it's in the mystery itself. There really isn't much of a mystery, and Muller lays that on the table from the get-go. The main question here is about what the four beneficiaries of Hilderley's will have in common, and there are enough hints in the opening pages to give you an idea of what will be in the closing ones. But getting there is half the fun, and Muller gives us a wonderful cast of characters to ride with. In other words, with not much mystery and not much danger, Trophies and Dead Things has more of a feel of Jane Smiley than Agatha Christie to it; I had no problems at all with that. Others may disagree. But whatever it is, it's fun. ***

Pedantic and presumptive
Although the plot line was intriguing, the author never allows the reader to discover anything on his/her own--every point is belabored painfully.Additionally, lots of lecturing (mostly of politically correct views) finds its way into the text.The author recalls the decade of the 60s much differently than I do.Many of us were too busy to be smoking dope in college or carrying anti-war placards, which seems to be the author's memory.As I've explained to my children, much of what happened is the 60s was terrifying--desegregation demonstrations that involved dogs, fire hoses and deaths, the weekly wail of air raid sirens and radio emergency frequencies being tested, the FBI under Hoover, the spector of the USSR looming over the age.In general, my main criticism is the heavy hand with which the author includes her opinions, descriptions and recollections--if it is necessary to lecture, it should be done lightly and subtly.

Memories of the 60's
Sharon McCone and her boss Hank are confused at the changes that one of their clients made in his will before he was killed by a sniper.Instead of leaving money to his wife and children, he has bequeathed his money to four people who seem, on the surface, to be unconnected.As Sharon begins to investigate, she discovers that the new heirs are connected by the protest movement against the Viet Nam War in the 60's.She peals away the secrets which these four are hiding, layer by layer.She discovers that interwoven relationships, long-simmering hatred, and desire for revenge which began 40 years ago is now leading to unfortunate incidents in the present time.As always, Marcia Muller weaves an interesting mystery against the background of San Francisco with which she is intimately acquainted and which she describes to her readers in wonderful detail.

Sharon McCone solves another case
Sharon McCone is my favorite private investigator. She cares about people, and she especially cares about her clients. She's an astute observer of people. In this mystery Sharon is getting over her romance with Kostakos and her involvement with Jim Addison isn't working out, so she has a lot of time to solve this newest situation. Watney, her cat and special companion, has died, and she's alone, once she helps straighten out the life of a childhood friend who is currently staying with her . Marcia Muller has characters galore, and a mystery about an inheritance which was intended for family now bequeathed to 4 questionable people. Muller weaves all the plots together and makes us care about what's happening to everyone. If you like good mysteries where the emphasis is on the story, you'll enjoy Muller's books. This is one of her best! ... Read more

Product Description
* Muller's most recent novel, Dead Midnight (Mysterious Press hardcover, 6/02), hit the Los Angeles Times bestseller list. It received rave reviews from the New York Times Book Review, San Francisco Chronicle, Library Journal, Publishers Weekly (starred review), and Booklist. The mass market edition will be published in 7/03.
* Muller's McCone series has consistently received strong reviews from the New York Times Book Review, USA TODAY, and Los Angeles Times, among others.
* Listen to the Silence was nominated for the 2001 Shamus Award for Best Hardcover Private Eye Novel and for an Anthony Award.
* The McCone mysteries are being developed by Spring Creek Productions and CBS-TV into a pilot for a new television series. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (18)

can't put it down
I'll fully engrosed with this mystery.Can't wait to see how it ends.

Not a great start
This is my first Muller book and it was not a great start.I was engaged at first and read rapidly making mental notes of the characters and locales so I could absorb the details and emerse myself in the story.Halfway through the book it occurred to me that things were not coming together.The secondary characters never moved to the forefront.But most disappointing was the ending.The book just stopped.There was not a final wrap-up where the police and the surviving characters reflect on the past or project the future.This is not a spoiler, but be aware that it is never explained why Ardis acted like she does.She has no personality beyond the way Carly, her lesbian partner, and Matt, her ex-husband, see her.Even her daughter has remarkably little to say about her.The book would have been so much better if the focus had been the complex Gwen/Ardis and included her thoughts and point of view.Why was she so restless and uncomfortable to the point that she rearranged the lives of other people?What made Ardis so endearing that others wanted to protect and keep her - except her parents?Was it her sexual orientation, her sexual confusion, or, as I suspect, did sex have nothing to do with it?

