From Library Journal
Muller's 22d Sharon McCone mystery packs plot, personality, and lots of life's messiness into the continuing saga of the San Francisco private investigator. After her brother's suicide, Sharon investigates the puzzling suicide of Roger Nagasawa, the middle of three sons in a wealthy family of Japanese descent. Basing his logic on a successful case in Japan, Roger's bereaved father wants Sharon to find evidence supporting a wrongful death suit against Roger's employer, InSite, a high-pressure dot-com with abusive personnel practices. After gathering information from the family, Roger's apartment, and Roger's friend Jody, Sharon gains undercover access to the InSite establishment itself with the help of her friend J.D. Smith. Webmaster Dinah Vardon, who years before jilted Roger, embodies ruthless, amoral ambition. Sharon shrewdly uncovers why certain people might deliberately undermine the company, as well as an embezzlement and fraud scheme that leads to J.D.'s murder. Subplots and Sharon's introspection add a counterbalance of maturity, intelligence, and emotion to the well-plotted story. Gay couple Ted and Neal, two of Sharon's employees, add humor and humanity. Highly recommended. Michelle Foyt, Russell Lib., Middletown, CT
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Hard-edged and acerbic private eye Sharon McCone has been around for 25 years, since her debut in the highly successful Edwin of the Iron Shoes. Twenty-two mysteries later, McCone remains one of the most popular of hard-boiled female private eyes. Still, she can be sort of grating at times, and, to some ears at least, her tough-guy responses don't always ring quite true. You don't have to be a card-carrying McCone fan, however, to appreciate the tightness of plot and wealth of intriguing background in her latest adventure. Just after McCone's underachieving brother commits suicide at 45--a tragedy to which she reacts in typical, tight-lipped fashion--a criminal defense attorney friend asks McCone to investigate a death that is strongly suggestive of suicide. The Japanese American family of the victim, a young writer who fell to his death from the Bay Bridge, files a wrongful death suit claiming karoshi, death from overwork. As McCone investigates, she uncovers a brutal atmosphere of corporate hazing, infighting, and sabotage that may have led to suicide or murder. Connie Fletcher
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About the Author
Marcia Muller has written many novels and short stories. She has won six Anthony Awards, a Shamus Award, and is also the recipient of the Private Eye Writers of America's Lifetime Achievement Award as well as the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Award (their highest accolade). She lives in northern California with her husband, mystery writer Bill Pronzini.
