Shot in the head by an unknown assailant, San Francisco private eye Sharon McCone finds herself trapped by locked-in syndrome: almost total paralysis but an alert, conscious mind. Since the late-night attack occurred at her agency's offices, the natural conclusion was that it was connected to one of the firm's cases. As Sharon lies in her hospital bed, furiously trying to break out of her body's prison and discover her attacker's identity, all the members of her agency fan out to find the reason why she was assaulted. Meanwhile, Sharon becomes a locked-in detective, evaluating the clues from her staff's separate investigations and discovering unsettling truths that could put her life in jeopardy again. As the case draws to a surprising and even shocking conclusion, Sharon's husband, Hy, must decide whether or not to surrender to his own violent past and exact fatal vengeance when the person responsible is identified.

There's trouble in Sharon McCone's quiet San Francisco apartment building. Madame Anya - with her cards, her tame crow, and her candles - had predicted evil for Molly Antonio. Linnea Carraway, drinking heavily and careening crazily in the wake of a divorce, had argued with her. Now the sweet, elderly Molly lies dead in her apartment. Linnea, last to see Molly alive, is the prime suspect and if Sharon means to clear her best friend, she has to find the murderer fast. Sleuthing out the small-time secrets of her quirky neighbors leads Sharon in and around the neighborhood, and, much to her surprise, to a shocking string of big-time deals and blackmail. Suddenly death is in the cards, threatening Sharon's oldest friendship, her professional credibility - and her life.

Hot-tempered curator Elena Oliverez threatens to kill her boss, Frank DePalma, when he orders her to put a particularly hideous piece of sculpture-donated by a wealthy patron of the new Museum of Mexican Arts-on display for the museum opening. So when someone kills Frank with the sculpture, Elena must conduct her own investigation to clear her name-or die trying.

Muller's most recent novel, Dead Midnight (Mysterious Press hardcover, 6/02), hit the Los Angeles Times bestseller list. It received rave reviews from the New York Times Book Review, San Francisco Chronicle, Library Journal, Publishers Weekly (starred review), and Booklist. The mass market edition will be published in 7/03. Muller's McCone series has consistently received strong reviews from the New York Times Book Review, USA TODAY, and Los Angeles Times, among others. Listen to the Silence was nominated for the 2001 Shamus Award for Best Hardcover Private Eye Novel and for an Anthony Award. The McCone mysteries are being developed by Spring Creek Productions and CBS-TV into a pilot for a new television series.

Sharon McCone is excited--and relieved--to move her detective agency into the perfect new office space. Unfortunately, real estate woes aren't the only headache that the new building brings into Sharon's life. Possible nineteenth century ghosts and a shady "intra-reality organization" ensure that Sharon's new office will bring as much excitement as any of her clients. Approx. 7000 words.

Creator of the modern female private eye story, Marcia Muller has been writing novels and short stories about Sharon McCone for decades. Now McCone's colleagues get a chance to offer their viewpoints on some cases. McCone and Friends contains three stories told by McCone herself, as well as two stories narrated by the agency's investigator Rae Kelleher; a story from the viewpoint of its office manager Ted Smalley; an investigation conducted by McCone's nephew Mick Savage; and one by her long-term lover Hy Ripinsky. The settings range from small planes to a sweatshop which puts Asian women into virtual slavery, and the mysteries surround a 1950's jukebox in a rundown hotel, a sculpture welded together by a long-missing and now very-dead artist. In perhaps the most moving story of all, a teenage girl has vanished leaving as a clue only a collage on her wall.

With her agency going great guns, Sharon McCone is known as one of the best detectives in the business ... until her untarnished reputation is threatened by an impostor. A mysterious woman is handing out McCone's business cards, advising clients, and picking up men for intimate encounters. The woman's physical resemblance to McCone is uncanny. Her knowledge of McCone's life is chilling. More than professionally damaging, the situation is deeply disturbing even to the experienced McCone. Who is this strange woman and what does she want? To make matters worse, McCone's office manager, Ted Smalley, has been acting so oddly that his live-in lover asks McCone to investigate. With her own lover, Hy Ripinsky, away on business and an impersonator invading her life, McCone reluctantly agrees. Spying on Ted soon has her pondering the extent of a person's right to privacy. Then the issue is brought home when McCone's double breaks into her house, interferes with her family, and leads McCone on a terrifying game of cat and mouse through the bizarre nightside of San Francisco. Just as McCone begins to uncover Ted's desperate problem the impostor escalates her dirty tricks. With her professional detachment fast giving way to blinding rage, McCone must go one on one against an enemy with a sinister motive, an insidious plan ... and the kind of violent craziness that even a seasoned investigator may not foresee - or stop in time.

