Marcia Muller
Author of Edwin of the Iron Shoes
About the Author
Marcia Muller, novelist, short-story writer and anthologist, was born in Detroit in 1944. She attended the University of Michigan, where she studied writing. Edwin of the Iron Shoes (1977) was her first book featuring Sharon McCone, a female private eye strong enough to compete in the show more male-dominated crime genre. In 1993, Muller was given the Private Eye Writers of America Life Achievement Award, and the following year her novel Wolf in the Shadows won the Anthony Boucher Award and was nominated for the Edgar Allen Poe Award for Best Crime Novel. Muller is the co-author of the Carpenter and Quincannon Mystery series with Bill Pronzini. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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www.vjbooks.com
Series
Works by Marcia Muller
1001 Midnights: The Aficionado's Guide to Mystery and Detective Fiction (1986) — Author — 60 copies, 2 reviews
The Web She Weaves: An Anthology of Mystery and Suspense Stories by Women (1983) — Editor — 52 copies, 2 reviews
Cache and Carry 2 copies
The Broken Men 2 copies
Spook Lights Affair — Editor — 1 copy
Dairy Queen 1 copy
Walk Through Fire 1 copy
Sharon McCone 1 copy
Deceptions [short story] 1 copy
Benny's Space 1 copy
Associated Works
A Moment on the Edge: 100 Years of Crime Stories by Women (2000) — Contributor — 270 copies, 6 reviews
Writers on Writing, 2: More Collected Essays from the New York Times (2003) — Contributor — 189 copies, 3 reviews
I Should Have Stayed Home: The Worst Trips of the Great Writers (1994) — Contributor — 181 copies, 5 reviews
A Century of Great Western Stories-An Anthology of Western Fiction (2000) — Contributor — 113 copies
By Hook or By Crook and 30 More of the Best Crime and Mystery Stories of the Year (2010) — Contributor — 85 copies
A Modern Treasury of Great Detective and Murder Mysteries (1994) — Contributor — 61 copies, 1 review
The World's Finest Mystery and Crime Stories: First Annual Collection (2000) — Contributor — 60 copies, 1 review
Women of Mystery II: Stories From Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine and Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine (1994) — Contributor — 53 copies, 1 review
A Taste of Murder: Diabolically Delicious Recipes from Contemporary Mystery Writers (1999) — Contributor — 46 copies, 1 review
The World's Finest Mystery and Crime Stories: Third Annual Collection (2002) — Contributor — 43 copies
The Year's 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories: First Annual Edition (1992) — Contributor — 16 copies
The Eyes Have It: The First Private Eye Writers of America Anthology (1984) — Contributor — 16 copies
Academy Mystery Novellas: Women Sleuths, Police Procedurals, Locked Room Puzzles, Great British Detectives (1991) — Contributor — 14 copies
Justice for Hire: The Fourth Private Eye Writers of America Anthology (1990) — Contributor — 12 copies
The Year's 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories: Second Annual Edition (1993) — Contributor — 12 copies
The Year's 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories: Third Annual Edition (1994) — Contributor — 10 copies
The Year's 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories: Seventh Annual Edition (1998) — Contributor — 9 copies
The Year's 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories: Fifth Annual Edition (1996) — Contributor — 7 copies
The Year's 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories: Sixth Annual Edition (1997) — Contributor — 5 copies, 1 review
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1944-09-28
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Detroit, Michigan, USA
- Places of residence
- Detroit, Michigan, USA
Birmingham, Michigan, USA
Sonoma County, California, USA - Education
- University of Michigan (BA|English)
- Occupations
- journalist
novelist - Relationships
- Pronzini, Bill (husband)
- Organizations
- Sunset Magazine
- Awards and honors
- MWA Grand Master (2005)
Shamus Award (The Eye for Lifetime Achievement, 1993) - Short biography
- Marcia Muller (born September 28, 1944) is an American author of fictional mystery and thriller novels.
Muller has written 26 novels featuring her Sharon McCone female private detective character. Vanishing Point, won the Shamus Award for Best P.I. Novel. Muller had been nominated for the Shamus Award four times previously.
