Edwin of the Iron Shoes

Sharon McCone #1

by Marcia Muller

It's Sharon McCone's first case as staff investigator for All Souls Legal Cooperative. She knows nothing about antiques, yet she has an affection for Salem Street with its charming mix of antique and curio shops. Now elderly dealer Joan Albritton has been found dead, stabbed with an antique dagger. Her neighbors are shocked. Recurring vandalism has them frightened. Ferreting out the facts will take Sharon from the chaotic jumble of the junk dealer's establishment to a museum where San Francisco's most elegant socialites gather.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Detective, Mystery Thriller, Audiobook, Cozy Mystery

177 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Marcia Muller is an American author of mystery and thriller novels.
Muller has written many 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.
She was born in Detroit, Michigan, and grew up in Birmingham, Michigan, and graduated in English from the University of Michigan and worked as a journalist at Sunset magazine. She is married to detective fiction author Bill Pronzini with whom she has collaborated on several novels.

Reviews

[Karl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This hardcover is published by McKay-Washborn in 1977 and is signed by Marcia Muller.

Marcia Muller has a great female detective named Sharon McCone, and this is Sharon McCone's first case as a staff investigator for All Souls Legal Cooperative. McCone begins her investigation in the middle of the night with the discovery of a corpse in an antique shop. The shop belonged to the victim, Joan Albittron, who also owned some of the other real-estate on the street which is currently in the process of being sold, and there is an offer from several parties who want to develop the land. These include the powerful, self-made tycoon Cara Ingalls and shady bail bondsman Ben Harmon. But would that really be enough of a reason to bump off a little old lady who was so widely liked? And is the death linked to the spate of attacks the previous yea on the shops in the street, and which McCone had previously investigated.

Marcia Muller 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 She lives in northern California with her husband, mystery writer Bill Pronzini. McCone coauthors the Carpenter and Quincannon Mysteries with Bill Pronzini. The author of more than thirty-five novels, Muller received the Mystery Writers of America's Grand Master Award in 2005.

[Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to give this one up at the half way stage. But there were a few reasons I wanted to finish it poking me along. One being the shortness of the thing, and it features an early female P.I., predating Sue Grafton's 1980s creation, but the main and most persistent pokey thing was the knowledge that Marcia Muller is married to Bill Pronzini, author of the superb Nameless Detective series. Muller's P.I. also haunts the same San Francisco streets and eventually the two will come together in a cross-over or two. But man it was hard work. The first two thirds of the book are basically our heroine, Sharon McCone, wading through a stock check of the contents of an antique shop that provided the location of a murder. Muller has a straight forward writing style, devoid of anything resembling poetic colour, that would grace the incident report for most insurance claim forms but does little to generate atmosphere. The less said about the hate-hate-love-hate proto-romance between McCone and the local cop, Greg Marcus, the better. Marcus is somewhat confusingly labelled 'a wolf in misogynist's clothing', an idiom corrupted by McCone's employer & friend Hank Zahn.
Thankfully things pick up in the final third when McCone starts to get close to solving the case and things get tough. And as we all know, when the going gets tough, the tough slip a .38 Special into their purse. In the end though there just wasn't enough potential to bring me back for more.

[aPriL does feral sometimes · Rating 2 out of 5]

Number one novel in the Sharon McCone detective series, so one must begin with 'Edwin of the Iron Shoes'. It's a fast read, primarily because it has all of the complexity of a television detective show. While it is a suitably entertaining mystery, it is written in a wooden, declarative fashion. Everyone tends to explain themselves fully in as few sentences as possible. I'm in admiration of how the author, Marcia Muller, so quickly sets her scenes and moves the action with such quick word brushstrokes and descriptions, but the terse and brief style is not artistry, more technical writing rather than a painting. However, it is mildly entertaining, and it introduces the reader to an interesting girl PI created at the dawn of real change in the women's liberation movement in the 1970's.

McCone carries a .38, she works alone as a staff investigator for a low income legal service called All Souls Legal Cooperative in San Francisco. She has parents and siblings who live 500 miles away, but they call often enough to remind her why she is happy to not be near them. She graduated from college with a Sociology degree, and she began her career as a department store security employee. The lawyers she currently works for are also her friends. The case we begin her series with is about several arsons and vandalism attacks against antique store owners, clients of her bosses. Things take a turn for the worse when one of the store owners, a woman that McCone liked, is discovered dead in her store. Adding further to her desire to find the murderer, a police detective, Lt. Greg Marcus, challenges her competency while flirting outrageously with her. She decides she is going to solve this case, and soon she begins to uncover secrets that flush out the murderer.

[Carla Remy · Rating 4 out of 5]

From 1977
A short mystery about art and antiques, in a good way.

