Book 7


Book 10

The Shape of Dread

by Marcia Muller

Published 1 December 1989

Book 11

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.

Book 12

Where Echoes Live

by Marcia Muller

Published 1 July 1991
A new mystery featuring American private investigator Sharon McCone, who here investigates the finding of a corpse in a lake which is at the centre of a heated battle between developers and local conservationists. Follows THERE'S SOMETHING IN A SUNDAY.

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 26

Burn Out

by Marcia Muller

Published 1 October 2008

Traumatised by the events that took place in The Ever-Running Man, Sharon McCone decides to take an extended holiday at her ranch in California's high desert country. Though she plans to contemplate her future, McCone soon becomes distracted by a troubled yet highly secretive Native American woman.
When traces of violence at an abandoned resort lead directly back to the mysterious woman, the county sheriff's deputy handling the case asks McCone for assistance. The investigation leads McCone across the state and back to her own ranch where imminent danger lies closer than she ever expected and where her future and her life itself may hang in the balance.


Book 32

The Color of Fear

by Marcia Muller

Published 2 August 2017

In New York Times bestselling author Marcia Muller's captivating new mystery, private detective Sharon McCone's investigation hits closer to home than ever before...

When a knock on the door in the middle of the night wakes Sharon, she's wholly unprepared for the horrifying news: her father has been the victim of a vicious, racially-motivated attack.

A nationally recognized Shoshone artist, Elwood had been visiting Sharon for the holidays, browsing for gifts in San Francisco's exclusive Marina district when he was set upon by a mob of angry young men. Now he lies in a coma, hovering between life and death.

With little progress on the investigation from the overworked, short-handed police, Sharon resolves to track down Elwood's attackers herself. But when Sharon begins receiving hate-filled, racist threats from a shadowy group, it becomes clear that her pursuit of justice may be putting her own life in jeopardy...


Games to Keep the Dark Away

by Marcia Muller

Published 30 September 1985
A new paperback Sharon McCone mystery, in which the detective is hired by a reclusive photographer to find his missing roommate, and when she is found dead, McCone has to confront numerous suspects.

Coming Back

by Marcia Muller

Published 28 October 2010
In Locked In, San Francisco private eye Sharon McCone was shot in the head and suffered from locked-in syndrome: almost total paralysis but an alert, conscious mind. Now, in COMING BACK, Sharon struggles to regain control over her body. Impatient with her progress, Sharon wants everything to go back to normal, although she suspects that it won't be possible to return to her old life. Meanwhile, Sharon's relationships are suffering. Her husband Hy Ripinsky 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 finally forces Sharon to confront her greatest fears

Ask the Cards a Question

by Marcia Muller

Published 1 January 1982

Edwin of the Iron Shoes

by Marcia Muller

Published 1 January 1977
When an elderly antiques dealer is murdered, Muller's popular P.I. Sharon McCone follows a killer's trail to a museum where San Francisco's most elegant socialites gather. Muller and McCone are still the class of the field.--San Diego Union-Tibune.

Dead Midnight

by Marcia Muller

Published 19 June 2002
Sharon McCone has decided to throw herself into work so she can get past her brother's suicide, but the wrongful-death suit she is working on hits too close to home. It's a civil case in which the family of a young 'zine employee claims his suicide was the result of his company's treatment of him. In his final journal entry, Roger Nagasawa describes his fatal plunge from the San Francisco Bridge as being "swept away from sadness."

With the help of her friend, J.D. Smith, McCone investigates the InSite offices and soon learns of its publisher's less-than-professional activities. She also learns that Roger had been afraid for his life since he was a witness to computer espionage. Faced with the death of her friend, Smith, and the sudden disappearance of Roger's associate, McCone must keep one step ahead of the game and solve this mystery -- or else become the next victim.


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.

City Of Whispers

by Marcia Muller

Published 1 January 2011
Private eye Sharon McCone receives an e-mail asking for help from her emotionally disturbed half brother Darcy Blackhawk. She replies ...but gets no response. As Sharon digs deeper, she discovers that Darcy sent his message from an Internet cafe in San Francisco, a city he's never been to before. Sensing that her brother is in terrible danger, Sharon begins a search for him throughout the city. The investigation leads her to the body of a woman at the Palace of Fine Arts, where a witness had told her that Darcy was headed. Then, as she digs deeper, Sharon uncovers a connection to the unsolved murder of a young heiress to a multimillion-dollar banking fortune. Now Sharon must race to solve both murders and ensure her brother's safety, despite the imminent danger that lurks within her own family.

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.

Till the Butchers Cut Him Down

by Marcia Muller

Published 1 December 1994
The latest paperback Sharon McCone mystery sees the PI out on her own for the first time, determined to make her new agency a success, and a man from her past wants her to find out who is trying to kill him.

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.

The Broken Promise Land

by Marcia Muller

Published 1 July 1996
A new crime novel featuring private investigator Sharon McCone, who steps in to help her brother-in-law, country music star Ricky Savage, when he receives an anonymous threat, and discovers that he has some deadly enemies. Follows TILL THE BUTCHERS CUT HIM DOWN, WOLF IN THE SHADOWS and A WILD AND LONELY PLACE.