Where Echoes Live

Sharon McCone #11

by Marcia Muller

12th in Sharon McCone series
Since the Gold Rush, California prospectors have siphoned off the waters of isolated Tufa Lake, exposing the fragile, otherworldly mineral formation of the lake basin. Now a local environmental group seeks to block the latest incursion by developers - a massive mining operation funded by TransPacific, a U.S.-Hong Kong interest that seems to be behind a series of break-ins, disappearances, and shady land deals. Into this stark lunar landscape walks San Francisco P.I. Sharon McCone, searching for a missing local eccentric. When the bullet ridden corpse of an investor surfaces in the lake's silvery water, McCone finds herself on a twisted trail that leads to San Francisco and then back to the eerie desert mesas where a murderer prepares to kill again.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Crime, Audiobook, Female Authors

Audio CD

First published January 1, 1991

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

[Pamela Mclaren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Private investigator Sharon McCone is called to help an environmental group investigate a Hong Kong-based corporation that has dubious plans for an abandoned gold mine. Soon, there is plenty for McCone as she deals with a murdered Transpacific employee and the death of a local prospector.

But if that is not enough, McCone is dealing with a strange visit by her mother that drops surprising news that upsets McCone in ways she did not expect.

But with her eye on the mystery and its possible implications to all the major players McCone goes into action and puts everything together for a, literally, explosive, conclusion. A good solid read.

[Stef Rozitis · Rating 4 out of 5]

When it comes to my tastes in detective fiction I am clearly stuck in the 90s when women detectives were strong, independent, principled completely unlike the whining, shopaholic, man-centred women that seem to be so commonly written now (anyone who knows any notable exceptions please feel free to recommend them in the comments). Also I like that 90s women detectives had love-lives that were complicated and messy but chose men who respected them deeply and didn't erode their self-esteem and sense of self or try to "take over". It was a calmer, nicer masculinity (still very strong) that was portrayed (again open to reading something more recent that proves me wrong).

Maybe this wasn't a flawless piece of writing (though Muller does string a sentence together well, and her dialogues flow smoothly and readably) but it was so damn ENJOYABLE. There was some moral ambiguity between different types of environmentalists, levels of militancy and economic rationalism, people's motivations and emotional lives were complex, hard to unpick and believable but not overly cynical or only self-interested. Conflict between McCone and her mother was realistic but not soul-destroying and pointed to love underneath the lack of understanding. McCone struggles to some extent to relate to everyone in the book- her boyfriend, her co-workers, her allies but she manages to blend her over-independence with a warmth full of good intention that ultimately guides her right. There were several "bad guys" woven together with enough complexity and the "hard-boiled" side of things meant guns and explosions but not too much machismo. It was nice to get McCone out of the latte-sipping gentility of the "collective" (at least it is a collective) and into the word of desert rats and dive bars...for all that the portrayal of class was problematic.

I wonder if the portrayal of Chinese business men had a touch of mild racism about it...difficult balance and as a character Ong was fairly well rounded (just the suggestion of "they are all like that" was not ideal).

All in all an enjoyable page-turner of a book with McCone a likeable and not too pretentious detective that is capable, courageous to the point of stupidity (but not a Mary Sue), independent to a fault and pleasingly flawed.

Recommended.

[SuperWendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

#11 in the Sharon McCone series works best as a mystery if you're completely ignorant of later books in the series. The misdirection involving a secondary character would just play better. I liked this one, but wasn't in love with it. The environmental mystery angle just didn't grab me as much, especially compared to the 1960s radical theme of the previous book in the series (which I loved). Also I felt like the ending dragged out a bit too long.

[ElaineY · Rating 1 out of 5]

REVIEW OF DNF AUDIOBOOK MARCH 2, 2023
1 star for it being such a absolute bore I couldn't finish the book.

While I liked Muller's writing style, I just did not care for the plot involving environmental disasters, endangerment of eco-system by big bad corporation. I always stay away from these books but made an exception because Hy is introduced here and since I know McCone ends up marrying him I want to get to know him right from the start.