What was the deal with the mayor and the developer about the gold?That subplot was never fully developed and not resolved, and in the end the fate of the property was not discussed.It made no sense and added nothing to the story, although it could it could have if done differently. What was the point of the focus on the gay couple?I thought the book was going to be about gays and pro-gay life, but I got little insight into the lives of rich gay couples and their children.Whatever sensitivity the character Ardis brought to her articles about gays was certainly missing from Muller's book.

In conclusion, I would have to say that this book was like the character Matt, spying on Ardis and Carly through the lens of his camemra.We saw bits and pieces of various characters lives, stepped in and then out, but without knowledge and understanding.Hollow observation.Shallow read.Provocative only if you have a vivid imagination.

This is a remarkable novel of true lives and complexities
greed, corruption, hate and murder take a back seat to the true lives and the complexities of people who enter into troubled relationships.

After fourteen years, Matthew Lindstrom, accused in the beginning of the book in the disappearance and possible murder of his wife Gwen, receives an anonymous phone call in British Columbia, where he's been running a fishing business and ignoring the photography career he once loved.

On Gwen's trail in Soledad County, California, he takes up the camera once again as a photographer under an assumed name for the SOLEDAD SPECTRUM, a Pulitzer-Prize-winning newspaper run by hard-nosed former "lesbian prom queen" and former social outcast Carly McGuire, in the city of Cyanide Wells, an apt metaphor for the poison that infects Matt and Carly's lives. That poison takes shape in Carly's life-mate Ardis Coleman, or more accurately, Gwen Lindstrom, whose lesbian nature presumably led her to run from Matt after he pressured her to have children. The irony: Ardis has supposedly given birth to a daughter, Natalie, after an affair that betrayed Carly...and Ardis has stolen Natalie, forcing Matt and Carly to join forces and find the woman they yearn to confront.Marcia Muller peels away the layers of the onion to give us a tale of complexity, subtlety and depth.

My one complaint is that Carly pretty much takes over, leaving us to wonder about Matt, who we care about equally, even a little bit more.

Character-driven mystery
Character-based. Does that make it `literature,' by definition? Perhaps. Marcia Muller is one or our more artistic and literate mystery writers, and this is a good one. It deals with an identity puzzle. Matthew's wife appears to have been murdered, but no body is found; because suspicion focuses on him, he hits the trail and makes a new life for himself in a different country. Then his `wife' calls, he travels to seek closure with her, and finds she's gone missing again, this time from the home she shares with her lesbian lover, Carly. She and Matt join forces to find this mystery woman, and...well, read the book yourself.

The Case of the Missing....something
Muller has long been acknowledged as the mother the female hardboiled private eye subgenre, and when one has created and nutured as character as fleshed out and "alive" as Sharon McCone, it is disappointing when a stand alone book contains characters as unfleshed out, and even cartoonish as the people who populate "Cyanide Wells."She has created two potentially likeable characters in Matt and Carly, who team up to find what is up with the woman who both has loved...at considerable cost.When the truth about the missing woman is revealed, the reader is left with the feeling that the fatal flaw in each of the protagonists is they are truly lousy judges of character.

Muller returns to the North Coast of California, the fictional Soledad County, which in "Point Deception" stood in for the mismatched twins, Mendicino and Fort Bragg.She has captured a lot of the local color of those very different towns, yet even so, never conveys the outsider-local culture clash which has been a part of the area since I began to regularly visit there, which is for about thirty years.Still, it is clear that Muller knows the area very well, and that's fine....

However, the story just isn't a story.It is an outline, a few character sketches, and a concept, about as developed as the book the missing woman is supposedly writing.Also, from the various descriptions of gay culture in the area, I get the feeling this book was started 10 or so years ago, and was shelved and updated...by just changing the dates.

Admittedly, my opinion of this book has been colored by the awesomely horrible reading of this book, as released by Brilliance Audio....which utterly ruined by the vocal talents of "Sandra Burr" who sounds like a narrator who specializes in children's voices, and given over to handle Carly's point of view.I don't know where you come from, but in Mendocino, not too many lesbian newspaper owners sound like Rocky the Flying Squirrel!J. Charles, who does the man's part of book is okay.

