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Sharon McCone #16
The Broken Promise Land
Someone is bent on getting revenge on Ricky Savage, Sharon McCone's brother-in-law and a two-time Grammy Award-winning country singer. The danger escalates as Sharon realizes that more than one person has been playing underhanded games--and that the music industry is truly a broken promise land.
400 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
65 people are currently reading
719 people want to read
About the author
Marcia Muller
165 books731 followersMarcia 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.
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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Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews
June 25, 2021
4 stars for a fast moving mystery. Sharon McCone is a Private Investigator based in San Francisco, California. Ricky Savage is a popular country music star. He is married to Sharon's sister Charlene. Ricky comes to Sharon because he has received several cryptic threatening letters. She agrees to take on the case, and persuades him to hire RKI, a security company specializing in protecting high profile people. It is run by Hy Ripinsky. Hy and Sharon are in a relationship.
Sharon does solve the case with help from her team. There are some twists and turns in the plot. I was not sure how it would end and who was behind the letters until the end.
I read this library book in 3 days.
Sharon does solve the case with help from her team. There are some twists and turns in the plot. I was not sure how it would end and who was behind the letters until the end.
I read this library book in 3 days.
September 11, 2022
I began reading Marcia Muller’s Sharon McCone novels long before I ever heard of Goodreads, and I know that I’ve read many more of her mysteries than I’ve given myself credit for. So, when I grabbed the Libby digital version of The Broken Promise Land, I wasn’t sure whether I’d read it before or not. Now that I’ve finished it, I’m still not sure if this was the second time around or not. It was slow-moving at times, but when things got moving, it proved to be entertaining.
McCone, as her guy friend Hy Ripinski calls her – Shar to her family and other friends – takes on a case directly involving her brother-in-law, Ricky Savage. Ricky, a country singer, has been receiving threatening letters. Sharon convinces Ricky to hire Hy’s security agency to provide protection. He agrees but prefers to keep the details hidden from his band and associates. None of them understand and all are unhappy about the new restrictions. The “Little Savages,” Ricky’s kids and wife, are feeling the crunch as well. Shar and Hy insist, however. Given the nature of the threats, it is evident that the entire family is at risk.
Much of the book focuses on Ricky’s failing marriage and his new relationship. To readers who are familiar with the series, this may be a bit painful, or perhaps not, depending upon how you feel about the characters. Ms. Muller has done a fine job getting inside the heads and hearts of the characters. She also seemed to portray life on the road as a musician in a fairly realistic way, including the toll it takes on musicians and their crew members. And it’s not just Ricky and Charlene whose relationship is rocky. The stress of the case is taking its toll on others too.
I used to love this series, but it’s been so long since I’ve read any of these books that it felt rather bittersweet. Perhaps it was the “air” of the relationships, or perhaps it’s that my interests in reading have changed. I did like the story, but it dragged a bit too much for me. Still, I did feel that it was well written, and I’ve always appreciated McCone and her team of Mick, Rae, and occasionally Hy Ripinski. All in all, it’s still a worthwhile read for Muller fans.
3 stars
McCone, as her guy friend Hy Ripinski calls her – Shar to her family and other friends – takes on a case directly involving her brother-in-law, Ricky Savage. Ricky, a country singer, has been receiving threatening letters. Sharon convinces Ricky to hire Hy’s security agency to provide protection. He agrees but prefers to keep the details hidden from his band and associates. None of them understand and all are unhappy about the new restrictions. The “Little Savages,” Ricky’s kids and wife, are feeling the crunch as well. Shar and Hy insist, however. Given the nature of the threats, it is evident that the entire family is at risk.
Much of the book focuses on Ricky’s failing marriage and his new relationship. To readers who are familiar with the series, this may be a bit painful, or perhaps not, depending upon how you feel about the characters. Ms. Muller has done a fine job getting inside the heads and hearts of the characters. She also seemed to portray life on the road as a musician in a fairly realistic way, including the toll it takes on musicians and their crew members. And it’s not just Ricky and Charlene whose relationship is rocky. The stress of the case is taking its toll on others too.
I used to love this series, but it’s been so long since I’ve read any of these books that it felt rather bittersweet. Perhaps it was the “air” of the relationships, or perhaps it’s that my interests in reading have changed. I did like the story, but it dragged a bit too much for me. Still, I did feel that it was well written, and I’ve always appreciated McCone and her team of Mick, Rae, and occasionally Hy Ripinski. All in all, it’s still a worthwhile read for Muller fans.