But even that wasn't enough to keep me listening.

[Carolyn (in SC) C234D · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a good series. McCone investigates the murder of a man involved in a gold mine scam. (She meets Hy Ripinsky in this one.)

[Vanessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love this series, but this is not one of the best. The positive aspects are the intricate mystery, interesting characters, and the introduction of Hy Rapinski. Like most of these books, I didn't figure out the mystery until the end, and that's one of the things I love about all the Sharon McCone books.

The negative part for me was perhaps the backdrop of the plot, an environmental controversy. While I support environmental concerns, I found this part of the plot pretty boring. It was nice to finally meet the infamous Hy, who becomes a major character in the later books, which greatly improve the stories.

[Gail Burgess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although I did not actually remeber WHO committed the murder in this book, at least I knew before Sharon that one of her suspects was definitely her ally. :-) And I liked that! So there is one advantage to re-reading a series 20 plus years after the first reading! I love Sharon McCone and how she dpoes her job. I love the places she takes her reader with the descriptions of places I otherwise would not know about.

[Nolan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sharon McCone is off to a small town on a fictional northern California lake. A Hong Kong based company wants to reopen abandoned mines in the region, and it thinks with modern technology, it can extract a half million ounces of gold. That’s the official line the company feeds the feds. In reality, the company wants to open a luxury lakeshore resort, which it would do if the mining venture fell through, as it probably would.

This felt like an author excuse to preach on pro-environmental stuff, but when you consider who McCone works for, none of that is a surprise. This is a slow book that bored me in several places. I don’t think you get to a murder here until chapter five or so, but I could be wrong about that. I just recall it takes a while to get there. Turns out the murdered guy worked for the Hong Kong company trying to acquire the land cheaply from the feds. When he became no longer useful, they canceled him, as it were.

I find McCone off-putting in so many ways. She drifts from man to man like a poor child with severe ADHD drifts from one shiny new thing to another. People compare McCone to the Sue Grafton detective, and I don’t see any comparison aside from their singleness. Grafton’s character at least gave me reasons to like her. What frustrates me a little is I enjoy this series enough that I’m committed to keep reading it. I think I have something like 24 books to go, if I’m not mistaken.

As to this book, it ends in a suspenseful way. I’m always freaked out a bit by scenes set deep inside mines. I got trapped once years ago in an old elevator on the campus where I work, and while it didn’t entirely undo me, it left an indelible mark. The thought of venturing into a mine shaft or cave now gives me pause, to say the least. But when that elevator failed, I could hear the creaking groanings of what felt like the skeleton of that building. There’s a mine scene in here that definitely kept me reading.

[Alton Motobu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very cozy mystery - with emphasis on the cozy - and not much mystery. First third of book takes place in the Mono Lake area of CA. A dead body is found floating in the lake. Sharon gets to know the locals as she helps the short-handed police department in the investigation. Her future boyfriend, Hy, is introduced. Middle third takes place in SF and we get to know about George, Sharon's current boyfriend, and Sharon's mom who is having an affair and plans to get a divorce, as well as Sharon's friends and contacts in the area who help her in the investigation. Final third is back in the Mono Lake area where Sharon unmasks the killer. The climax in a dark cave in the middle of a mesa which is set to be blown up falls flat. Hy somehow finds Sharon in the mesa complex and rescues her while the killer is supposedly blown up in the explosion. It is not as exciting as it sounds.

This is for Sharon McCone fans who want to know her better and see what makes her tick. Not much suspense or mystery.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm reading the McCone series in order and this one seems tangibly better than it's predecessors. The plot holds together better and moves along pretty well, with some interesting twists. I agree with other readers in finding the concept of the plot a bit less engaging than I would have preferred, but it is distinctive and held my attention well enough.

There does seem to be a formula to the McCone episodes, and many of the characters (especially her co-workers) are fairly standard. The office stuff also adds a whole set of relationships to keep track of, and in this book we have the added burden of family relationships and two at least somewhat romantic interests. I continue to be puzzled by what attracts McCone to the guys she picks, but I'm a guy so what do I know?

