Book 18

Both Ends of the Night

by Marcia Muller

Published 1 July 1997
A full-fledged pilot for several years, Sharon McCone is due for the biannual flight review required by the FAA. Her former flight instructor, Matty Wildress, invites her to fly up to the small Sonoma County town of Los Alegres for the evaluation. The test isn't due for several months, however, and McCone suspects Matty has more than safe flying on her mind. She's right. Matty's live-in lover John Seabrook, has been gone for a week, abandoning his small son, Zach. In a desperate letter John entrusts the boy to Matty's care, urging them to go into hiding immediately. But Matty is a professional and determined to perform in the last aerobatic air show of the year. Despite the extra security, something goes horribly wrong. Suddenly, an ordinary missing person case becomes a personal vendetta. Together with her lover, Hy Ripinsky, McCone bypasses the authorities to hunt down the man responsible for Matty's death. Her search will take her across the country as she uncovers the startling details of John Seabrook's past. From San Francisco to Florida to Arkansas to northern Minnesota, she'll unravel an insidious web of corruption between a major corporation and high government, where power and profit are supreme...and murder is a tool of the trade. And somewhere in the midst of it all, she'll confront a killer with a heart as cold and dark as the northern night.

Book 22

The Dangerous Hour

by Marcia Muller

Published 1 July 2004
Marcia muller's heroine Sharon mcCone is back to investigate a personal betrayal by one of her operatives that has put her business and reputation on the line.

Book 23

Vanishing Point

by Marcia Muller

Published 1 January 2006
In the latest installment of this acclaimed series, McCone is hired to investigate one of San Luis Obispo County's most puzzling cold cases. A generation ago, Laurel Greenwood, a housewife and artist, inexplicably vanished, leaving her young daughter alone. Now, new evidence suggests that the missing woman may have led a strange double life. But before McCone can penetrate the tangled mystery she must solve a second disappearance - that of her client - Laurel Greenwood's grown up daughter. The case which forces Sharon to examine the darker sides of two marriages comes close on the heels of her own recent marriage and she begins to question the wisdom of her impulsive trip to the Reno wedding chapel.

Wolf in the Shadows

by Marcia Muller

Published 1 July 1993
A further mystery to feature private eye Sharon McCone, who is issued with an ultimatum by her old employers - to take a promotion - a desk job designed to curb her often unorthodox behaviour - or leave, just when her new lover has gone missing.

A Wild and Lonely Place

by Marcia Muller

Published 1 August 1995
For months, the embassies of oil-rich nations have been the target of an elusive terrorist known only as the Diplo-Bomber. A federal task force, which includes one of Sharon McCone's closest police contacts, is stumped - until a botched bombing attempt threatens the San Francisco consulate of Azad, a progressive Arab emirate. At first McCone is thinking only of the $1 million reward offered by the FBI and the Azadis. But when she learns more about the consulate household, McCone suspects that someone inside the turbulent ruling family may be linked to the bombing. The Azadis' consul general is the western-educated Malika Hamid, one of only a few Muslim women to brave the world of international diplomacy. An intriguing mix of eastern traditions and modern ideas, Malika is fiercely controlling the lives of her playboy son and his beautiful, alcoholic American wife. Torn between her troubled parents is the lonely, nine-year-old Habiba, a mischievous imp of a girl who takes an immediate liking to McCone. When little Habiba disappears, McCone follows her trail to a desolate Caribbean island that has its own brand of justice. Now McCone and her allies, including her lover, Hy Ripinsky, find themselves in an arena far larger than any they have been in so far. Here McCone is risking not only her own life but those of many others as the mission takes her dangerously close to the edge of disaster. For this is a battle that could destabilize U.S. international relations - and one in which McCone must literally fight fire with fire...

While Other People Sleep

by Marcia Muller

Published 1 January 1998
With her agency going great guns, Sharon McCone is known as one of the best detectives in the business ... until her untarnished reputation is threatened by an impostor. A mysterious woman is handing out McCone's business cards, advising clients, and picking up men for intimate encounters. The woman's physical resemblance to McCone is uncanny. Her knowledge of McCone's life is chilling. More than professionally damaging, the situation is deeply disturbing even to the experienced McCone. Who is this strange woman and what does she want? To make matters worse, McCone's office manager, Ted Smalley, has been acting so oddly that his live-in lover asks McCone to investigate. With her own lover, Hy Ripinsky, away on business and an impersonator invading her life, McCone reluctantly agrees. Spying on Ted soon has her pondering the extent of a person's right to privacy. Then the issue is brought home when McCone's double breaks into her house, interferes with her family, and leads McCone on a terrifying game of cat and mouse through the bizarre nightside of San Francisco. Just as McCone begins to uncover Ted's desperate problem the impostor escalates her dirty tricks. With her professional detachment fast giving way to blinding rage, McCone must go one on one against an enemy with a sinister motive, an insidious plan ... and the kind of violent craziness that even a seasoned investigator may not foresee - or stop in time.

Trophies and Dead Things

by Marcia Muller

Published 1 January 1990
Another mystery featuring private investigator Sharon McCone. Four random killings take place in the San Fransisco Bay area, one of which is McCone's legal client, who has disinherited all his children in favour of four apparent strangers. As she tracks them down, a pattern emerges which leads back to Vietnam.