[Scott Rhee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marcia Muller is one of the grande dames of the contemporary mystery genre, up there with Sue Grafton and Sara Paretsky. Muller's female P.I. Sharon McCone has been p.i.ing long before most mystery writers writing today were in diapers. "Edwin of the Iron Shoes", published in 1977, is the very first McCone mystery. Set in her home town of San Francisco, "Edwin" starts off with the murder of a beloved owner of an antiques store. McCone is called in to investigate and quickly runs up a list of suspects. She also quickly uncovers a conspiracy of European art-thieves. It's a fun, quick page-turner of a mystery that is all the more fun if you know a little bit about San Francisco, as the beautiful city is a character as well. Clearly, Muller was just getting her feet wet in this one, as it is a pretty simple murder mystery with some stilted dialogue and the occasional murder mystery cliche, but obviously Muller improved, as her several dozens of bestsellers that followed have proven.

[Jaksen · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first read by Ms. Muller.

What I call a 'good enough' read, and as it's the first book in a long series, there's a lot of information about the MC, McCone, a female insurance investigator. As such, her job gets her past the police tape whenever there's an insurance angle, as in stolen or damaged goods. It also allows her interaction with an attractive, but abrasive police detective - and yes, I can see where this is going in future books...

So when a friend/acquaintance of Sharon's is found dead, killed with a knife, in the antique shop she owns - and with possible theft of valuable items - Sharon is there. Enter the various suspects: rival antique dealers; buyers who want to purchase the shop (and area) to mow it down and build something new; plus an assortment of former lovers and old friends. Anyone could be the killer!

It's that kind of book. No one is really - who they seem to be! And because this series is popular I'll probably stick with it. I had read that Muller was a strong influence on Sue Grafton, so it might be interesting to see how things involve...

Three stars.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three and a half stars. I had low expectations but really enjoyed this. Very short and quick read. She got straight to the point, no extraneous information. I'd definitely be interested in reading more in this series.

[Deb Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a rather straight forward murder mystery with a bit of romance thrown into the fray. I enjoyed the story well enough, I just don't think this one was my particular cup of tea.

[Gail Burgess · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read this book in 1995, went on to read every other Sharon McCone/Marcia Muller mystery and have decided to reread all of them again. It was like reading the book anew: I did not know who did it, and I loved getting to know Sharon as she was in the first book all over again. It struck me that some hints of later developments (Sharon's family, Sharon's parents, etc) are present in this first book! What fun to be reminded of what is coming, and to meet some of the folks who will keep reappearing. And, the mystery hung together well -- even having read the book already (albeit 23 years ago) -- I had to wait until Sharon figured it out for me to figure it out. :-) Definitely am looking forward to rereading the remaining 30 books!

[Chrisl · Rating 4 out of 5]

The setting helped hold my interest in the McCone series until about the 10th book. Four stars for the early stuff, declining to not interested in the later episodes.

[Marie (UK) · Rating 2 out of 5]

this one did nothing for me typical cozy mystery style where amateur beats the detective to solve the murder. lacked pace and drive in the narrative

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super enjoyable.

[Mia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Papoose??? Really?? I have to keep reminding myself this was written in the 1970's, but still. And sadly as I started the second book he's still calling her that! Gross.

[Alison Horn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable, although understandably dated. The protagonist is said to be the first female hard boiled private investigator in the mystery genre. I'll definitely keep reading the series. Based on reviews, it seems like it just keeps getting better.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

I asked my daughter who lives in San Francisco if she had ever read a Marcia Muller. She said, "Who?" I couldn't believe it. OK, she is not a big fan of mysteries. But, still, Marcia Muller is the best of the best. She very nearly "founded" the female private eye genre. Sue Grafton (she of the A, B, C series) said that she owed it all to Marcia Muller, who broke the trail for her. In other words, if it had not been for Marcia Muller's "Sharon McCone," there would be no "Kinsey Milhone."
But, for all that, I had never read the very FIRST Sharon McCone mystery. I had a copy of a first edition, wonderfully inscribed to me by Marcia Muller herself, and I was about to give it away to the University. But, before I did, I decided to pull it out of the box and read it. I'M GLAD I DID. It's a good little mystery, set in a disappeared (1977) San Francisco before the Moscone Center even existed. But the fun is, we see Sharon McCone created right before our eyes - and we know that she is to go on and on and on, to become certainly the most enduring, the most developed, the most everything female private eye, probably of all time. HAIL TO MARCIA MULLER and to SHARON McCONE. Long may they both live!

[Spuddie · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of the Sharon McCone series in San Francisco, this was published in 1977, which is the year I graduated from high school, so it's OLD. LOL The book has Sharon, a P.I. working for a law cooperative, looking into first a series of vandalism and property attacks in a small neighborhood to the murder of one of the proprietors, an older woman who ran an antique shop. Because Sharon had inside information about the locals from her investigation, she 'independently assists' the police with their inquiries.

