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Sharon McCone #22

The Dangerous Hour

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Marcia Muller's beloved heroine Sharon McCone is back to investigate a personal betrayal by one of her operatives that has put her business and reputation on the line. The future's looking bright for Sharon McCone and the staff of McCone Investigations-until one of the firm's operatives, Julia Rafael, is arrested for major credit card fraud. A former juvenile delinquent, Julia was a risky hire, but by all accounts had been turning her life around. Banking on her innocence, Sharon goes to work looking for the real thief-only to discover a cache of illegal merchandise stashed in Julia's apartment. Is it the damning evidence that will seal her employee's fate, or the key to a larger conspiracy? Sharon must find out the truth....or lose her firm and reputation in the process.

336 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published July 28, 2004

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About the author

Marcia Muller

165 books724 followers
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.

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5 stars
303 (23%)
4 stars
594 (45%)
3 stars
360 (27%)
2 stars
45 (3%)
1 star
12 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews
5,305 reviews62 followers
July 5, 2018
#23 in the Sharon McCone mystery series. This 2004 series entry from author Muller is sure to please series fans. In addition to the expected interactions with the staff of McCone Investigations and their significant others, Sharon touches base with some law enforcement officers not frequently encountered, she passes along some of her overload to Author Muller's husband Bill Pronzini's series character Nameless Detective (referred to in McCone mysteries as Wolf), and she encounters Muller's other series character Elena Oliverez (Beyond the Grave 1986). Not as tightly plotted as some series entries, but quite adequate as an entertaining read.

The arrest of her newest operative for credit-card theft jeopardizes the apparently rosy future of McCone's Investigations, but Sharon McCone musters the best legal help available. Operative Julia Rafael has overcome a background that includes a juvenile record; however, a recent case she handled for an ambitious Latino city supervisor backfired. Sharon investigates immediately and finds that the supervisor is not all that he appears to be. So, who really stole the credit card, and is the real object to shut Sharon down?
Profile Image for Kristen.
2,097 reviews160 followers
January 12, 2015
In the 22nd installment of Marcia Muller's Sharon McCone PI series, The Dangerous Hour, Sharon returned to tackle another one of her toughest cases. This time, we've found Sharon investigating one a personal betrayal of her own operatives that might put her career on the line. When one of her ops, Julia Rafael, was arrested for credit card fraud, she knew she was a risky hire when she'd turned her troubled life around. While she believed her innocence, she went investigating for the real thief. And then they've found a cache of illegal merchandise in her apartment. Now it was up to Sharon to clear her name and find out who set Julia up for the fall.
Profile Image for Donna.
2,374 reviews
October 25, 2020
I picked up this older (2004) Sharon McCone mystery at a library book sale over a year ago. It's a good, old fashioned private investigative story. Although she has her own agency, Sharon does most of the foot work in this book herself. This is my second reading of the book; the first was probably when it came out but definitely long enough that I didn't remember it.
Profile Image for Pamela Mclaren.
1,694 reviews114 followers
April 11, 2021
The detective agency that Sharon McCone began as a one-person operation is successful and growing and life seems to be treating her well ... that is until one of her operatives is arrested for supposedly stealing a client's credit card and using it for thousands of dollars.

Sharon can't believe it and she determines to fight the charge even before her agency goes under investigation. Suddenly, she is fighting not only for her employee but her own reputation and business.

The whole firm is activated, taking on new tasks in addition to their current caseload and clues start to fall out: the client has a past that seems to have returned to his present, but why?

Once again this intrepid investigator is taking this case personally and putting herself in danger. And she is doing so under current challenges: her love interest has proposed and she is scared of the commitments tied to matrimony.

