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Summary: Listen to the Silence
Review: "Listen to the Silence" is the 21st Sharon McCone novel by Marcia Muller. I think that this novel is one of the best, if not the very best, of this long-running series. While cleaning her father's attic after his death, she finds papers which document that she was adopted by the McCones. She decides to look for her birth parents and her investigation takes her from Montana to Boise, Idaho to Modoc County in northern California. Someone doesn't want her to find out the truth, and Sharon finds her life is in danger as she gets closer to the truth. This novel is fast-paced and the mystery of her birth parents keeps the reader turning the pages. This novel by this wonderful author is highly recommended.
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Summary: The Marvelous Evolution of Sharon McCone
Review: Being a mystery writer whose first book is in its initial release, I have been fascinated by Marcia Muller's work and her evolving Sharon McCone character since I first began reading this series nearly two decades ago. Over the course of nearly two dozen books, Muller has allowed Sharon McCone to grow up and mature from a quasi-counter-culture twentysomething woman working as a PI for a nonprofit San Francisco legal clinic into the fortysomething owner of her own private investigation agency. Muller has pulled off this transformation more convincingly than I have seen in the works of any other mystery author.In LISTEN TO THE SILENCE, Muller adds fresh twists to McCone's background. Upon the death of her father, McCone discovers why she is the only child in her family who appears to be Shoshone. The reason is simple and obvious. She was adopted by the McCones and her birth family's roots rest on a Native American reservation. McCone's discovery of her adoption launches her on one of her most fascinating investigations. I found this book engrossing, and I was once more amazed at how Marcia Muller manages to add new facets to one of the classic characters in contemporary mystery fiction. I recommend this book highly.
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Summary: One of Marcia's best
Review: For a while, I was reminded of Yvette Melanson's true story "Looking for Lost Bird" and maybe that's where Marcia Muller got her inspiration for this fork in the Sharon McCone series? The book doesn't have the depth of Sherman Alexie - but, hey! It's a fine branch in the "whodunit" genre. This was my first Marcia Muller/ Sharon McCone book. It was easy to get into because the book takes the series off on a new path, so the new reader needn't be familiar with lots of background.
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Summary: Mass Production
Review: Marcia Muller writes like somebody who has just accomplished a 3 week seminar on how to become a "bestselling author". This book is based on three ideas: The adopted child's search for its biological parents, a bit of Indian culture & history (esp. Shoshons) and, finally, the truth in the unspoken. Muller adds to this meat some ketchup (e.g. an unrealistically friendly friend Hy) and cheese. Sharon McCone, the protagonist, seems to know in advance what people try to hide from her. At the end of the 342 pages, what a surprise, she knows everything. Muller's prose is completely uninspired and uninspiring. Compared to the contemporary witty and intellectually rich European crime fiction (Henning Mankell, Maj Sj?wall, Per Wahl??, Wolf Haas) this book is just boring mass production. My conclusion: No more Marcia Muller!
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Summary: Tracing Native American heritage through lies
Review: Private Detective Sharon McCone takes herself as a client when she learns she's adopted and determines to track down her birth family. She discovers a mystery that means danger even today, but finds lies everywhere--even from those whom she likes and seem to like her. McCone's travels take her from San Francisco to Indian reservations in Montana, to remote areas of Northern California. Marcia Muller does a fabulous job describing the cultural divide between affluent America and the Native American culture McCone discovers is her birth heritage. Fortunately, Muller resists the urge to make Indians noble savages. Even they can lie. Only when McCone learns to listen to the silence, the hesitations when her contacts refuse to go forward, can she plumb the real secrets of her birth and of the destruction that seems to follow her. Excellent
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Summary: A new life for Sharon McCone
Review: Sharon always knew that she was part Shoshone, growing up. She took a funny pride in realizing how much she looked like her Shoshone great-grandmother rather than the rest of the siblings in the McCone clan. That pride is seen in a whole new light when her father's death raises questions about her birth. Her exploration of the mystery takes her into the past, looking for the secrets of her heritage. Yet another well-written renewal for the Sharon McCone series. Muller is perhaps better than any other writer at letting her character really evolve. I look forward to the books that will follow the material here.
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Summary: A Fresh Side to Sharon McCone
Review: Sharon McCone doesn't just look like a Shoshone. She is one. Throughout this highly successful mystery series, Marcia Muller has run this continuing tread of her private detective possessing the appearance of a Shoshone ancestor. In Listen to the Silence, Muller reveals why. Sharon's father dies, and she discovers in his papers a truth that had been hidden from her all of her life. Seeking more of this truth, Sharon travels to the Shoshone reservation. There, she encounters deeply buried secrets and homicides that need to be solved. This book is my favorite McCone novel. I enjoyed the socio-cultural aspects of the mystery and as well as the plot. Muller's dialog is always first-rate. Listen to the Silence is a fine mystery novel by a terrific mystery author.
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Summary: Fast, Interesting Read
Review: This was my first Muller book and I selected it because of the American Indian influence. Not sure how I'd like her others, but I wasn't disappointed in this. I saw that one person picked it apart. Too bad. You see that most people liked it and I'd take a chance. I thought it was clever and is one of my favorite mysteries. Sharon will stay with you, especially if you have even a passing interest in Indian issues. She doesn't go to deep in that either, but it's pleasant.
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Summary: Fast, Interesting Read
Review: This was my first Muller book and I selected it because of the American Indian influence. Not sure how I'd like her others, but I wasn't disappointed in this. I saw that one person picked it apart. Too bad. You see that most people liked it and I'd take a chance. I thought it was clever and is one of my favorite mysteries. Sharon will stay with you, especially if you have even a passing interest in Indian issues. She doesn't go to deep in that either, but it's pleasant.
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Summary: Sharon seeks her roots
Review: When Sharon McCone's father dies, he leaves a request that Sharon be the one to go through his papers. When she does, she finds some shocking information about her past which plunges her into anger and disbelief and causes her to search for answers to questions she didn't know she needed to ask. Sharon has always known that she is part Shoshone Indian and her investigation brings her face to face with her Native American relatives. Greed, prejudice and corruption are all uncovered as Sharon seeks out her identity. Her lover Hy is at her side, as always, but the McCones oppose her quest. This book marks an interesting twist in the long-running Sharon McCone series, but watching Sharon try to solve her own mystery is not as intriguing as watching her solve other people's. Still, this is an important book for Marcia Muller fans.
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