3 stars
November 3, 2008
I found that this went on too long and was somewhat boring. I didn't care about the protagonist, but did care about the antagonist...
February 23, 2019
I finally had a chance to pick up with my rereading of the Sharon McCone series. I know I likely listened to this book on audio (cassette!) sometime in the early 2000s but had zero recall on it. Much like Eye of the Storm (which also centered around a mystery involving one of Sharon's family members...) I found the secondary characters rather distasteful for the majority. It was all just so ugly - which, I suspect was kind of the point given that the book is called The Broken Promise Land, a fictional song by Sharon's county music superstar brother-in-law about all the horrible ways people can inflict damage on each other.
Also, if like me you've never been a big Rae fan - this one will likely push you over the edge. I stopped reading the series years ago around book #20 and I'm at the point now where my recall is really sketchy - but I'm kind of hoping that we'll get less of Rae's dumpster fire shenanigans now that she's boinking Sharon's brother-in-law (one can hope).
So yeah. I didn't really like any of these people and found them rather gross. Sharon, Hy and Mick were the only ones I didn't want to strangle at some point. BUT - after a rocky first half of me hating nearly everybody, the book takes subsequent twists and turns that engaged me - and I ended up coming around.
Also, if like me you've never been a big Rae fan - this one will likely push you over the edge. I stopped reading the series years ago around book #20 and I'm at the point now where my recall is really sketchy - but I'm kind of hoping that we'll get less of Rae's dumpster fire shenanigans now that she's boinking Sharon's brother-in-law (one can hope).
So yeah. I didn't really like any of these people and found them rather gross. Sharon, Hy and Mick were the only ones I didn't want to strangle at some point. BUT - after a rocky first half of me hating nearly everybody, the book takes subsequent twists and turns that engaged me - and I ended up coming around.
August 1, 2020
Private investigator Sharon McCone is in the thick of things again, but this time there is a heightened tension as the case involves her family. Her famous brother-in-law, country singer Rickie Savage has been getting threatening notes and faxes, and they target not only him but also his wife and children.
Worse still, his marriage is on the skids, so that their security is that much more difficult even with the involvement of McCone's love interest and his security firm.
While Hy Ripinsky and his team from his firm go into overdrive to keep the country singer safe and secure while beginning a new concert tour, the investigation into who is threatening Savage and why falls to McCone. But first she has to find out some things about her brother-in-law that is even more damaging than the usual drinking, drugs and casual sex for a musical star.
This seems to be a far more complicated story that Muller's past but she keeps her writing focused on the story line and it shows in the driving rhythm of the story and the building suspense as time begins to grow short and McCone seems to be coming up with very little in the way of solutions. Strong story and good dialogue result in an unstoppable, hard-to-put-down story where the answers take long to come together but when they do, its heart stopping.
Worse still, his marriage is on the skids, so that their security is that much more difficult even with the involvement of McCone's love interest and his security firm.
While Hy Ripinsky and his team from his firm go into overdrive to keep the country singer safe and secure while beginning a new concert tour, the investigation into who is threatening Savage and why falls to McCone. But first she has to find out some things about her brother-in-law that is even more damaging than the usual drinking, drugs and casual sex for a musical star.
This seems to be a far more complicated story that Muller's past but she keeps her writing focused on the story line and it shows in the driving rhythm of the story and the building suspense as time begins to grow short and McCone seems to be coming up with very little in the way of solutions. Strong story and good dialogue result in an unstoppable, hard-to-put-down story where the answers take long to come together but when they do, its heart stopping.
October 13, 2019
In this book P.I. Sharon McCone looks into the series of threatening notes that are aimed at her brother-in-law country music star, Ricky Savage.
December 2, 2012
An essential read for those of us immersed in P.I. Sharon McCone's world. There is a lot of change for every one of the characters, equivalent to the second movie in movie trilogies.
Relationships are rupturing, but that is only the tip of the iceberg. The surprises really start when new relationships begin. Even McCone and Ripinsky are uncertain of each other, distance growing between them with each chapter. They stare at each other more coldly as the incidents pile up. Will they still be a couple by the time they discover who is threatening McCone's famous brother-in-law, Ricky Savage?