Its taken a while but this is one of the few books in this series that I have read without frustration at the main character and her all too many quirks and inward facing focus. Perhaps its because she seems to be more satisfied with her life and hence the book seems more balanced and moves forward with less of the baggage the character had been saddled with at the beginning of the series. The story flows better and that is good reading.
Profile Image for Gretchen Rings.
174 reviews4 followers
July 12, 2009
Sharon McCone is a tough, smart PI whose own detective agency is just taking off--that is, until an act of sabotage threatens to bring it all crashing back to earth. Eventually, she will find not only her agency but also her life on the line. McCone is a study in contrasts: she's fearless in dealing with dangerous criminals, she's a crack shot with a three fifty-seven magnum, and she's an airline pilot. Yet, can't bring herself to administer shots to her diabetic cat. "The Dangerous Hour," published in 2004, is the 23rd book in the Sharon McCone series.
Profile Image for Alton Motobu.
732 reviews3 followers
August 8, 2025
Mystery starts on page 1 as someone tries to destroy Sharon's business by having one of her investigators arrested for massive credit card fraud. It's all hands on deck as all employees try to determine who is behind it. Most of the story line is the investigation until Sharon finally figures out who is doing it. Meanwhile 2 attempts are made to kill Sharon's employees, and 3 people who may have information are murdered. In the end Sharon is lured by the killer to an isolated area and he attacks her, but she fights back hard and knocks him out. Secondary story line about Sharon and Hy contemplating marriage is resolved on the last page. Exciting and full of action; best part is Sharon fighting back when she is cornered - reminiscent of the character Ballard on the Amazon Prime series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Nolan.
3,755 reviews38 followers
April 13, 2025
This is one of the better, more riveting books in the series. It looks like Julia Rafael, a new employee at Sharon McCone’s agency, has betrayed Sharon. A city supervisor complains that Rafael stole his credit card data and bought stuff with it.

McCone vehemently believes in the innocence of her new employee despite the woman’s somewhat checkered past, and then they find the stolen items in a storeroom in McCone’s agency.

You can imagine the murders that happen as McCone digs into this, and someone tries to kill Julia Rafael to silence her before the book ends. It's obvious that the bad guys are using Rafael to get to McCone.

Oh, and you should read this to determine what McCone does about that pesky marriage proposal that her would-be husband dangled in a previous book.
Profile Image for Larry Bassett.
1,636 reviews342 followers
September 8, 2012
I continue my search for women mystery authors who believe in woman’s lib. I have already decided that Sara Paretsky belongs in that column. This is my first book by Marcia Muller. McCone is definitely a strong woman crime solver; she needs to tone down her macho tendencies (ready to kill and ready to fight) for me to put her in the feminist column. But she is not a man in a woman’s body, has good sensitivities and feelings for other people, and treats men and women as equals. This is the twenty-second book in a series that is now up to twenty-nine books so there is a lot that I do not know about this character.

One of the first things you have to remember about this book is that it takes place in San Francisco. People who live in SF may think that it is a normal place, but those, like me, who live a distance from there know that normal is not a good descriptor for SF. SF is not quite fantasy but way out of the norm as I know it. That glimpse into another world is fun for me and does make me a little jealous. It is fun to imagine who I might be in San Fran.

My first impression is that in The Dangerous Hour we have fallen amongst Yuppies. Many are young professionals and making money is what they do or is at least a goal. But as I think how much different McCone is from crime solvers created by other authors, I think of the websites that allow you to compare similar products. For example, binoculars, laptop computers, washing machines, automobiles or presidential candidates. Let’s list all the female crime solvers and their individual characteristics so that we can compare and contrast: Sharon McCone, V.I. Warshawski, Lindsay Boxer, Stephanie Plum, Lisbeth Salander, Kay Scarpetta, Kinsey Millhone, Irene Huss. This is not to mention Nancy Drew or Jane Marple from the olden days. It’s on my to do list!

McCone Investigations is a classy operation: Nice office, staff of eight. McCone calls her investigators operatives and there is a new section for computer forensics. McCone drives an MG and is part owner of a small plane. Not used to my privates eyes being so affluent. Initially it put me off since it seemed like personal economics might play an uncomfortably (for me) large role in the story; as it turned out, it did not and I was relatively convinced that money did not rule the life of Sharon McCone even though she has plenty of it.

The quality of the writing is definitely quite good. This description is an example of being taken into the San Francisco street scene:
As I drove along Mission Street toward the job-training center, my eyes were assaulted by a riot of color. Red, white, and green Mexican flags fluttered in the wind outside a bakery. Pink, saffron, and turquoise mobiles twirled lazily in front of the Asian market. Artichokes, oranges, avocadoes, grapefruits, and limes were heaped in the outdoor bins. A black lowrider was painted with brilliant flames. A woman strolled along wearing a purple and green sari. Several walls were painted with intricate multihued ethnic murals. Sound blasted my ears: salsa and rap music, honking horns, shouts, and the shrieking brakes of a Muni bus. The air was thick with the smell of frying tortillas, exotic spices, sesame oil, curry, and good old American grease. When I stopped for the light at Seventeenth Street, I saw a red, yellow, and blue parrot fall from above, its wings fluttering. It bounced off a parking meter and landed on the sidewalk. When I looked up, I spotted the laughing brown face of a little girl at a third-story window.