A little bit dated, which is only to be expected from a 35 year old book, but I enjoyed it anyway...in a time when detection meant going to the library for research, not turning on a computer, and when you didn't have a cell phone to ring the police when you were in trouble. This is the first time I've read this author and I will definitely be continuing on with the series--I like Sharon already and the tone of the writing is middle of the road--neither dark and gory nor sweetness-and-light cozy. It will be a LONG time until I can catch up, too...there are many many books in this series, so obviously a few other people liked it too. :)

[Joan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is Sharon McCone's first case from a series of many books. Sharon is hired to find out who is vandalizing the neighbor by the insurance company she works for. Sharon lives in the neighborhood and when the vandals stop, Sharon is called off the case. However, when a woman is found dead, Sharon feels guilt for not finding out who the vandals were. She is determined to find the killer, even though she gets little help from the police. The police are sure the woman's boyfriend is the killer and are not looking elsewhere. When Sharon is doing the inventory in the dead woman's antique store, she is attack. Another time while she is in the store, a bomb goes off in a near by store to lure her out. She is sure there is something in the store the killer was after. This is a very short book and feels more like a long short story than a full book.

[Roger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Edwin of the Iron Shoes is Marcia Muller’s first Sharon McCone mystery. Even though the author has gone on to great success I typically am “easy” on first novels, which is why this one has gotten a generous three stars. I cared absolutely nothing about reading another book in this series after finishing this one. I was happy that McCone won the day in the end, but the relationship blossoming between her and another character (no spoilers) is so very hackneyed as to be ludicrous. Also Muller leaves several plot threads dangling-I can’t discuss those without being spoileriffic so I will say no more. Who knows this may be just the mystery for you but it wasn’t for me.

[Donna · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a short book which meant a super fast read.....that worked in its favor. This was just okay for me. It read like a Doris Day movie...golly gee. Being like Doris Day is not a bad thing. The 2 star rating was because of a few things. The forced romance, for starters, wasn't believable and it was very predictable. The awful dialogue was also a turn off. I liked the MC as a character, but I expected more. Another thing that bugged me was the title. It made this book sound interesting....but it was disappointing.

[David Freas · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first book in the Sharon McCone series and it shows a little. I’ve read 7 later books in the series, and this one doesn’t seem to have the polish those had. That doesn’t detract from the quality of the writing or storytelling here.

This book was first published in 1977 and it shows in little things we take for granted 40 years later. McCone can’t google information, has to get it from a newspaper’s morgue, and an answering service takes her calls when she can’t be reached by phone instead of callers leaving a message on her answering machine or a voicemail or text on her phone.

Muller called on one of the oldest mystery conventions in the book at the end when she had McCone at the bad guy’s mercy (with a knife at her throat) then had the bad guy blab everything to McCone before McCone regains the upper hand.

It's kind of hard to evaluate a 40-year-old book, especially when the author has cranked out over 30 more in the intervening years. But I will say had I read this book then, I would have continued to read them and would be waiting the release of the latest entry in the series.

Amazon continues its amazing ability to list how many pages are in a Kindle book but can’t number those pages in the book. By now page numbering an e-book should be as automatic as page numbering a paper book. Come on, get it together, Amazon.

[Elaine Nickolan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the beginning of the Sharon McCone series, of which I have read several of the series already. I am happy to say that I would have marked this as a series to follow based on the first of the series.
We are introduced to the protagonist when she is called on to investigate the murder of an antique shop owner. Working as an investigator for a business called All Souls, she must discover if the death is related to a rash of arson and vandalism occurring in a small business area in an effort to get the shopkeepers to sell out and hand the land over to competing developers.
Enjoyed this from beginning to end.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember reading well up into the middle of this series but for some reason never went back to it. So, I started again from the start.

This book has some first book-itis, but it is not just the first of a new series but also published by this author, and most first books have first book-itis.

Overall, I enjoyed the read and am happy that I picked up reading this series again. I will read book #2 and see where it goes - It was long enough, and many other books enough, ago I only have a vague idea, and I'm happy to pretend it is all new as I work my way back to where I left off.

[Carmen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I stopped in front of Edwin, the little boy mannequin whose feet had been fitted with an ornate pair of iron shoes. Edwin, Joan had told me, was an art lover. He stood, staring at an oil painting of a Madonna and child on the wall beside him.

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mystery set in San Francisco. Private Investigator Sharon McCone works with the police to solve the murder of an antique dealer. Very fast read!

[Teri Pre · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. Not quite a 4 but the series has potential!

[Vida · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read. Reminiscent of Grafton. Glad to have been introduced to another spunky PI.

[Sydney · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a short, entertaining murder mystery by Muller. It is the first Sharon McCone book in a lengthy series. The light-hearted banter and likable characters make it a pleasant read.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this years ago and just reread it.

[Mckochan]

3.5 Very 1970's, but a fun, quick read.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've never read any Sharon McCone, but I liked her. She's a little wacky, and the book is pretty dated (it was the 70's, y'all) but she's smart and clever, and keeping the setting in mind, I'll continue sleuthing with her. I can't decide if I want to punch Greg Marcus or not, since this was written in 1977 and it's hard to decide with my 2022 eyes and brain. He's an idiot, for sure, but Sharon seems to like him anyway.

Barely 3 stars but I'll give book 2 a chance.