A Walk Through the Fire

Sharon McCone #19

by Marcia Muller

ALOHA MURDER

Accidents are plaguing a documentary film crew on breathtakingly beautiful Kauai. Can San Francisco P.I. Sharon McCone ferret out possible sabotage behind the scenes? The job sounds like a breeze -- McCone envisions romantic, tropical nights with her lover, Hy Ripinsky. Instead, she finds a troubled paradise with rising tensions between native and non-native Hawaiians, a film going south fast, and a macabre ritual death. Then a mysterious local pilot rattles her commitment to Hy, and soon McCone is in danger herself...caught in the place Hawaiians call "ahi wela maka'u", the place between fire love and fire terror, the place where even a seasoned private eye can get burned.

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

352 pages, Mass Market Paperback

Published July 1, 2000

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

[Damo · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Walk Through the Fire is the 19th book in the Sharon McCone private investigator series. For the most part the series is set in San Francisco however every now and then the focus shifts to another location. This one is one of those times with the majority set in Hawaii.

Sharon McCone is hired by her office neighbour Glenna Stanleigh who calls from Kauai in Hawaii. Glenna believes that someone is trying to kill her or someone in her crew as she works on the movie set or, at the very least, to sabotage the filming. The job represents an opportunity to spend some time in Hawaii so not only does McCone take the job but she also invites her partner Hy Ripinsky to come with her. The tentative idea was they might have a bit of a holiday combined with work. It’s a plan that would be too much to hope for.

Upon arriving on set in Kauai McCone gets an immediate sense that things weren’t going smoothly, particularly with the wealthy and influential Wellbright family involved. Fighting within the family dredging up old deep-seated problems is causing all kinds of rifts. The fact that it’s this family that is the foundation around which the movie is being set means there’s bound to be repercussions down the line.

What starts out as a case to offer support and protection to Glenna soon morphs into a wider investigation into the Wellbright family. Exactly what it is that McCone is supposed to be investigating, however, is rather unclear. Suffice to say, there are mysteries within the family that run outside the law and, by digging deeply into each member, the stink is soon revealed.

I found myself decidedly disconnected from this particular Sharon McCone volume. Although the setting was idyllic it was never really given a chance to shine. Similarly, an attraction that formed between Sharon and local helicopter pilot Russ Tanner seemed to blossom from nowhere, creating tension between McCone and her partner Hy.

The strange thing was, even though this was told in the first person from McCone’s perspective, we were never given any hint that romance was building. No words, no actions, nothing until suddenly, the discomfort was building and “everyone seemed to know something was up”. Yeah, everyone except the reader! It was this strange disconnect that echoed through the entire book. It came across as feeling as though it was lacking emotion.

I found it very difficult to engage with just about all of the characters as well as the majority of the plot of this book. It felt as though things were moving extremely slowly and then, when the action started, it was confused and poorly described. Even now, after just finishing reading it, I’m struggling to remember exactly what it was that McCone was hired to do.

Sure, she uncovered an illegal operation, confronted some bad guys and helped a family understand itself a little better, but sheesh it took some work to follow along.

[Elaine Nickolan · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars
I have read many other stories in this series. Usually, I read through them quickly. This particular one however did not have a storyline that caught my interest at first. The end was wrapped up well and the last quarter of the book picked up and began to hold my interest.
Sharon is called to Hawaii by an acquaintance of hers because the woman fears for her life. The woman is a documentary maker and is filming about a man who researched the folklore of the Hawaiian gods and spirits. While shooting the film there are too many "accidents" and the woman thinks someone is out to get her. Sharon and her boyfriend fly to the woman's aide to investigate. While there Sharon meets Russ, a helicopter flyer, and there is a definite attraction there.
Will Sharon figure out who is to blame for the sabotage of this movie set and will her relationship with Hy survive the attraction she feels towards Russ.
This story ended up being good, it just took too long to get there IMO.

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

#20 in the Sharon McCone series. Sharon travels to Hawaii on an assignment and brings lover, Hy Ripinski, along to make it a working vacation. She promptly is attracted to a helicopter pilot jeopardizing her relationship with Hy. While trying to ignore her feelings, she attempts to discover who wants to stop the filming of the documentary she has been hired to protect. Wheels within wheels and she winds up involved in more plots than she had imagined existed.

#20 - Sharon McCone series - The San Francisco-based PI leaves her usual haunts for Hawaii. McCone's downstairs office neighbor, Glenna Stanleigh, is a documentary filmmaker with a project on the island of Kauai. Glenna and her partner, Peter Wellbright, are making a film about Hawaiian legends and myths, based on the writings of Peter's father, Elson Wellbright, a descendant of early missionaries to the islands. There have been a series of accidents on the film set, and Glenna suspects that someone is trying to kill her or a member of her crew. Can McCone help? McCone is not licensed to operate in Hawaii, so she takes along her lover, Hy Ripinsky, and finds a way to work with the local branch of his security company, RKI. As she delves into the curious circumstances on the set, McCone keeps running into trouble with the large, influential and badly dysfunctional Wellbright family. Two family members, Elson himself and his youngest son, have gone missing for some years, and nobody seems to care much. As her inquiries lead her inevitably into learning more about the local folklore and history, McCone falls under the spell of the islands. She also fights an attraction to Russ Tanner, a local helicopter pilot and distant relative of the Wellbrights.

[SuperWendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the last book in the series that is technically a reread for me - although the last time I read this was easily 20 years ago. It was OK. I'll be honest, I tend to not like the books that take Sharon away from San Francisco as much. This one was slow to start and there's a lot of name-dropping of characters without a whole lot of set-up in the beginning. Also Sharon's attraction with a local helicopter pilot is telegraphed without a lot of substance. It adds some conflict to her relationship with Hy, but the threat of a break-up is flimsy at best. I mean, she's not leaving Hy y'all.

But it does pick up steam after the halfway point, the mystery comes together a bit more, and I kind of liked that Sharon got caught unawares in this one - with Hy calling out the fact that she has blinders on. Good, not great.

[Pamela Mclaren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Private investigator Sharon McCone responds to an acquaintance's panicked SOS and sets out to Hawaii, where she in entranced with the culture and the natural attractions of the islands. When she gets there, McCone finds herself quickly not only in a hot frying pan but the fire itself as she tackles mysterious goings on at her client's film sites and an attraction that could upend her ongoing relationship with Hy Rapinsky.

This is probably one of my favorite of Marcia Muller's McCone mysteries that I have read so far. Its fairly straight forward, the characters realistic and the twists at the end were unanticipated (but I should have!) I'm still not sure about Muller's focus on McCone's romance(s) — but this one was fairly well balanced.

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

A great beach read and Sharon McCone is at her usual top-of-her-game form; however I must confess to some disappointment. There isn't enough about Hawaii, even though Muller put McCone into some Hawaiian locales and included a few political issues. There wasn't enough about the movie business either, even though McCone was in Hawaii providing security for a threatened movie director. On the other hand, this is a 300ish page mystery, depending on the typeface, not a doorstopper literary novel.

The biggest eyeopening surprise is McCone's romance and kiss with a man who was NOT Hy Ripinsky, the man who supposedly is her true love. Hy comes to Hawaii with her, but he leaves early when it becomes apparent to everyone McCone wants a hot helicopter pilot, Russ Tanner, and he wants her, too. While Tanner was pulling on his stick (helicopter) and squeezing McCone's knee while he took her for a ride, I wanted to slap her! The hussy! Will she betray Hy!?!

Why is it hot men don't squeeze my knees?

; )

[Spuddie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a long-lived series that I generally enjoy quite a bit, but as with every series, there are books that are better than others. This one was a bit of a yawner for me, though I'm not sure why. It sounded pretty exciting! PI Sharon McCone and her significant other Hy are off to Hawaii at the behest of one of the other occupants of Sharon's office building in San Francisco. Filmmaker Glenna suspects someone is trying to kill her, or at least trying to keep her from making the documentary she's currently working on on the island of Kauai, and wants to hire Sharon to figure out who and why. Since Sharon isn't licensed in Hawaii, Hy accompanies her and hires her to work under the auspices of his company, RKI, which has offices there.

Just didn't capture my interest much and I spotted the bad guy a mile away. I'll continue the series because I do generally enjoy these and typically at this point in a long-lived series, things can get a little ho-hum for awhile. I know enough to continue on, if not with as much enthusiasm and I've had in the past.

[William Dean · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very light who-done-it. Well-written with engaging personal dilemmas interwoven. Definitely not gritty or true-to-life, but good and consistent characters. There was a large cast of suspects and I kind of lost track of who might have done what, but I suspect you can't solve the crime from your armchair without vital info revealed near the end, but it was still a pleasurable read.

[Kenneth Flusche · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not as smooth as the previous books in this series

[Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorites in this series.

[Nolan · Rating 2 out of 5]

A few days in Hawaii! What could possibly be wrong with a deal like that? For Private Investigator Sharon McCone, it sounds like the perfect get-away. She’s inviting her boyfriend, Hy, along as well. She has a filmmaker friend who’s making a movie that someone doesn’t want her to make. Already, the production company has suffered numerous accidents and near-death situations for cast members and others.

There's not a real mystery here. Indeed, this book is a morasse of suicides and almost-murders. It was good enough to finish, but it left me largely disappointed. McCone can't stay in love with the same guy for more than a few books. She comes very close to having an affair with a helicopter pilot that in no way adds to the plot of the book and in every way is a stupid distraction. I was going to give this three stars, but the more I write, the more inclined I am to give it only two. I suppose the right thing to do would be stop writing before I get even grumpier and drag it down to one. In all fairness, this is not a slap at the author’s talent or her writing style. She crafts an excellent book. I am a living witness to that because I finished this. Had it been in the hands of a lesser author, I would have kicked it to the figurative thrift store pile and left it both unread and not missed.