Please, Marcia...do whatever you can to save your books from the clutches of Brilliance.They have one good narrator, Dick Hill...and if he isn't assigned to your book...you are fresh out of luck.And when Sandra Burr is assigned to direct as well as provide the voices....well...think of it as a learning experience. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Complex relationships
Sharon McCone, a private investigator, is asked to follow Frank Wilkonson and report his activities to a man named Rudy Goldring.Instead of participating in illegal activities, as Sharon expects, Wilkonson visits various florist and garden outlets.As she delves into Wilkonson's past and present endeavors, she uncovers a complicated web of love and betrayal.Two murders occur and Sharon knows that she must find the perpetrator in order to prevent more killings from happening.This is a typical tightly-woven, well-written mystery from the creator of the female PI, Marcia Muller.

Two Difficult and Selfish Husbands
Marcia Muller is adept at describing relationships. In this book we meet at least two difficult and selfish husbands whose wives are coming apart with drugs or anger. THERE'S SOMETHING IN A SUNDAY is one of the better entries in the Sharon McCone series.

what a way to spend a Sunday
Frank Wilkonson spends his Sundays looking through all the horticulture spots in San Francisco. Who's he looking for? What's he looking for? That's what Sharon McCone has been hired to find out. Where her search leads her is what we find out. Sharon's friends have mysterious pasts, and she investigatesthoroughly.If you enjoy intricate mystery plots, you'll love this one. Muller is a superb mystery writer with a superb knowledge of the California scene. Her descriptions are awesome. It's another McCone mystery.....and a great one. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Sharon is called to the Tenderloin District
Private Investigator Sharon McCone is called by a group of Vietnamese tenants who live in the so-called Tenderloin District of San Francisco.This is a very rough area, where new immigrants trying to make a go of it in their adopted country rub elbows with eccentrics and criminals.The group of people who are employing Sharon want her to find out who is playing tricks on them in their apartment building.There are strange noises in the basement, power failures, and shadows of "ghosts" on the walls.During the course ofthe investigation, Sharon develops real admiration for the Vietnamese and is chagrined when one of them is killed and another disappears.She pursues several dead ends before she finally figures out who is responsible for the murder and the other mischief.Muller consistantly writes good books in this series, and this one is no exception.

Eye of the Storm
I have read the first 6 or so books in this series and I have yet to be disappointed. Each book kept me entertained and wanting to get to the next one.

A Mystery with a Message
As a fan of PI Sharon McCone I knew I would enjoy this book. I was surprised not only to be updated on Sharon's personal life (which keeps me hooked on this series) but to be touched as Marcia Muller calls toattention an important social issue.Her discussion of immigrant housingin the US contributes to an already intriguing mystery, while educating herreaders.Thank you Marcia Muller! I'll definitely be back for more. ... Read more

Product Description
(13th in Sharon McCone series)

Convicted of murder in 1956, Lis Benedict has served her long sentence and just been released from jail.Her daughter, Judy, convinced of her mother's innocence, persuades All Souls Legal Cooperative to reinvestigate her mother's case.Sharon McCone loves a challenge but has little affection for the cold and unlikable Lis.Then, suddenly, the woman in question is dead, a vicious threat is scrawled in red paint across the front of Sharon's house, and San Francisco's #1 P.I. is following a fresh trail of death that leads back to the '50s in search of a killer who has engineered a fatal cover-up and built a brilliant career on murder.

"A compelling mystery, offering crisp prose, a rich plot with a cornucopia of twists and turns and quirky characters." (Milwaukee Journal) ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Intriguing mystery
In 1956 Lis Benedict, a wealthy socialite, was convicted of murdering her husband's young mistress, Cordy McKittridge.Thirty-six years later, she is released from prison and goes to live with her daughter Judy, who testified against her at the trial.The daughter feels that her mother may not have been the murderer after all, so she requests a re-trial in the Historical Tribunal, a group which tries to redress old wrongs.Private Investigator Sharon McCone is asked to help with the case for the defendant, which is being prepared by the All Souls' Legal Cooperative, where Sharon works.Fearing that the trail is too cold to follow, Sharon interviews anyone who had any connection to the deceased or the supposed murderer.Tales of love and politics rise to the surface and Sharon begins to piece together a theory as to the real murderer's identity.This book is very suspenseful and had me guessing the murderer's identity up to the end.As usual, there is a complex plot and Muller does a masterful job of tying up all of the loose ends.