The upshot is a pretty good read, entertaining enough, but in no sense memorable within the P.I. genre.

[Alan60 · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a first-person narrative, it helps if the narrator has the feel of a good companion: and for me, all the Sharon McCone books achieve this. The background in co-operatives and environmental groups also feels congenial. And the calm acceptance that many people live quiet lives as underdogs, fitting into the gaps of modern society.

I am currently re-reading some of them in sequence (the ones that I have as a result of my parents' purchases in the 80s and 90s), and what I notice feels new in this one is a bit more personal reflection by the character on what she wants out of life, not just her "Goals" (rational choices) but also what makes her tick, what raises her energy level: it's all fairly brief, but I don't immediately recall another detective getting quite so honest with herself about her less-conscious motivations, the thrill of catching a bad guy/gal.

[Holly McIntyre · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading (or in this case, listening) to a novel written in 1991 is an experience in time travel. As the years have flown by, it doesn’t seem so long ago. I can see clearly where I lived and what I did that year, but the world has changed so much since then. It came as a shock when the protagonist had to FIND A PAYPHONE. Right. I remember now. We used to do that. And information came from wading through reams of paper, not consulting the then-non-existent internet. (I feel like I should be having tea with Methuselah any day now.) It is a testimony to the soundness of the plot and the character development that the story holds up so well. Except for these few glaring reminders of a setting now far past, the mystery is well-crafted and enjoyable.

[John Grazide · Rating 4 out of 5]

These books keep getting better. This one has Sharon heading to the desert wilderness around Mono Lake to help investigate some strange goings on. She is helping Anne Marie (Hank's wife) who is doing some environmental work. But death and double crossing change the investigation. A few personal revelations with self, family and co-workers adds to the personality of the character. Loved a lot of the detailed descriptions. Very good.

[Darcee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have just completed reading books 6-11 in this series, but have not written a review on any til now. I wanted to see how the character was developing. Previously I had read the first book of the series, but not books 2-5, which I will have to find. I am not going to recap the stories as the stock reviews do a good job of that.
Sharon McCone is absolutely a "hard-boiled private eye" as the reviews state. The stories are solid with lots of clues and turns, without revealing too much too soon. One of the things that I really like is that the settings and crimes are so different, so various. Sharon gets so involved with her cases, and with the other characters to the extent that we also get to know them.
I was warned that as the series moved forward the books got a little darker in nature. I do not know if I would say darker, but they do become more complex which is good as the writer matured. On top of which we do see some pretty evil criminal elements. I saw this in Sue Grafton's books as well, to whom Marcia Muller is often compared. The second half of her series were definitely more complex. There are still a number of books in the McCone series left to read. I will have to reserve final judgement until I get to the end.
I do see that as time goes on we see Sharon examining her own self/soul, trying to make sense of the life she has chosen. We start to see under the surface and we start to really get to know her, both good and bad. So maybe it is this "bad" and sometimes "ugly" undercurrent of her personality that rears its head occasionally that "darkens" the stories. More human perhaps than we want to admit ?
Good books. Highly recommend.

[Sydney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sharon McCone travels to Tufa Lake to track down a conspiracy and murder, finding colorful characters and new friends along the way. As always, this comfortable mystery by Muller is a relaxing read while spinning an enjoyable story.

[Chris Leuchtenburg · Rating 3 out of 5]

The formula still works, but the convoluted plot required a long unwinding section to explain what happened and wrap up the romantic entanglements.

[Genevieve Morello · Rating 5 out of 5]

Second time around

I realized I had read this before about half way through but it was nice to rediscover how Hy and Sharon met

[Barbara Nutting · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read 2007

[Martha Fiorentini · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy this author’s stories but I just found the landscape so bleak that it depressed me.

[Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sharon McCone is one of my favourite female investigators

[Laurel Patric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sharon heads into the Sierras to help stop a mining operation.

