Product Description

Following a trail of death that leads back to the power politics of the fifties, San Francisco P.I. Sharon McCone searches for a killer who built a career on murder.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #842130 in Books
• Published on: 1993-07-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 366 pages

From Publishers Weekly
The 13th Sharon McCone mystery brings good luck to readers as Muller's veteran San Francisco PI explores crimes of passion and politics as they were played out in the Bay Area during the pre-Beat 1950s. In an intricate plot, McCone agrees to help lawyer Jack Stuart, her colleague at All Souls Legal Cooperative, build a case he will retry in the legal profession's Historical Tribunal. Stuart will defend Lisstet Benedict, who was recently released from prison after doing time for killing and mutilating her husband's young lover in 1956. Benedict was convicted on the testimony of her then-10-year-old daughter, now Stuart's lover, who hopes a new trial will turn up evidence, clearing her mother and exonerating herself. McCone finds herself emotionally drawn into the decades-old crime, especially to the murder scene--a now-uninhabited Seacliff mansion that then housed the Institute of North American Studies, a conservative think tank where Benedict's husband worked. Anti-Communist sentiment and personal betrayal figure large in the resolution of the 36-year-old crime and contemporary deaths that its revisiting inspire. Vintage Muller. Mystery Guild dual main selection; Reader's Digest Condensed Book selection.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
In another lawyer-oriented mystery, established series investigator Sharon McCone uses her wiles to solve a 36-year-old slaying. The recently released woman convicted of killing a beautiful San Francisco socialite asks McCone to prepare her defense for a mock trial at the Historical Tribunal--a task that McCone approaches with some misgivings until phone threats, confrontations, and another murder prove that someone doesn't want the case reopened. Steadily mounting tension climaxes in the re-created trial. Sure to interest series regulars and even draw a few new fans. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 3/1/92.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews
Another convoluted puzzle for San Francisco's Sharon McCone, investigator for All-Souls Legal Cooperative (Where Echoes Live, 1991, etc.). This one goes back to 1956, when Lis Benedict, wife of biochemist Vincent, was convicted of the grisly murder of her husband's young mistress, society playgirl Cordy McKittridge. Now released from jail, Lis is living with daughter Judy, who was a ten-year-old witness at her trial and soon after was adopted by prosecuting D.A. Joseph Stameroff, now an influential judge. Judy has persuaded All-Souls lawyer Jack Stuart to undertake a reinvestigation of the case, in the guise of a mock trial before a San Francisco institution called the Historical Tribunal. As Sharon explores the background and relationships of those long-ago years, ominous things start to happen in the here and now--nasty graffiti, threatening phone calls, and two deaths (at least one of them murder). It all ends in florid melodrama as the trial draws to a close. A heavily overembroidered plot; murky motives; too many characters with unconvincing total recall; glimmers of mysticism and lots of psychobabble--all add up to a dull, disjointed outing for an often engrossing author. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Customer Reviews

Intriguing mystery
In 1956 Lis Benedict, a wealthy socialite, was convicted of murdering her husband's young mistress, Cordy McKittridge. Thirty-six years later, she is released from prison and goes to live with her daughter Judy, who testified against her at the trial. The daughter feels that her mother may not have been the murderer after all, so she requests a re-trial in the Historical Tribunal, a group which tries to redress old wrongs. Private Investigator Sharon McCone is asked to help with the case for the defendant, which is being prepared by the All Souls' Legal Cooperative, where Sharon works. Fearing that the trail is too cold to follow, Sharon interviews anyone who had any connection to the deceased or the supposed murderer. Tales of love and politics rise to the surface and Sharon begins to piece together a theory as to the real murderer's identity. This book is very suspenseful and had me guessing the murderer's identity up to the end. As usual, there is a complex plot and Muller does a masterful job of tying up all of the loose ends.

Pennies on Eyes not the strongest
After getting into Marcia Muller a few months ago I picked up Pennies, thinking it would be equally enjoyable. I was wrong, barely getting through half the book and then putting it away. Don't make this one a priority, it's slow and it's hard to care about this case or the people involved.

A Murky Mystery
This is the 13th "Sharon McCone mystery" I've read, so it goes without saying that I basically find these stories entertaining. This one has an involved plot about the bloody 1956 murder of a society girl. Lis Benedict has just been released from prison after serving 36 years for the crime and her daughter, Judy, has convinced Jack Stuart to take the case before the Historical Tribunal. Some anonymous threats suggest that somebody doesn't want the case re-opened.

The story kept me turning pages to find out what would happen next, so it was a good read. There are, however, a few downsides to this one. Ms. Muller spends a lot of space trying to give it a dark, mystical mood. What with all the foggy settings, mysterious shapes, foghorns in the night, and dark forebodings of PI McCone, the rather unsurprising ending is something of a letdown. Also, Ms. Muller is a traditional San Francisco liberal, which is her privilege, but she increasingly wears hers personal attitudes on her sleeve. The story would have benefitted from having forty or fifty pages of murky scenery and Ms. Mullers' soapbox preaching edited out. As it is, the story rambles here and there.

That said, it was still good enough to keep my curiosity up all the way through. Good enough for four stars in my estimation.