Plenty of political correctness: the people at McCone Investigations referring to themselves as “our little family”; Sharon McCone’s past employment at a poverty law center; the sheriff used to be a prisoner’s rights attorney; women workers at a garment manufacturing company who were “probably unionized and well compensated”; complaints about “tax cuts for the rich, while our educational and health care systems foundered.”

My fear that Ms. McCone was going to be too rich was a hump that I had to get over. I am judgmental about people whom I feel have too much money. But I did get over that hump relatively easily and early in the book. But the conclusion left a lot to be desired as far as I was concerned. Not the part about our heroine saying “Yes” to the “Will you marry me?” question; we will see if that happens in the next book in the series. No, what I didn’t like about the end was that the mystery was resolved but the last chunk of the book was just about catching the bad guy, wrapping things up too easily. Maybe if you immediately picked up the next book, #23 in the series, it would flow together, but as it was the end seemed both anticlimactic and too neatly wrapped up.

Definitely better than three stars but not quite up to four. Maybe I was just expecting too much picking up my first book so far into the series. I missed all the background and familiarities you would normally experience in a series that you are following in order. Over 60% of the raters gave the book four or five stars so it is a book that most people liked quite well. I have one more Marcia Muller/Sharon McCone book already on my bookshelf that I will read eventually. Maybe I am reading too many series at the moment to successfully add another one.

Here is an interesting link about women mystery authors:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/mystery/essay...
6,726 reviews5 followers
May 25, 2022
Wonderful entertaining mystery listening 🎶🔰

Another will written murder mystery adventure thriller novel by Marcia Muller book 22in the Sharon McCone Mystery Series. Sharon is once again in the middle of violence around her as a murderer looking for revenge against her. A number of her employees are attacked as well as Sharon. But in the end he will go prison for life. Sharon says yes too marriage and is on the way to Las Vegas. I would recommend this novel and author to readers of mysteries novels 👍🔰. Enjoy the adventure of reading 👓 or listening 🎶 to Alexa as I do because of health issues. 2022 👒🐈🏨🏡
Profile Image for Amy Bradley.
630 reviews8 followers
July 25, 2017
This one was really good, it kept me guessing for a long long while.

Julia Rafael, one of Sharon's employees, has been accused of stealing the credit card of a city superintendent, and using it to buy goods. She claims she is innocent, but things look bad when the goods are found in the mailroom at the office and in her apartment building.


Issues of trust and an enemy from the past, this was an excellent read.
Profile Image for Shannon Appelcline.
Author 30 books167 followers
April 22, 2018
Another Sharon McCone mystery that strikes close to home, but as usual Muller draws strength from that.

This time around, one of Muller's employees is accused of a crime that she ... probably ... didn't commit. The result is a nice mystery and a nice look at how McCone's agency operates, twenty-two books on, with lots of attention to all of the characters who make up that agency.

Overall, another strong book.
Profile Image for Gigi.
650 reviews13 followers
February 2, 2019
No, the plot doesn't hold up. Honestly, there is a mad maniac after you, and once he attacks someone leaving the work place...and then, wait for it, he attacks someone leaving the work place...again. So what do you do? Why, GO ALONE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT TO THE MIDDLE OF NO WHERE BECAUSE HE MIGHT BE THERE. Meh.

Also, too many characters, I had to keep trying to keep them all straight.
706 reviews1 follower
December 13, 2019
Good quick read - just had a hard time following the characters... this was my first book by this author.
Sharon has her own personal investigation firm and one of her employees is arrested for credit card fraud...Sharon has to work with and without her firm to determine if this employee is guilty or if the employee is somehow framed for the crime.
Profile Image for Gail Burgess.
684 reviews4 followers
December 26, 2018
Sharon has to manage her growing business while also determining just who is out to ruin her and her business! The whole gang helps in one way or another and a new hire is acquired as Sharon sees how some work she does can be hurtful to others. The ending is a delight for longtime McCone fans.
Profile Image for Joyce.
2,387 reviews11 followers
August 12, 2020
This time Sharon investigates one of her own employees who is charged
With credit-card fraud. When she begins to investigate she realizes that
Someone wants her business to fail. This mystery moves along at a fast
pace with action,suspense and twists. I recommend this series.
Profile Image for Tara Russell.
758 reviews5 followers
April 24, 2022
A nice, solid, involved private investigator crime novel set in San Francisco. I've read a lot of the Sharon McCone books over the years and I have a fondness for Marcia Muller, Sara Paretsky, Karen Kijewski et al - the trailblazers of the female investigator novels.
15 reviews
August 30, 2024
An easy and relaxing mystery

Discovery of a new author! I like Mueller's style. No brutality but plenty of action. Good plot too. A good way to relax with her lightheaded writing.