Relationships are rupturing, but that is only the tip of the iceberg. The surprises really start when new relationships begin. Even McCone and Ripinsky are uncertain of each other, distance growing between them with each chapter. They stare at each other more coldly as the incidents pile up. Will they still be a couple by the time they discover who is threatening McCone's famous brother-in-law, Ricky Savage?
December 2, 2015
Muller writes deep and compelling characters, and this book is one of her best because it's all about characters near and dear to our hearts: not just McCone and Rae, but also Mick's father, Ricky Savage. It's a tense and delightful story about these people and their changing lives. There's of course also a mystery here, and it's a compelling one. (And the California scenery is as always authentic.) All around, one of of Muller's top books.
Read
December 31, 2019Update: Picked this up thinking I hadn't already read it, but I had. Didn't like it as well as in 2014; probably due to rereading too soon.
2014: Marcia Muller's Sharon McCone mysteries hold their interest pretty well over the years, so although this one was published in 1996, it still seemed fine in 2014. It's somewhat more of a thriller than a mystery, or perhaps straddled the two genres, but didn't suffer from the kind of tedious non-stop tension that often plagues thrillers.
2014: Marcia Muller's Sharon McCone mysteries hold their interest pretty well over the years, so although this one was published in 1996, it still seemed fine in 2014. It's somewhat more of a thriller than a mystery, or perhaps straddled the two genres, but didn't suffer from the kind of tedious non-stop tension that often plagues thrillers.
October 29, 2024
Ricky Savage’s marriage is over. There’s almost nothing left of it. Neither he nor his wife, Sharon McCone’s sister, have been faithful to one another, and she wants out.
His life as a country-music singer gets worse when he starts receiving notes possibly from a woman he bedded in a one-night stand in Texas. She put a lot of stock into what was nothing more than a tryst for him, and when their expectations of the night didn’t match, things got funky for him.
Now, he’s in serious trouble. He’s getting threatening notes, and someone blew out a window in his home assuming they could kill him. Since Sharon is his sister-in-law and an investigator, he hires her to figure out where the threats originated. Because he needs bodyguards, Savage hires McCone’s lover, who operates a security company, to protect him and his family from an unknown threat.
I enjoyed this, and it kept me engaged to the end. McCone’s female assistant investigator gets a lot more play in this book, and that increased its interest level for me.
The book serves as a stark reminder of the hidden and not-so-hidden costs of infidelity and family disruptions. A hot night in a hotel room means a cold reckoning for Ricky Savage.
Finally, this was interesting in that it avoided so many of the tropes it could have fallen to. McComb’s life is never really in danger, and the only murder you read, if that’s what you can call it, happens near the end of the book.
His life as a country-music singer gets worse when he starts receiving notes possibly from a woman he bedded in a one-night stand in Texas. She put a lot of stock into what was nothing more than a tryst for him, and when their expectations of the night didn’t match, things got funky for him.
Now, he’s in serious trouble. He’s getting threatening notes, and someone blew out a window in his home assuming they could kill him. Since Sharon is his sister-in-law and an investigator, he hires her to figure out where the threats originated. Because he needs bodyguards, Savage hires McCone’s lover, who operates a security company, to protect him and his family from an unknown threat.
I enjoyed this, and it kept me engaged to the end. McCone’s female assistant investigator gets a lot more play in this book, and that increased its interest level for me.
The book serves as a stark reminder of the hidden and not-so-hidden costs of infidelity and family disruptions. A hot night in a hotel room means a cold reckoning for Ricky Savage.
Finally, this was interesting in that it avoided so many of the tropes it could have fallen to. McComb’s life is never really in danger, and the only murder you read, if that’s what you can call it, happens near the end of the book.
July 30, 2020
One of the better Sharon McCone mysteries as Shar must deal with threats against her brother-in-law who happens to be a CW music superstar. Mysterious letters, faxes, and other veiled threats against his family lead Shar to suspect an inside job, but she must use all of her investigative skills and bring in colleagues to help her. Takes place over 7 days, which are filled with non-stop action. Shar hardly gets any sleep. The 7th day, which involves a music concert in Albuquerque, is especially suspenseful as the assassination of the superstar seems imminent and Shar must figure things out before anyone dies. Shar's associate, Rae Kelleher, gets a major role in this book.
The investigative work, especially following up on seemingly insignificant clues, is interesting. Shar, Mick, Rae, and a friend, Jenny, all contribute to solving the case.