Pennies on Eyes not the strongest
After getting into Marcia Muller a few months ago I picked up Pennies, thinking it would be equally enjoyable. I was wrong, barely getting through half the book and then putting it away. Don't make this one a priority, it's slow and it's hard to care about this case or the people involved.

A Murky Mystery
This is the 13th "Sharon McCone mystery" I've read, so it goes without saying that I basically find these stories entertaining. This onehas an involved plot about the bloody 1956 murder of a society girl. LisBenedict has just been released from prison after serving 36 years for thecrime and her daughter, Judy, has convinced Jack Stuart to take the casebefore the Historical Tribunal. Some anonymous threats suggest thatsomebody doesn't want the case re-opened.

The story kept me turning pagesto find out what would happen next, so it was a good read. There are,however, a few downsides to this one. Ms. Muller spends a lot of spacetrying to give it a dark, mystical mood. What with all the foggy settings,mysterious shapes, foghorns in the night, and dark forebodings of PIMcCone, the rather unsurprising ending is something of a letdown. Also, Ms.Muller is a traditional San Francisco liberal, which is her privilege, butshe increasingly wears hers personal attitudes on her sleeve. The storywould have benefitted from having forty or fifty pages of murky scenery andMs. Mullers' soapbox preaching edited out. As it is, the story rambles hereand there.

That said, it was still good enough to keep my curiosity upall the way through. Good enough for four stars in my estimation. ... Read more

Product Description
A new paperback Sharon McCone mystery, in which the detective is hired by a reclusive photographer to find his missing roommate, and when she is found dead, McCone has to confront numerous suspects. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

oh no.....
Sharon McCone drinks to much!

Sharon investigates a disappearance
Investigator Sharon McCone receives a call from a famous photographer, asking her to find his missing roommate.She has a hard time discerning exactly what their relationship is, but proceeds on her investigation.She traces the missing roommate to her hometown and then finds her dead.The suspects range from the photographer himself to several of her co-workers at a Hospice where she used to work and where several people died under suspicious circumstances.As usual, McCone tracks down the murderer, but not before putting herself in danger and picking up a new boyfriend along the way.This is another solid entry in this long-running series.

#4 of 22 (so far) Sharon McCone Private Eye -- average
The 22 books to date in Marcia Muller's Sharon McCone series span from 1977, so this is one of the earlier ones (1984) in a set that obviously has staying power.Our leading lady is a full-time employee of a law firm where she handles investigations along with more routine paralegal work, but she seemed pretty free to roam around as she chose, with or without a paying client.Sharon's a just-thirty single private eye in the mode of Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone or Karen Kijewski's Kat Colorado and reminded me of both of them, although indeed Sharon may have come first.

Our copy of the hardback was just 150 pages long, so it wasn't too long nor too complicated a tale.There seemed to be few recurring support characters and most of the story took place in California, but away from home base in San Francisco.The plot featured a couple of murders and some older questionable deaths spiced things up a little, but in general we found the book, while reasonably enjoyable, a little lackluster by modern standards.We might be inclined to check out a more recent work and see if that might be more satisfying before reading the set from the start forward.So -- not bad, but a rather typical entree in the female private eye genre...

Sharon heads south in the 4th book of the series
Marcia Muller pioneered the female PI sub-genre with Sharon McCone.For that alone, true mystery fans need to read at least a few of the books in the series.This book isn't exactly typical (of the ones I've read so far) in that most of the action takes place in a fictional fishing town several hours south of SF.Many of the regulars in Sharon's life are only seen in a glimpse but the new folks are plenty interesting.

The mystery is both simple and complex.How so?When the killer is unveiled, it wasn't anyone I'd put on my list (the surprise) but I kicked myself for not considering that person (in hindsight, there had been enough clues).

I listened to the unabridged audiotape of this book, narrated by a woman named Dunn.It may be a matter of personal taste but I found her narration to be technically correct but so flat in emotion that I suspect it detracted from my enjoyment of the book.I'll be reading the paper versions in the future.