Profile Image for Sydney.
406 reviews3 followers
October 29, 2024
Sharon McCone's life is good professionally and personally - until everything isn't. Someone is trying to bring her and her agency down and is threatening the lives of her staff. She has to figure out who it is quickly before more of her friends are hurt. Good action from beginning to end.
Profile Image for Angie.
20 reviews1 follower
January 2, 2019
Ijust recently realized how much i like books like this one. It's got crime, it's got people with personal problems, it's got twists and turns in ways that take you off guard
Profile Image for Doreen White.
13 reviews4 followers
Read
March 16, 2022
I enjoyed this Sharon McCone mystery published in 2004.
68 reviews
September 25, 2024
First book I’ve read by this Author. It was a well written mystery. Kept my interest from beginning to end.
Profile Image for Avid Series Reader.
1,665 reviews1 follower
September 1, 2019
The Dangerous Hour by Marcia Muller is book 22 of the Sharon McCone mystery series set in late 20-century San Francisco. It's a hot summer on San Fran's mean streets. Sharon's PI agency is under attack. Clearly, her employee Julia Rafael was framed; it takes Sharon too long to realize it. She pokes into a hornet's nest of civic corruption, drawing more attacks. She can't give up or hide, with her business at risk. She forges ahead into dangerous situations, takes on the bad guys single-handed, defends herself and employees. She's one tough lady...but she also (eventually) listens to her heart.
Profile Image for Lisa (Harmonybites).
1,834 reviews413 followers
February 1, 2011
I couldn't find the first entry in the Sharon McCone series, Edwin of the Iron Shoes so I tried this one, the 22nd installment published in 2004. I liked it, but not enough to think I'll really get around to reading more in the series.

On the irritating side, McCone complains about California stereotypes, without seeming to realize she's a walking caricature of how much of the country perceives San Francisco, where this book is mainly set. McCone, a private investigator, started out working for a law coop with the word "poverty" in it and now owns an agency where employees are "family" and resemble a rainbow coalition. A liberal do-gooder, McCone rants against "tax cuts for the rich." She's also something of a Mary Sue--beautiful, exotic looking (she's half-Shoshone), she can kick ass a la Buffy, is an expert shooter and a pilot. She has a nephew who is a computer "genius," an ex-brother-in-law who is a rock star, a friend with a new novel praised by the New York Times and a significant other who is a hostage negotiator.

On the other hand, I really liked that this surrounded a detective agency rather than the usual PI loner, and it was refreshing to see an idealist rather than the usual cynic. Other than that, I wouldn't say this novel stood out in style (the usual first person, though soft-boiled in tone) or plot. No twist or turn that makes it memorable.
Profile Image for Debra.
Author 12 books115 followers
June 18, 2008
Every time I buy a novel by a well-known author I haven’t read before, I soon realize that the book is already well into a series. Guess I’m a sucker for a great cover and tantalizing blurbs and, so far, I haven’t been disappointed. This is especially true for my first (and I’m a little embarrassed to admit this) Sharon McCone novel.

The adventure opens with Sharon feeling pretty good about her expanding PI practice. So good that she’s about to celebrate with her staff when the police show up and arrest her newest operative, Julia Rafael. Julia’s allegedly stolen a credit card from former client, Alex Aguilar. The situation worsens when a complaint’s filed against Sharon, prompting a rep from the Investigations Bureau of the Dept. of Consumer Affairs to want to scrutinize her files.

Neither Sharon or Julia’s lawyer believe Julia stole the card, so it’s a matter of finding who set her up, and why? The more Sharon digs, the more dangerous things become for her and her staff.

The Dangerous Hour is an entertaining, suspenseful read filled with twists and turns, plus an interesting subplot about her strained relationship with her lover, Hy. Although Hy doesn’t appear until midway through the book, he’s an interesting guy, and I’m looking forward to going back and starting this series from the beginning. It should be quite a ride.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 66 reviews

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