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Over the years, Sharon McCone has become very real to me, thanks to the skill and craft of Marcia Muller, one of mystery's best authors. As McCone has aged and learned, she's become a complex adult, dealing with family, clients, the hassles of running a successful business. She's gone from the investigator at a law firm to become the head of McCone Investigations, and gone from snoop to administrator, and isn't sure she likes it. In BURN OUT, Sharon's gone to the ranch she and Hy Ripinsky own in California's desert. She's depressed and considering whether she really has the heart to run the agency any more. Hy's busy reorganizing the international firm that he inherited so he can't be with her. Usually Hy can pull her out of the dumps with his deep understanding of Sharon and his ability to call her on her rare lapses into self-deception. Here, she's only got a horse who hates her and the cautious friendship of Ramon, who's taken care of the ranch for years. One night, Sharon sees a young woman in trouble, but when she tries to help, she is rebuffed. Soon after that, she learns that the woman has disappeared. She learns that the woman is Ramon's niece and he hesitates to ask her for her help, but Sharon can't let her friend down. Soon, she's drawn into an investigation where she's threatened, people are disappearing and dying, and, despite whatever second thoughts she might have had about her career, McCone knows she has the skills to fix things. With her agency in San Francisco waiting for her return (and nephew Mick behaving badly) Sharon tries to learn why people are being killed. In BURN OUT, McCone is back in the area where she first met Hy, and the stark, weird beauty of the high desert and Tufa Lake come through clearly. McCone always has an interesting take on the people she meets, like the woman running a peer counseling organization who seems not to understand the principle of confidentiality and is too nosy to do a good job. In her sour, tired mood, McCone is given to snap judgments, but still has the ability to back down when she's wrong. With Hy mostly a phone call away, she starts regaining her sense of purpose. She is still adjusting to the news of her Shoshone heritage and to the idea that she's committed to Hy, who understands her frighteningly well. This is a very satisfying book. It presents a realistic woman in a realistic situation, someone many readers feel that they‛ve gotten to know and care about. But there's still plenty to learn about McCone, Ripinsky and plenty of mystery and investigation to go on with. I wholly appreciated BURN OUT and am just so damn glad Marcia Muller is around.
Reviewed by Andi Shechter, November 2008
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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