Burn Out

i just recently reread all the Mccones in order so it was timely when this last one was delivered to follow up from the Ever Running Man i've been reading Muller since 1995 or so, i've liked them all and reread them pretty much yearly. this one i will be looking forward to reread. it kept me entertained. good pacing, i like that she keeps giving updates on old characters and developing the loved ones. Excellent read!

When Sharon McCone started the All Souls Detective Agency in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco, its purpose was altruistic. Her team of family and friends set a goal to help people who fell through the cracks of the criminal justice system. They tracked down the bad guys the old-fashioned, gumshoe way: door knocking, rummaging through public records, mind- and butt-numbing stakeouts in unsavory places. Her clients tended to fly below the radar of the media and often the police. Over the years Sharon's reputation grew until she attracted a clientele who actually paid their bills. Her success coincided with the gentrification of San Francisco's waterfront until she now headed a large, high-tech agency out of a classy Pier office condominium. Listening devices, tracking sensors and a staff of computer geniuses who could hack into private systems were at her beck and call. They had hung up their gumshoes for night vision glasses and laptop computers connected via satellite. Her recent marriage to Hy Ripinsky, a former CIA operative with a worldwide clientele of his own, was partially responsible for the expansion. Business was booming, but did the personal risks outweigh the thrill of success? Their most recent breaking news, TV bulletin, media event capture of The Burning Man left her burned out. The terrorist bomber had killed one of her employees, destroyed her home and office, and she almost lost her own life. The incident also nearly ended her marriage. Depressed and suffering from nightmares, Sharon retreats to the peace and isolation of her ranch in the High Sierras, where she can come to terms with her future. She finds that the ranch caretakers, Ramon Perez and his wife, are facing a family crisis. Their drug-addicted niece, Hayley, disappears, then is found murdered. Hayley's promising younger sister also vanishes, and their mother commits suicide. Sharon offers to help find Amy and immediately is pulled into a dangerous situation that is much more complex than it seems. This time, she doesn't need her high-tech employees to help Ramon and his family. When two more local people die mysteriously, Sharon calls upon family members from her American Indian roots, and through the "moccasin highway" she finds the connection between these lost souls and the wealthy property owners near her ranch. The trail leads from Las Vegas to the vast reaches of the Toiyabe National Forest as Sharon finds herself right back in harm's way. Award-winning author Marcia Muller's tightly plotted mysteries continue to please her fans. BURN OUT shows us a favorite heroine uncharacteristically out of control at a stage in life nearly all of us reach at some point. She is able to return to her roots of helping people who would otherwise fall through those same cracks, whose lost lives might go unnoticed except by those closest to them. We might not have the resources to bounce back through such an adventurous re-entry into reality, but it certainly ma

Muller's latest book shows how far the author has come in her craft and highlights the uniqueness of this series. Few authors could pull off a novel where the heroine escapes to the country for some personal time out without subjecting the reader to introspective, sappy interludes. Even fewer can keep a heroine living on the edge after she's married. We don't get those long intimate scenes with Too Much Information. So what do we get? Muller's pacing seems to be sharper than ever. Sharon McCone continues to grow as a person and detective. I liked the scenes where Sharon decides to make friends with the horse who seems to dislike her so much. I also liked the scenes where Sharon pilots airplanes (including a brief moment when she enjoys teasing a police officer who's flying as a passenger). And of course we follow Sharon as she inevitably gets caught up in a mystery involving a range of characters from trailer dwellers to a wealthy East Coast magnate. Sharon combines her own peerless interviewing skills with a touch of "moccasin telegraph" and her nephew's special connection to the keyboard. McCone defies female stereotypes without making a fuss about it. She's not afraid to call in "markers" with a politically connected client to get something she needs. When she briefly reconnects with her father, she reports family feelings without a touch of sentimentality. Sharon is one straight-up gal. The plot was satisfying and the ending plausible. I suspect some readers will feel the solution was telegraphed but I say the author played fair and dropped hints. There's a tense scene where the suspense might seem too short and climax is, well, somewhat anti-climactic. If there's any flaw in the book, it's that penultimate chapter: plausible but not as hair-raising as a mystery reader might want. In another episode, Sharon's nephew Mick turns up surprising facts about someone who has been in the public spotlight for quite awhile. These days, it's hard to believe a sharp journalist would not have been sniffing around many years earlier. Stories can be buried but with the Internet, it's harder. So all in all, Burn Out was a deeply satisfying read. I'm writing this review in late October. If you're flying somewhere for the holidays, I'd save a few inches in a carry-on bag. But if you can hold off on picking up this book and reading all the way through, your willpower is a lot stronger than mine.

BURN OUT Marcia Muller Grand Central Publishing Hachette Book Group $24.99 - Hardback ISBN: 978-0-446-58107-3 309 pages Reviewer: Annie Slessman Sharon McCone, the main character of BURN OUT by Marcia Muller owns a private investigation service and has worked one to many cases. She is burned out and needs a break. She takes that break at a ranch she owns in California's high desert country. Determined not to do another investigation, her resolve is softened when her ranch manager's niece is murdered and another niece is missing. McCone's friendship with her ranch manager and his wife draws her into a commitment to both find the murderer of his niece and to find the missing child. During her investigation, she also finds her drive to once again engage the work she is meant to do. The storyline is a good one....the characterizations, vivid and believable. One feels an interactive quality while reading the story and the want to continually turn the page is ever present. The character of Sharon McCone is not a new one. She first appeared in 1977 has lead to THE EVER-RUNNING MAN, Muller's 25th novel which was quoted in The Chicago Tribune as "one of the treasurers of the genre." For the mystery readers out there, this one would be considered a must read. For those who just like a good story, well told, this is your book as well. In addition to the Sharon McCone novels, Muller is the author of three novels set in the fictional Soledad County, a remote stretch of the northern California coast. The Washington Post has cited Muller's work, Cape Perdido as one of the best mysteries of 2005. Muller lives with her husband, mystery writer Bill Pronzini, in northern California.

Still struggling from her harrowing experience (see THE EVER RUNNING MAN), depressed San Francisco based private investigator Sharon McCone decides to get some R & R at her Yosemite ranch while musing about her future. McCone wonders if perhaps it is time to quit the field operations sleuthing business and become a 100 percent executive desk potato; she knows she is fortunate to be alive as she suffers from post traumatic stress disorder. However, the ranch quickly proves tedious especially after the adrenaline higher than Nob Hill war she just fought. She soon gets involved in the case of her ranch manager Ramon Perez's nieces and their mother. One niece Haley was murdered while the other Amy and their alcoholic mother Miri vanished. McCone looks at the dysfunctional interrelationships between the family, but soon looks wider when two more murders and an apparent suicide seemingly but loosely related occur. BURN OUT is a perfect follow up to the excellent EVER RUNNING MAN; especially enlightening is McCone's inner thoughts re field work as she remains shook up from the recent traumatic events. Her spouse Hy Ripinsky, who feels guilt over what he put his wife through in the EVER RUNNING MAN, assists her though he would prefer she retire; her Shoshone family also helps on the case as the story line turns into a solid whodunit while McCone remains hesitant between desk and field. Harriet Klausner