[Alton Motobu · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not one of the better McCone mysteries - this one is about personal squabbles, sibling rivalries, family secrets, and other sleazy subject matter - centered around a missing patriarch in Hawaii who disappeared many years ago, leaving his wife and four children. Sharon unravels everything in the end, and practically everyone in the family is guilty of something. One major discovery that surprised me: Peter's father had an affair with a woman who gave birth to Glenna, which makes Peter and Glenna half-siblings, but they apparently fall in love and want to get married. Did I get this right???Meanwhile Sharon has fallen for a handsome helicopter pilot, Russ, but realizes that she really loves Hy, so they will stay together. I am a Marcia Muller fan, and I have read all 19 in the series, but this book is not up to par compared with her earlier works such as WHILE OTHER PEOPLE SLEEP, THE BROKEN PROMISE LAND, and THERE'S SOMETHING IN A SUNDAY, which were excellent.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

An intriguing mystery with lots of moving parts. I'm not convinced that we have much opportunity to figure out most of what's going, but it's delightful watching the complex mess unravel.

Like the previous Sharon McCone novel, this one stays close to home, but this time around it's a much more nuanced story about a very minor supporting character. The result is much better (and even shocking by the time we get to the end).

We also get a very good description of Kauai. It's obvious that Muller has been there more than once. Sometimes her descriptions of how the island is put together are a bit awkward, and she overuses Hawaiian terms, but overall, this novel gives a strong impressions of (Kauaian) place.

[Gail Burgess · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorites -- maybe because of the Hawaiian setting! At first I thought she and Hy would be on this case together, but as kit turned out, it provided a bit of test of their relationship. Meanwhile all the other usual characters are back in San Francisco and whole new cast is brought in just for this book. Glenna, a friend from SF hires Sharon to figure out who is sabotaging her film. Her current beau Peter and his family (Father Elson, missing; Mother Celia; Sister and brother-in-law Stephanie and Benjamin; brother and sister-in-law Matthew and Jillian and brother Andres (missing) become suspects along with several other folks on the island of Kaui....

[MaryAlice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part of a sentence from Marcia Muller's novel, A Walk Through the Fire:

"...Charlene, the six children he'd had with her, and her new husband."

He had six children with her and her husband? Um...

I guess the author meant dealing with his ex-wife, her husband and the six children he had with her before she remarried? There were a few more sentences that had me pause to make sense of them.

I had a question as to why a suitcase mailed years earlier happened to show up under a bed at the present time. Other than those minor things, A Walk Through the Fire was a good read.

[Theda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great job on describing the setting - Kauai. I could almost smell the flowers. I've never been there, but could easily visualize the locations.

Plot was a little convoluted, and quite a number of characters to keep track of.

My least favorite parts were the myths and legends, and her "intuitive investigating", and being able to sense emotions lingering in the room. A little too close to the paranormal for me (although the myths/legends did give a good flavor of Hawaiian culture).

All in all a good read.

[Andi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did not find this predictable in any way which I had half expected from looking at it. A bit of a sordid tale but not laden with overly graphic descriptions. It was an easy read but my (lately) rather forgetful brain had a bit of a time keeping track of characters. I didn't feel like it detracted from the story too much and the ending tied it all together nicely for me. Oh, and if you're not aware it's part of a series (I wasn't 😂) it reads just fine as a standalone.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m re-reading this series. When I read it initially I got to a point where I felt the author had lost her way. This is one if the books that I think led me to that feeling years ago.

The plot isn’t bad but too many clues didn’t come until the very end. There were coincidences that seemed far fetched. The personal stories felt contrived for drama and not that consistent with the characters.

It’s too bad because a book set on Kauai should have been fun.

[Dennis Fischman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Complicated mystery that ultimately all hangs together, and having visited Kauai recently, I could picture the scenery with pleasure. I do note that the most pure blood Hawai’ians in the book seem corrupted and addicted, and even though that’s explained by discrimination and exploitation, it’s still jarring. I like to think she would have done better by those characters if the book were written today.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just does not seem like a Sharon McCone due to the Hawaiian location.

Now, I've heard authors place their books in exotic places so they can write off their vacation, but I don't know if Marcia does this or not.

I liked the plot, but as I said, just did not feel like a McCone mystery.

I borrowed a copy from the public library.

[Tracy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this entry in the McCone case files to be pretty disappointing. Any time Sharon picked up a clue, she get distracted by all the personal drama happening around her and to her. By the end I almost didn't care who had dunnit.

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I've lived on Oahu since the 80s, I've never been to KauaI, so I enjoyed this rather superficial account of heiaus, drug deals, pilots and murders. Not much of an ear for pidgin, but entertaining nonetheless.

[CJ Mills · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sharon McCone in HAWAII.

[Barbara Nutting · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read 2007

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was okay - Took a bot to understand all the charactres and how they played in the story

[Kathleen Messmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another new author for me and I was pleasantly surprised. An easy, fast moving read. Loved the ending. Read it.

[Lorna · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a book quite a bit like her other books that I've read.

[P.L. Byers · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great book. Slow to capture my interest but a good read. The characters were well developed and the plot was intriguing!

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

A story of murder, mayhem,infidelity, and forgiveness.

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good mystery set in the lush island of Kauai. Lots of interesting characters each one with a secret to slowly unfold.