Wonderfully crafted
Sharon McCone is one of the most interesting female sleuths in the genre - and among the most honest and likeable.Here, her personal integrity will not allow her to ignore the fate of a young dead woman and Sharon takes it upon herself to solve the murder.This is a good, solid series to work through.Most highly recommended for a compelling and exciting read. ... Read more

Product Description
There's trouble in Sharon McCone's quiet San Francisco apartment building. Madame Anya, with her cards, her tame crow, and her candles, had predicted evil for Molly Antonio. Linnea Carraway, drinking heavily and careening crazily in the wake of a divorce, had argued with her. Now the sweet, elderly lady lies in her apartment. Linnea, last to see Molly alive, is the prime suspect and if Sharon means to clear her best friend, she has to find the murderer fast. Suddenly death is in the cards, threatening Sharon's oldest friendship, her professional credibility-and her life. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

MARCIA MULLER AUDIOBOOK
The Book is great.The quality of the audiotapes (old, from some library collection) was not.Unfortunately most of her old books were not recorded digitally that I can find.However, the Sharon McCone series is really great.One of the first of the women PI series.I recommend you start as early in the series as you can, although all of her books can stand alone.

Part Millhone, part Plum, all lame...
I read lots of mysteries and there aren't too many I don't like. But Ask the Cards a Question by Marcia Muller is not one of my favorites.In fact, I'd classify it as rather lame.Ask the Cards is part of Muller's Sharon McCone series.Unfortunately, McCone seems part Kinsey Millhone and part Stephanie Plum--without the charm of either.

Sharon McCone is a private eye living in San Francisco.She resides in a studio apartment, which she is now sharing with her best friend Linnea.Linnea is having an alcoholic meltdown over a pending divorce.When a neighbor is murdered and the murder weapon is a cord that came from McCone's apartment, the PI starts an "unofficial" investigation.She fears that maybe Linnea killed her in an alcoholic rage.But there are also a host of other suspicious characters in the neighborhood including Mr. Moe (a local grocer), Anya Neverman (a fortune teller) and a number of men affiliated with the Sunrise Blind Center.

Ask the Cards is extremely lightweight and the plot is very predictable.At only 209 pages, there isn't much depth to the story.The characters aren't very likable, and that goes for McCone as well.I know this is a popular series, and the only thing I can assume is that this is one of Muller's earlier efforts and that she has improved with each book.I will give Muller another try--only because I picked up several of her books lately.However, I'm hoping for some improvement in her later works.

The second Sharon McCone Mystery
In this second installment of the series, Investigator Sharon McCone has taken in her friend Linnea, who has just gone through a traumatic divorce.Added to this, one of Sharon's favorite neighbors, Molly Antonio, has been found murdered.Sharon is asked to investigate the murder, and she finds a group of suspects including a neighborhood grocer, a neighborhood fortune-teller and her husband, and the people who live in a nearby center for the blind.As always, Muller sketches out her characters and plot in an efficient manner and writes an interesting and coherant mystery.

Ask the Cards a Question
"Ask the Cards a Question" is the second of the Sharon McCone novels by Marcia Muller following the groundbreaking "Edwin of the Iron Shoes" which introduced McCone as the first hard-boiled female private investigator. Molly Antonio, a tenant in Sharon's building is found dead by her husband, Gus. She had been strangled. With things slow at the All Soul's Legal Cooperative where Sharon works, she is able to work on the case. She finds quite a few suspects along the way. The ending is sure to surprise. "Ask the Cards a Question" is a fine addition to this long-running series.

A simpler version of Kinsey Millhone
This is my first McCone book, and my first impression is it is very similar in style to Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone, without quite as much of a hard edge.The writing style is simpler and faster to read than Grafton's, and the mystery was not too terribly hard to solve, given the abundance of bad characters (all of which being guilty of something).I was expecting McCone's houseguest to be the scapegoat, which never really happened.The interplay between McCone and the police was not very realistic.All in all, it was a fun read, but not extremely exciting.The story had the potential to be much more interesting. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Climax of a Trilogy
This is the third and final book of Marcia Muller's Joanna Stark trilogy, completing the saga of her art security expert's duel with her nemesis Parducci.The first was: "The Cavalier in White" and the second is "There Hangs the Knife."Actually, I liked the first one best and this one second of the 3.It's interesting to see Muller write of protagonists other than Sharon McCone--demonstrates her breadth of talent.Also, the Stark trilogy is heavily into the world of art and art theft as well as a series of books (like Sherlock Holmes vs. Professor Moriarty) with a continuing struggle between two characters (Stark and Parducci).Muller slowly and teasingly provides detail after detail to fill in the prior relationship between these two characters--considerably enlivening the tales.This book is a joy to read, and it's worth reading the entire trilogy.Enjoy! ... Read more

