Locked In (Sharon McCone Series #26)

by Marcia Muller

Overview

New York Times bestselling author, Marcia Muller, brings you another thrilling mystery with her famous private investigator, Sharon McCone.

Shot in the head by an unknown assailant, San Francisco private eye Sharon McCone finds herself trapped by locked-in syndrome: almost total paralysis but an alert, conscious mind. Since the late-night attack occurred at her agency's offices, the natural conclusion was that it was connected to one of the firm's cases. As Sharon lies in her hospital bed, furiously trying to break out of her body's prison and discover her attacker's identity, all the members of her agency fan out to find the reason why she was assaulted. Meanwhile, Sharon becomes a locked-in detective, evaluating the clues from her staff's separate investigations and discovering unsettling truths that could put her life in jeopardy again.

As the case draws to a surprising and even shocking conclusion, Sharon's husband, Hy, must decide whether or not to surrender to his own violent past and exact fatal vengeance when the person responsible is identified.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780446400497
Publisher:	Grand Central Publishing
Publication date:	10/01/2010
Series:	Sharon McCone Series , #26
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	887,792
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 11.28(h) x 0.97(d)

About the Author

Marcia Muller has written many novels and short stories. She has won six Anthony Awards, a Shamus Award, and is also the recipient of the Private Eye Writers of America's Lifetime Achievement Award as well as the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Award (their highest accolade). She lives in northern California with her husband, mystery writer Bill Pronzini.

Editorial Reviews

On LOCKED IN:
"Throughout her many McCone novels, Muller has displayed a knack both for keeping the series fresh and for allowing her character to grow. She accomplishes both goals this time by taking McCone out of the spotlight but giving her fans a chance to root for her to recover. After all these years, Muller's series remains a gold standard for female detective stories."—Kirkus, starred review

"Top-notch mystery and more from one of the genre's Grand Masters."—Library Journal

From the Publisher

"Top-notch mystery and more from one of the genre's Grand Masters."

Library Journal

Bestseller Muller's harrowing 27th mystery to feature San Francisco PI Sharon McCone (after 2008's Burn Out) opens with a bang: returning to her office late one night, McCone is shot while interrupting a burglary. When she wakes up in the hospital, McCone is fully conscious but “locked in.” Paralyzed, she can communicate only by blinking her eyes. Muller articulates this chilling conceit with painful realism, even citing the popular French memoir about the locked-in syndrome, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. Narrative duty falls on McCone's motley crew of co-workers and other series regulars like her husband, Hy Ripinsky. Each chapter, told from a different perspective, provides another clue in a convoluted case that includes multiple murders, a sex scandal in city government and the inevitable coverup. While this approach can be hard to follow at times, it provides Muller ample opportunity to showcase her strength at characterization. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

Returning to her office at night to retrieve her forgotten cell phone, Sharon McCone (Burn Out) is shot by an intruder, the bullet lodging near her brain stem. Totally immobile but fully cognizant, she's diagnosed with Locked-In Syndrome and given an uncertain prognosis. Trying to find the assailant, the staff at McCone Investigations reviews current cases, working with McCone's husband, Hy Ripinsky, and with McCone herself, as she communicates with blinks of her eyes. As several cases become intertwined, a portrait of abuse, prostitution, blackmail, and betrayal involving San Francisco city officials is revealed, resulting in multiple murders and suicide. McCone is buoyed by being involved with her agency's work until her condition suddenly worsens and she's whisked into surgery. McCone's interspersed interior dialog about her condition adds depth to what might have been just another complicated case to solve, and while readers won't be surprised at the outcome, they may end up more appreciative of life. VERDICT Top-notch mystery and more from one of the genre's Grand Masters.—Michele Leber, Arlington, VA

Library Journal

Sharon McCone almost dies. The bullet enters her occipital lobe, leaving bone fragments, a clot, pressure and vocal and physical paralysis. Sharon McCone, private eye extraordinaire, can communicate only by blinking once for yes, twice for no. She's transferred from SF General to the Brandt Neurological Institute, where her husband, Hy Ripinsky, keeps vigil and her staff-Ted, Adah, Craig, Mick, Julia, Rae and Diane, the most recent hire-comb the agency caseload trying to figure out who shot her. McCone's cases include a missing son and a newly discovered $100,000, the stabbing of the hooker daughter of a well-known politician, the staged murder/suicide of the president of the Board of Supervisors and a State Representative, the death of the mayor's aide and the disfigurement of a junior executive in a financial management firm. As these diverse cases coalesce, there'll be more death and yet another murder/suicide, not to mention plans made by Ripinsky for retribution, if only he can find McCone's attacker. When bullet fragments in her brain shift, McCone's condition turns critical and she's scheduled for a four-hour surgery. Her staff holds a conference in her hospital room to update her. Despite her perilous prognosis, McCone makes an important connection. All cases are closed, leaving rehab and smoother sailing ahead. Proficient and readable, but since very few authors who aren't Nicolas Freeling kill off their franchise heroes, the prospect of McCone's solving her 27th case (Burn Out, 2008, etc.) is never really in doubt.

Kirkus Reviews

After being shot in the head, San Francisco P.I. Sharon McCone can hear and think, but she’s completely paralyzed. Able to communicate only by eye-blinks, McCone is literally a prisoner in her body. As her husband, Hy Ripinsky, and her quirky investigative team work nonstop to find out who shot her, they stumble into a complex case involving sex, murder, suicide, and a city government scandal. Deanna Hurst's narration is intelligent and matter-of-fact. Her voice is pleasant, and her characterizations distinctive. The novel is divided into chapters featuring each of the story's many characters. While this structure tends to diminish the plot's intensity in the audio format, Hurst handles the convoluted storytelling with admirable clarity. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine

DECEMBER 2009 - AudioFile