Coming Back (Sharon Mccone Mysteries)
by Marcia Muller- Hardcover: 304 pages
- Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; 1 edition (October 28, 2010)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0446581062
- ISBN-13: 978-0446581066
Genre: Mystery - Female PI
My Rating: 3.75 of 5.0
Product Description
In Locked In, San Francisco private eye Sharon McCone was shot in the head and suffered from locked-in syndrome: almost total paralysis but with an alert, conscious mind. Now, as Sharon struggles to regain control over her body, she wants everything to go back to normal, but realizes that it may not be possible to return to her old life. Meanwhile, Sharon's relationships are suffering. Her husband is impatient with her refusal to accept help and some of her colleagues doubt her abilities after the accident. But when Sharon's friend from physical therapy goes missing, she must call upon those closest to her to find out the truth behind the disappearance. The investigation soon points to issues of national security and proves to be the most dangerous and critical case yet for Sharon and her colleagues.
Review: A quick listen, satisfying mystery.
This is the first Marcia Muller/Sharon McCone mystery that I have read. I liked how the author presents the chapters with different characters, describing what is happening around that character, in thought and action.
When Sharon goes to find her friend from physical therapy, she finds that Piper has vanished over the weekend...along with every evidence that she was ever in the apartment. Sharon’s office administrator, a former San Francisco cop, Adah, comes to meet Sharon only to discover Sharon gone and to find herself in hand to hand combat before she is drugged and taken off.
Sharon feels guilty for having left the location before Adah arrived and that guilt is intensified by condemnation from Craig, another team member and Adah’s love. Now there are two snatched women to find and quickly! The clues lead to suspicion of a covert operations clean up and that makes everyone on edge as they realize what they are up against.
Even though I was not familiar with any of the characters and relationships the author gives a good picture of six of the team members. It was easy to catch on to the nuances of respect, frustration, envy, and other emotions. All of these are underlined with the sense of the “team” as they pull together to find one of their own who has been kidnapped. Although there are professional ties to the intrigue there are some pretty amateurish bad guys. Still, there is plenty of fast paced action as the team follows the leads. The author provides lots of details on the investigative process rather than dropping clues for the reader to figure out so this has a different feel than some mysteries where the reader has to try to unravel the clues. The “who”, “whys” and “whats” are all neatly wrapped up at the end.
The story moved very quickly and was a very easy listen on Audible. I can’t say I loved the narration as initially I thought the reading was rather flat. After a while I guess I was involved enough in the story that the narration didn’t bother me. (I got the book as hardcover for the review and maybe this is one that reads better than listens. However, I was very glad to be able to grab this 8 hr 16 min Audible format as I love to be able to listen while I do mindless chores like folding laundry.) I wouldn’t say this was a stunner of a read but it was a solid mystery and satisfying. I would read more of the McCone mysteries if I had spare time.
xxx
Thank you to Hachette for the book to read and review.
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