Product Description
When a priceless collection of sacred Torah scrolls turns up at a San Francisco flea market, Sharon McCone is called upon to protect sidewalk sale kingpin Willie Whelan from a stalker and a band of fanatical killers. Reissue. PW. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Danger in a flea market
Investigator Sharon McCone has been asked to do an assignment in which she'll work with Willie Whelan, a man who sells goods at flea markets.Willie is concerned because a man is stalking him and he wants Sharon to find out why.As she begins the investigation, the stalker is killed and Willie is the chief suspect.Sharon begins to uncover some strange occurrences in connection with the murdered man, and before it's all over her own life is put in jeopardy.This is a good mystery which Marcia Muller fans will want to read and it has some romance thrown in for good measure.

Solid entry in the Sharon McCone series
Sharon McCone has a difficult assignment.Why is a man in a suit and a yarmulke following Willie - flea market entrepanuer extradinaire?What unfolds is a short (152 pages) but tightly woven tale of torahs, player pianos, Vietnam PTSD, cabins in the Santa Cruz mountains and Sharon's ability to see the connections.It's a solid (not stellar) book in the series.As a native of the Bay Area, I enjoy her musings about the locale as much as the story and she goes some pretty interesting places in this episode.Also, Don the DJ from Games to Keep the Dark Away is back so we have a little romance for Sharon.

Leave a Message for Willie
"Leave a Message for Willie" is the fifth novel in the Sharon McCone series by Marcia Muller.Willie Whelan is a vendor, who is also a fence, at the Saltflats Flea Market.He hires McCone to check on a man wearing a yarmulke who has been hanging around Willie's stall.The man, Jerry Levin, claims he is working for a group that recovers stolen Torahs.Later that day Levin is found dead in Whelan's garage.Willie becomes the major suspect in this murder, and Sharon McCone must find the real killer.All the Sharon McCone mysteries are well-plotted, and the characters, especially McCone, make them a pleasure to read."Leave a Message for Willie" is a very good novel. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Second Joanna Stark book
This is the second book of Marcia Muller's Joanna Stark trilogy, continuing the saga of her art security expert's duel with her nemesis Parducci.The first was: "The Cavalier in White" and the third is "Dark Star."Actually, I think this is my least favorite of the 3.Still, it's interesting to see Muller write of protagonists other than Sharon McCone--demonstrates her breadth of talent.Also, the Stark trilogy is heavily into the world of art and art theft as well as a series of books (like Sherlock Holmes vs. Professor Moriarty) with a continuing struggle between two characters (Stark and Parducci).Muller slowly and teasingly provides detail after detail to fill in the prior relationship between the two characters--considerably enlivening the tales.It's worth reading the entire trilogy.Enjoy! ... Read more

Product Description
Short stories by more than twenty-five diverse authors, including John Jakes, Elmore Leonard, Evan Hunter, Loren D. Estleman, John D. MacDonald, and Marcia Muller, represent some of the best stories about the West ever written. ... Read more

Product Description
In 1977, Marcia Muller invaded the all-male domain of detective literature and within a decade was established as the mother of the female hardboiled private eye. She is now the author of four detective series, including the critically acclaimed Sharon McCone series of more than two dozen novels.

This collection critically assesses Marcia Muller's writing and reevaluates current critical views on women's detective fiction in general. In the first two of the book's three sections, essays explore Muller's engagement with modern and postmodern feminism, ethnicity, and the socially underprivileged. The third section focuses on one of Muller's major themes, the trauma of history. Drawing from the feminist, historicist, mythic, psychoanalytic, and cultural approaches found in all three sections, the conclusion offers a panoramic perspective on Muller's accomplishments. ... Read more