Marcia MullerKirja-arvosteluja

Circle in the Water: A Sharon McCone Mystery by Marcia Muller finds Sharon working a complicated case involving private street ownership. In San Franciso, there are more than 200 streets that are owned by private individuals or entities. As these streets are not city property, they are lucrative targets for land speculators and others.

As the book opens, it is almost midnight Halloween, and Sharon McCone is on a stake out. Being a co-owner of the agency with her husband, Hy Ripinsky, who is currently overseas, she is out in the rain so that she does not have to fool with trick-or-treaters and somebody else does not miss a party or spending time with their kids this dark night. The rain fits her mood. One that she has been in for months now. A mood that she can’t really explain to herself or others that have noticed.

She is on Rowan Court trying to prevent another vandalism attack. McCone & Ripinsky International has been hired by the wealthy homeowners on the street to stop a rash of vandalism that has been happening to their homes and vehicles. Not just stop it, but identify the culprits and why they are doing it. One of their members has been reaching out to other folks and have discovered that this sort of thing is happening on other private streets, rich and poor, across the city.

Soon McCone finds things are linked across various neighborhoods. Events start to move forward and become deadly.

Circle in the Water: A Sharon McCone Mystery is a complicated and often slow-moving read. At least a third of the book, if not more, consists of reminisces of previous cases and things that happened to McCone, Hy, and many others in the past, and an acknowledgment and recognition of how far all those involved have come in the here and now. Even if one had not seen the guest post by the author at SleuthSayers announcing this book is the end of the series, it is clear with the way the book unfolds for the reader.

It is also a good read. The case is complicated and chugs along at a semi steady pace between the many memories of the past. Circle in the Water: A Sharon McCone Mystery ends the series well.

My ARC reading copy came from the publisher, Grand Central Publishing, via NetGalley with no expectation of a review.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2024

I should have read earlier books in the series, rather than starting with this one. I was not familiar with the characters, so didn't really feel as connected as if I read the series regularly. Plot was okay, but this was my second mystery with a character who couldn't communicate, so the novelty was not enough

Years ago, I read the Sharon McCone mysteries regularly. She was one of the first fictional tough female PIs. Then school, work, life interfered and I got away from reading them. It’s been a while since I picked one up and Sharon has come a long way from her first book in 1977 when she was a San Francisco PI, on staff at a legal cooperative. She is married and in partnership with her husband, has her own agency with staff and resources, including a plane. There are 30 books in the series.

In this case, there has been vandalism on some of the privately owned streets (who knew some were privately owned?) in the city and Sharon has been hired to find the culprit. Her investigation puts her in danger as she doggedly pursues the truth

Not a heart racing thriller, this is more a solid mystery procedural. It is a fast read and taps into some of the present difficulties in SF with housing prices and homelessness.

Thanks to @netgalley and #grandcentralpublishing for the DRC.

Another solid effort from Marcia Muller. This one revolves around flying and aviation and Hy is present for a lot of the action. Maybe McCone is finally learning that she can't do it all on her own.½

"Are you sure they'll clear the bank?" Ted Smalley, All Souls's office manager, held the check that I'd just handed him up to his desk lamp and squinted at it. I folded my arms and tried to look severe. "Do I know this person?" he asked himself. "She looks like the old Sharon, in spite of the haircut. She talks like her too. But McCone Investigations? A separate business checking account? Rent for an office suite? Pretty strange stuff, if you ask me."

Love just about anything from this period of time, and since I could never find fault with Muller or Pronzini, so how could I not read and like this mystery novel? So I did. Never set it down, except once to fill my coffee cup. Characters, most especially John Quincannon and Sabina Carpenter, our illustrious detectives, turn this late 18th century Chicago into a most excellent backdrop for two of the most interesting detectives to come to our attention. Smart, with interesting quirks and personalities, and super skills at what they do, and the history of the 18th Century to provide the texture, a great plot can hardly miss. And it doesn't. And, by the way, S. Holmes' cameo appearance only adds to a terrific tale.

In a remote CA county, crimes against Native American women are being ignored by the local sheriff. McCone is asked to investigate and finds that the crimes committed are well beyond her initial tasks. She and her team end up challenging most of the county's blue bloods and local law enforcement. Crisp and brisk in true McCone fashion, she takes them down in a grand finale.

Two star rating says it all.....