[Charles Ellenbaum · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoying the whole series of Sharon McCone as legal investigator. Good writing and holds your interest. Unpredictable solutions.

[Connie Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought it was great! I love this Sharon McCone series, and I think they keep getting better. It was a tightly woven plot, the characters are likable, and there was plenty of action.

[Robyn Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

C- Audiobook

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Where Shar and Hy meet. Hy is an ecological activist and Shar has been hired nay his organization.

[Kenneth Flusche · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Good McCone Mystery

[aPriL does feral sometimes · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this is an enjoyable mystery, but its one where I had to suspend the part of my brain that analyzes motives and reactions. It's very well written and I have no complaints there, but some of the characters are not believably drawn, and some incidents didn't feel right, like the fight between McCone and Margot, or the helpful Marcy Cheung (someone with her job of writing promotional material would have avoided McCone).

This book uses the environmental pollution issue between business/jobs advocates and those who want the land to be 'unspoiled' as the reason McCone ends up with a murder to investigate. I think the book does a good job of outlining the conflict while not going into detail or lectures for one side or the other, maintaining a genre story mystery plot. There are several classes of players involved, from loners avoiding society living without amenities in the desert who nonetheless create piles of garbage despoiling the land to small business which leave ghost towns rotting behind them in creating new little towns to big business which poison miles of land around. The author adeptly includes a symbolic scene of a Mono Lake clone which has been drained to the point where the shoreline has receded, exposing towers of rock called tufa, eerily beautiful and emotionally moving. I googled for tufa images; they bring to mind Middle Ages castles and dragons. To expose them, the lake is being destroyed. In turn, the tufa will be eroded by the environment. But who else except people can admire them?

Everyone wants their patch preserved as it is because it's how they make their living, so the conflicts, and murder begins!

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

As in a few of the McCone books preceding this one, Muller decides to move much of the action out of San Francisco, here to "Tufa" Lake. I say "Tufa" because it's a made-up lake which is at least partially based on Mono Lake. There's similarly a made-up town, "Promiseville", which is based on Bodie. I don't particularly like it when authors make up locales that are meant to be stand-ins for real locales, but maybe Muller decided that she needed to muck with the history of Mono & Bodie enough that she wasn't willing to attach the real names.

In any case, it's another fine McCone case, with lots of mystery, but even more focus on McCone's personal growth as she starts to come to grips with who she really is.

We're also ever so slowly lurching into the future, with this 1991 book making a few references to "The Big Quake". I suspect they were entered at the last minute in the draft, since Muller doesn't even use the term "Loma Prieta", which has been attached to "The Big Quake" (of '89) for as long as I can remember.

[Patty · Rating 2 out of 5]

It has been years since I listened to a mystery about Sharon McCone. I had forgotten a lot about the character and Muller's writing style.

The mystery was good. It was interesting to be reading a enivronmentally friendly story from 15 years ago. Muller kept my interest and I did not solve the crime before McCone.

There is a lot of detail in these books. Muller makes sure you know exactly what McCone is thinking and how it impacts her behavior. I am not sure how all this detail affects the reader, but it took me awhile to get back into the habit of hearing all the information provided.

I had been listening to books with more action and less detail. And maybe even more importantly, I have been listening to books with more humor.

I will have to decide how much more I want to know about Sharon McCone before I listen to another book.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I always enjoy Marcia Muller's style - kind of soft-boiled, I suppose, as her present-day world is slightly cosier than the mean streets of Chandler or Hamnett. But I'm starting to find her books a bit samey, and I also think it's a pity when her heroine finds true love with the far-too dashing Hy Ripinsky, with his dark blond hair, hawkish profile and private pilot's licence! (He makes his first appearance in this book, but I've read some of them out of order.) For some reason these sorts of books work better when the hero or heroine's love life is hopelessly messed up! As for the plot of the detective story, er, I finished this a few days ago and have forgotten that part of the book already... shame on me.