So here's the thing. I've been reading Marcia Muller for nigh on 20 years now but I did take a break. For about 5 years. I was cruising through the sale books on Nook and I saw a bunch of Muller's titles. I suddenly missed Sharon McCone, the hard-boiled San Francisco PI and her hippie collective. Even though McCone has become more a corporate investigator than collective member, she still belongs in that rare category of uncompromising professional females. Like V.I. Warshawski. Like Nina O'Reilly. LIke Kinsey Millhone. McCone doesn't do the cutesy "hey I'll investigate while married with children." No hunky, hunky heros to look out for these ladies--they kick ass all on their own. All the while loving difficult men and the complex relationships that sometimes work and sometimes don't. It's not that I hate the status quo, it's just nice not to have it shoved down my throat, or see my demographic as the pool of murder victims. It's nice to see the protagonist choose a lifestyle other than suburban living and children. That being said, McCone and the gang are in fine form, pursuing answers to a suicide which leads to murder which leads to conspiracy. Only McCone can ferret out the truth. With the city of San Francisco, a character in it's own right, as the back drop, I have to confess....I didn't mind the slow parts because I just cruised Craigslist for San Francisco apartments and reminisced about my days living in the Upper Richmond. I'll kick down bad streets in San Fran with McCone and love every minute.This wasn't the best McCone mystery ever. That will always be Pennies on a Dead Woman's Eyes as far as I"m concerned. Like Paretsky and Grafton, though, time with a middle of the road mystery by Muller is still better than the best efforts of other contemporary mystery writers.
Another great Sharon McCone story.Sharon McCone has decided to throw herself into work so she can get past her brother's suicide, but the wrongful-death suit she is working on hits too close to home. It's a civil case in which the family of a young 'zine em-ployee claims his suicide was the result of his company's treatment of him. In his final journal entry, Roger Nagasawa describes his fatal plunge from the San Francisco Bridge as being "swept away from sadness." With the help of her friend, J.D. Smith, McCone investigates the InSite offices and soon learns of its publisher's less-than-professional activities. She also learns that Roger had been afraid for his life since he was a witness to computer espionage. Faced with the death of her friend, Smith, and the sudden disappearance of Roger's associate, McCone must keep one step ahead of the game and solve this mystery-or else become the next victim
What do You think about Dead Midnight (2003)?
I didn't know this was a series of detective novels, I picked it up from SOE's book exchange. I think I'd like to try others. This is an interesting story about someone who jumped off the Bay Bridge while working for an on-line zine and the family wants to blame the way the company was run to sue them. There are good twists & though as a reader you cannot solve the mystery you also don't feel like she's pulling something from left field that totally makes you feel you aren't left out in the cold as a reader.
—Maggie
In the 21st installment of Marcia Muller's Sharon McCone PI series, Dead Midnight, Sharon tackled her toughest case yet. After the suicide death of her brother, she plunged herself into work, when the next case hit too close to home. She investigated the death of Roger Nagasawa, who was a brilliant employee on an online magazine. In his last post, he blamed his death on the treatment of his employers, when he jumped off the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. From there, she learned shocking secrets when she looked into Roger's life and needed to get down to the bottom of the mess, before she became the next one to disappear.
—Kristen