I really liked this book, but Muller lost me with the ending. SPOILER: The culprit was someone that hadn't been talked about in forever and never talked about all that much during the entire book. It seemed to come out of nowhere and seemed really contrived. Other than that, the characters really showed development and I enjoyed that. Plus the story was compelling. Just that ending. Didn't work for me.½

"Looking for Yesterday" by Marcia Muller is the first book by this author that I have read. Even though I had not read previous novels in the Sharon McCone Mystery series, I did not find myself lost or confused by not reading the previous novels. There were references made to the past history of Sharon McCone (which I assume were covered in previous novels), but it was written in such a way, as to not make the reader feel that they were missing important information.
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. The plot was interesting and had me intrigued from the first page to the last. I love a mystery had me guessing until the end. The characters were realistic based on their actions, thoughts and feelings. I loved the San Francisco setting, as it's one of my favorite places in the world to visit! Will definitely read the additional books in the Sharon McCone Mystery series.

quick read, entertaining but not too memorable.

This book addresses the crisis of Native women disappearing or being murdered and no one really investigating. It was a really enjoyable read.½

Not one of her best, but still a solid story. I found some of the characters to be very flat and unrealistic, though.

I read this book because I'm told it is the first mystery with a female PI (1979), beyond the cozy genre. It was an interesting read, but toward the end I wanted it done though. The antagonism between Sharon Malone and the cop was a bit over-done in the "oh, geez, they're actually attracted to one another" mold. I think it would be interesting to read this whole series in order to see how Malone develops. It has to be fascinating to see the changes in how women are perceived and "accepted" into a non-traditional role develops throughout this series. It makes me think of Charlies Angels and the development of the mystery genre on TV and books as they relate to women. Did TV help the novel or did the novel help spur on the portrayal of women?

I might have rated this higher (lots of twists and turns), but it was an audio book and the woman who was doing the different characters started getting on my last nerve. Plus her interpretation of black characters was downright offensive. Good story but bad audio book execution.½

Sharon investigates the murders of Indigenous women in remote California county.

A good solid read. I like the McCone character enough that I'm going back through the earlier works. This one is different because it gets her out of San Francisco. You can tell a lot of research went into it in describing the Sacramento Delta and the historic town of Locke with its rural Chinese settlement. The story was a bit convoluted and most of the characters were very unlikeable, but it was a good diversion.½

First novel I've read by this author. Was a decent read. I will read other books by her.

I started to read this book thought it was quite good and decided to check up how many books there are in this series since I'm new to it. The Color of Fear is book 32. Yikes, let's face it there is a lot of history between the characters and here I come stumbling into it and trying to make sense of it all. However, it was not that hard, despite all new names, relationships, and past events. I'm actually a bit impressed that I so easily could get into the story, keep the characters apart and enjoy the book. It's not always that easy when you start with a book with that many books previously published.

The Color of Fear was for me a fast read, it's not a thick book, and the story is pretty straightforward, not a book with many twists or shocking revelations. However, I enjoyed reading it because of its simplicity and interesting families ties with Sharon McCone having two families since she was adopted as a baby. It's a book that made me curious to read more, read the books from the beginning to discover the story from its start.

For me was The Color of Fear a perfect between the books kind of reading. I read it fast, and I quite enjoyed for a moment reading something lighter and I wouldn't mind reading more books in the series.

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy for an honest review!

I still enjoy Marcia Müller, although the books are getting very referential to previous books in the series.

Another good Sharon McCone mystery. This is an older book and it is somewhat jarring to hear several of the characters described as "Oriental," a term which is now considered offensive by some, but it does not detract from the story. Also jarring is how misogynistic the character of ex-boyfriend cop Greg comes across as. Good characters and not overly predictable.½

Hy's old partner, beleived dead, shows up. An abandoned house burns. Are cases connected to Hy's activities in SE Asia years earlier?

The introduction to this book points out that it is a collection of short stories written over a period of years. As such, it was easy to see the growth and development of Muller as the quality of her stories continued to improve. In fact, after reading the first three or four stories, I doubt very much if I would have finished the book if I had not been given the hope that they would improve.
The first stories really ought not to have been included in this collection; they were very inferior to those that followed and gave me serious doubts about reading forward. They were replete with tired cliched settings, events and characters and included a lot of extraneous information that had no impact whatsoever on the story being told. Later stories committed none of these offences. The writing became tight, the cliches were gone and the datails and information all related to carrying the stories forward. In fact, the latter stories were altogether more engaging than those that came before.
What is especially impressive about the book was the range of the stories told: different time periods, different setttings, occasional westerns and suspence stories in addition to the detective, mystery stories that were the primary offering i this book. I think that if the first few stories had simply not been included, this book would have rated an additional star rating, but, as it stands, I couldn't bring myself to think any higher of the volume.

40 years of Marcia Muller writing Sharon McCone mysteries and they are still good! Indigenous women in a far north CA county are being murdered and raped. Sharon goes in undercover to find the culprits. She’s still a bit of a superwoman but an enjoyable read.

The most interesting thing about this book is the title.