In 2005, Muller was awarded the Mystery Writers of America's Grand Master award. Previous winners of the award included Alfred Hitchcock (1973) and Agathe Christie (1955).
Members
Reviews
C'mon man! It was a decent story if she had just left out the relationship b.s. It just didn't ring true for me at all. Plus, I didn't care for the book being set in Hawaii instead of northern California. Overall, it really left me flat.
Circle in the Water: A Sharon McCone Mystery by Marcia Muller finds Sharon working a complicated case involving private street ownership. In San Franciso, there are more than 200 streets that are owned by private individuals or entities. As these streets are not city property, they are lucrative targets for land speculators and others.
As the book opens, it is almost midnight Halloween, and Sharon McCone is on a stake out. Being a co-owner of the agency with her husband, Hy Ripinsky, who is currently overseas, she is out in the rain so that she does not have to fool with trick-or-treaters and somebody else does not miss a party or spending time with their kids this dark night. The rain fits her mood. One that she has been in for months now. A mood that she can’t really explain to herself or others that have noticed.
She is on Rowan Court trying to prevent another vandalism attack. McCone & Ripinsky International has been hired by the wealthy homeowners on the street to stop a rash of vandalism that has been happening to their homes and vehicles. Not just stop it, but identify the culprits and why they are doing it. One of their members has been reaching out to other folks and have discovered that this sort of thing is happening on other private streets, rich and poor, across the city.
Soon McCone finds things are linked across various neighborhoods. Events start to move forward and become deadly.
Circle in the Water: A Sharon McCone Mystery is a complicated and often slow-moving read. At least a third of the book, if not more, consists of reminisces of previous cases and things that happened to McCone, Hy, and many others in the past, and an acknowledgment and recognition of how far all those involved have come in the here and now. Even if one had not seen the guest post by the author at SleuthSayers announcing this book is the end of the series, it is clear with the way the book unfolds for the reader.
It is also a good read. The case is complicated and chugs along at a semi steady pace between the many memories of the past. Circle in the Water: A Sharon McCone Mystery ends the series well.
My ARC reading copy came from the publisher, Grand Central Publishing, via NetGalley with no expectation of a review.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2024… (more)
As the book opens, it is almost midnight Halloween, and Sharon McCone is on a stake out. Being a co-owner of the agency with her husband, Hy Ripinsky, who is currently overseas, she is out in the rain so that she does not have to fool with trick-or-treaters and somebody else does not miss a party or spending time with their kids this dark night. The rain fits her mood. One that she has been in for months now. A mood that she can’t really explain to herself or others that have noticed.
She is on Rowan Court trying to prevent another vandalism attack. McCone & Ripinsky International has been hired by the wealthy homeowners on the street to stop a rash of vandalism that has been happening to their homes and vehicles. Not just stop it, but identify the culprits and why they are doing it. One of their members has been reaching out to other folks and have discovered that this sort of thing is happening on other private streets, rich and poor, across the city.
Soon McCone finds things are linked across various neighborhoods. Events start to move forward and become deadly.
Circle in the Water: A Sharon McCone Mystery is a complicated and often slow-moving read. At least a third of the book, if not more, consists of reminisces of previous cases and things that happened to McCone, Hy, and many others in the past, and an acknowledgment and recognition of how far all those involved have come in the here and now. Even if one had not seen the guest post by the author at SleuthSayers announcing this book is the end of the series, it is clear with the way the book unfolds for the reader.
It is also a good read. The case is complicated and chugs along at a semi steady pace between the many memories of the past. Circle in the Water: A Sharon McCone Mystery ends the series well.
My ARC reading copy came from the publisher, Grand Central Publishing, via NetGalley with no expectation of a review.
Kevin R. Tipple ©2024… (more)
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Statistics
- Works
- 97
- Also by
- 73
- Members
- 13,630
- Popularity
- #1,703
- Rating
- 3.6
- Reviews
- 262
- ISBNs
- 757
- Languages
- 10
- Favorited
- 20
I felt like this is a murder mystery of the Harlequin novel variety. I expect reading other books in the series, it would follow the same path. It was a very quick read so it had that going for it.
Not impressed. I won't be looking for anything else by this author. I picked it up because one of the characters is a fortune teller and it sounded like it would be fun. But meh.… (more)