#14 in the Sharon McCone series. This novel appears to mark a watershed for author Muller. The book was the winner of the 1994 Anthony Award for Best Mystery and was short-listed for the Edgar, Shamus, and Dilys awards. Sharon's long time legal cooperative employer is changing and wants Sharon to assume a position she doesn't want - although she also doesn't want to quit All Souls. Her lover Hy Ripinsky has disappeared and as she searches for him, she again questions their relationship. The author photo on the book jacket caught my eye, Marcia Muller adopted a shorter, more attractive and sophisticated hair style. A little research revealed that she had also just married fellow author Bill Pronzini. Quite a year.Sharon McCone series - On a case that winds through her personal history, Sharon hides out in her childhood home near San Diego and crosses Mexican border to end up facing a future quite different than what she might have predicted. All Souls Legal Cooperative, long Sharon's employer, is assuming a corporate air; the partners want their unconventional investigator to move into an administrative position. At the same time, her lover Hy Ripinsky disappears. She traces him to a slick security firm for whom he apparently agreed to deliver the $2 million ransom to the abductors of the CEO of a biotech company. The security outfit is convinced Hy has stolen the ransom; Sharon, unsure of anything, says she'll find him and get back the money. Evading their suspicious operatives and the cops, she infiltrates southern California's community of illegals, makes some valuable friends and fierce enemies and learns the extent of her own resources.
"Beware of the wolf in the shadows. He is watchful and patient, and when he catches you he will eat you up - skin and bones and heart."I read Wolf in the Shadows by Marcia Muller for the Book Awards Challenge II. This book was published in 1993 and won the Anthony Award in 1994.This book is a Sharon McCone mystery and it chronicles ten days in her life. Sharon is a private investigator for All Souls Legal Cooperative in San Francisco. Her lover, Hy Ripinsky, has disappeared and she is searching for him. At the same time, All Souls offers her a “promotion” - a desk job managing investigators and paralegals, and that doesn’t hold much appeal for her. Sharon’s search for Hy leads her to RKI, a security agency with questionable practices. Hy was delivering a 2 million dollar ransom for RKI when he went missing, so they assumed he’d stolen it. Sharon agrees to find Hy, but first she must shake the agents RKI has tailing her. Through a series of twists and turns (I don’t want to spoil the plot), the mystery is solved and Sharon finds herself with two jobs to consider - one with All Souls and another with RKI.This book is fun read with a complex plot that kept my interest throughout. Mystery lovers will enjoy it, like I did.
In the 14th installment of Marcia Muller's Sharon McCone series, Wolf in the Shadows, things were looking up for Sharon in her life. All Souls wanted to promote her with a raise and give her a desk for a career opportunity. She loved her new home in San Francisco. She also felt happy and secure with her relationship with Hy, until he disappeared suddenly. Since Sharon was torn about her job, she decided to go find Hy and learn about RKI, an international search-and-rescue firm, and bring her brother John to search for him from California to Mexico, while learning more surprising twists and turns along the way.
—Kristen
WOLF IN THE SHADOWS - ExMuller, Marcia - 14th in seriesOn a case that winds through her personal history, San Francisco investigator Sharon McCone hides out in her childhood home near San Diego and crosses, not always legally, the U.S.-Mexican border to end up facing a future quite different than what she--or we--might have predicted. All Souls Legal Cooperative, long Sharon's employer, is assuming a corporate air; the partners want their unconventional investigator to move into a more administrative position. At the same time, her lover Hy Ripinsky disappears. She traces him to a slick security firm for whom he apparently agreed to deliver the $2 million ransom to the abductors of the CEO of a biotech company about to market a cancer drug. The drug, extracted from dolphin cartilage, has roused the fear and ire of environmentalist groups with whom Hy had once been associated. The high-tech security outfit is convinced Hy has stolen the ransom; Sharon, unsure of anything, says she'll find him and get back the money. Evading their suspicious operatives and the cops, she infiltrates southern California's community of illegals, makes some valuable friends and fierce enemies and learns in a final, breathtaking confrontation the full extent of her own resources.1994 Top Reads List - this is really a step forward in Muller's writing.
—LJ
Another great, exciting book in this series.Just when All Souls Legal Cooperative hands her a promotion that will tie her to an uninspiring desk job, Sharon McCone's main squeeze, Hy Ripinsky, disappears.An environmentalist, he seemingly consented to deliver a two million dollar ransom demanded by the kidnappers of a biotech biggie.Putting her career crisis on hold, Sharon discovers Hy's abandoned plane, wrecked rental car and the intrigues of a shady international security firm.From her family's home in San Diego to an opulent villa on the Mexican coast to the treacherous canyons stretching across the border, she'll search for clues.Soon, caught in the gunsight of a cunning killer, she'll have to make hair-trigger choices about her future, her life, and everything she holds dear.
—Nancy