The Body Snatchers Affair: The latest in the Carpenter and Quincannon historical mystery series from Marcia Muller and Bill Pronzini. Two missing bodies and two separate investigations take Carpenter and Quincannon from the heights above San Francisco Bay to the depths of Chinatown's opium dens. For John Quincannon, this is a first: searching a Chinatown opium den for his client's husband, missing in the middle of a brewing tong war set to ignite over the stolen corpse of Bing Ah Kee.Meanwhile, his partner, Sabina Carpenter, unsure of the dark secrets her suitor might be concealing, searches for the corpse of a millionaire, stolen from a sealed family crypt and currently being held for ransom. With the threat of a tong war hanging over the city (a war perhaps being spurred on by corrupt officials), Carpenter and Quincannon have no time to lose in solving their cases. Is there a connection between the two body snatchers? Or is simple greed the answer to...

In the latest installment in this critically acclaimed series, McCone is hired to investigate one of San Luis Obispo County’s most puzzling cold cases. A generation ago, Laurel Greenwood, a housewife and artist, inexplicably vanished, leaving her young daughter alone. Now, new evidence suggests that the missing woman may have led a strange double life. But before McCone can penetrate the tangled mystery, she must first solve a second disappearance – that of her client, the now grown daughter of Laurel Greenwood. The case, which forces Sharon to explore the darker sides of two marriages, comes uncomfortably close on the heels of her own marriage to Hy Ripinsky, and she begins to doubt the wisdom of her impulsive trip to the Reno wedding chapel.

Traumatized by a recent life-or-death investigation, Sharon McCone flees to her ranch in California's high desert country to contemplate her future. Deep depression shadows her days and nights, and a chance encounter with a troubled, highly secretive Native American woman begins to haunt her dreams. Even though she is determined not to investigate anything during her stay--and perhaps not ever again--McCone is drawn into the plight of the young woman and her dysfunctional family. A murder and traces of violence at a deserted resort lead her across the desert and into Nevada, and finally to a remote and isolated ranch, where danger lies closer that she expects and where her future and life itself may hang in the balance.

In Locked In, San Francisco private eye Sharon McCone was shot in the head and suffered from locked-in syndrome: almost total paralysis but with an alert, conscious mind. Now, as Sharon struggles to regain control over her body, she wants everything to go back to normal, but realizes that it may not be possible to return to her old life. Meanwhile, Sharon's relationships are suffering. Her husband is impatient with her refusal to accept help and some of her colleagues doubt her abilities after the accident. But when Sharon's friend from physical therapy goes missing, she must call upon those closest to her to find out the truth behind the disappearance. The investigation soon points to issues of national security and proves to be the most dangerous and critical case yet for Sharon and her colleagues.ReviewOn LOCKED IN:"Throughout her many McCone novels, Muller has displayed a knack both for keeping the series fresh and for allowing her character to grow. She accomplishes both goals this time by taking McCone out of the spotlight but giving her fans a chance to root for her to recover. After all these years, Muller's series remains a gold standard for female detective stories." (Kirkus, starred review)"Top-notch mystery and more from one of the genre's Grand Masters." (Library Journal)"Seeing Sharon McCone come back is a special pleasure-don't miss it." (Library Journal, starred review) About the AuthorMARCIA MULLER has written many novels and short stories. Her novel WOLF IN THE SHADOWS won the Anthony Boucher Award. The recipient of the Private Eye Writers of America's Lifetime Achievement Award and the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Award--their highest accolade--she lives in northern California with her husband, mystery writer Bill Pronzini.