The investigative work, especially following up on seemingly insignificant clues, is interesting. Shar, Mick, Rae, and a friend, Jenny, all contribute to solving the case.
October 30, 2018
Still on my reread of these books that I first read 20 years ago! I definitely remember much of this book --although I did not know who was threatening Ricky until everyone else knew... But the characters are much more like the ones I have grown familiar with. Sharon tries to blend and understand her diverse beliefs and actions --as do we all if we are thinking folks. She and Hy have an opportunity to work together, Rae meets the person she is meant to be with, Mick continues to grow.... For me the book is so much more about the characters and their relationships than just the mystery involved. And I do love those characters!
July 25, 2017
So much happens in this novel - we see the end of Charlene and Ricky's marriage, as well as how Rae and Ricky come together. Someone is stalking Ricky, becoming increasingly more threatening.
Sharon brings in Hy to provide security as Ricky begins a tour with this unknown threat menacing from the darkness.
This was satisfying to read, even after reading later books, to see how things happened.
Sharon brings in Hy to provide security as Ricky begins a tour with this unknown threat menacing from the darkness.
This was satisfying to read, even after reading later books, to see how things happened.
August 12, 2021
Interestingly written story of a female Private investigator who has a mystery occur in her own immediate family and needs to solve it with the help of a security detail whose CEO is her current love. I needed a quick, compelling read and this story fit the bill. I am interested in reading more of her books with the same main character.
October 15, 2025
As the series progresses, these books just keep getting better. In her earlier books I usually thought there was a lull in the middle, rehashing things a hundred times and not going anywhere. But the last two I’ve read have been totally satisfying and I’m anxious to read the next one!
June 19, 2017
I liked this book because it introduced the characters well, followed the action and kept the dialogue real. I will read more in this series for sure!
July 9, 2017
this one drops a lot of one liners from previous stories so not really a stand alone novel, but still a good read
April 19, 2018
One of my recent faves in this series. Really great characters.
April 23, 2019
Read 2007
June 9, 2019
Reliably entertaining
December 3, 2019
It was a fun read as expected with Sharon McCone
May 30, 2020
Reads like the lyrics of a truly good ol' country song.
October 15, 2020
A very entertaining, involving, and revealing read. Other members of Sharon's family and circle play major roles in this one.
June 7, 2021
Ricky’s tale
This one takes you through McCone’s brother in laws story. A bit of a slow starter, but worth every minute. It grabs your attention and holds you thru to the end!
This one takes you through McCone’s brother in laws story. A bit of a slow starter, but worth every minute. It grabs your attention and holds you thru to the end!
November 19, 2021
This one grabbed my attention right off the bat.
September 13, 2024
Always a good read, I like Sharon McCone as a character. It was my cafe book but as usual couldn’t wait to finish so read it at home. This plan to have a cafe book just isn’t working!
November 9, 2025
a mystery set in the country music scene. McCone's brother-in-law is receiving threats and has hired her to find out where they're coming from.
August 10, 2024
GREAT MYSTERY!!!!!
You just want to jump in live the story!
Music, murder, mayhem, and love.....
You just want to jump in live the story!
Music, murder, mayhem, and love.....
August 19, 2019
Can't find the eBook so will be squinting on the fine print.
November 22, 2010
Frankly I thought I was reading a Sharyn McCrumb and was disappointed with the book because it was so staid, not fun reading. One gets tired of women P.I.s after some years of reading mysteries. So actually this was my first Sharon McCone novel. McCone is hired by her soon-to-be ex-brother-in-law, Ricky Savage, famous country singer, because enigmatic notes begin appearing: "What Have You Done With My Song". McCone discovers that there is a real threat behind the notes, and brings in her lover Hy for bodyguard service.
There were two things I didn't like: I thought the perpetrator of the threats was not actualized very well, and that his actions didn't make a lot of sense. Also, McCone seems to rely on her bodily feelings a lot, on her senses, to detect dangers. While I believe in the power of intuition, I don't believe in a PI who relies on it as much as McCone does.
There were two things I didn't like: I thought the perpetrator of the threats was not actualized very well, and that his actions didn't make a lot of sense. Also, McCone seems to rely on her bodily feelings a lot, on her senses, to detect dangers. While I believe in the power of intuition, I don't believe in a PI who relies on it as much as McCone does.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 60 reviews