Rating: 
Summary: While Other People Sleep
Review: "While Other People Sleep" is a different type of novel for Marcia Muller. There are no murders in this novel, but there are 2 mysteries. There is a woman who is stalking and impersonating Sharon McCone, and McCone's office manager, Ted Smalley has been acting very strange. I thought that the resolution to Ted's problems was somewhat lame, but I did enjoy the suspense in McCone's tracking down the impostor who is making her life miserable. This is not Muller's strongest effort, but I found it entertaining.
Rating:
Summary: While Other People Sleep
Review: "While Other People Sleep" is a different type of novel for Marcia Muller. There are no murders in this novel, but there are 2 mysteries. There is a woman who is stalking and impersonating Sharon McCone, and McCone's office manager, Ted Smalley has been acting very strange. I thought that the resolution to Ted's problems was somewhat lame, but I did enjoy the suspense in McCone's tracking down the impostor who is making her life miserable. This is not Muller's strongest effort, but I found it entertaining.
Rating: 
Summary: I think Ms. Muller needs to spend more time *in* the City...
Review: ...doing research, and less time in the 'burbs, where she lives and writes.I used to be a big fan of her work, but this book is substandard for her, in my opinion. Non-locals might not know how off-base some of the material is, but she ought to know that many locals know better - so either she doesn't care, or she just doesn't know SF anymore herself. Perhaps her heroine should be operating out of Petaluma at this point - the books might seem more authentic that way.
Rating:
Summary: You Won't Want to Sleep With This Book
Review: A wonderfully written book. It kept me on the edge of my seat and had a surprise ending.
Rating: 
Summary: Inadvertently appropriate title
Review: After the initial 50 pages or so, I became one of the people the title mentions. The plot of this book does not deserve this name, the solution (i.e. the identification of the "bad person") is ridiculous. The final sections seem to have been written because a certain number of pages had to be filled. The basic idea of the book is not bad, but Muller did not manage to develop a full-blown mystery.
Rating: 
Summary: I could not put it down!!!
Review: Her best book in the series. I found it exciting.
Rating:
Summary: Great read, however, start from the beginning
Review: Here is another great read from Muller. She has yet to dissapiont, unlike so many others that we have become accustomed to reading in this catagory. If you are just beginning with her, please start at the beginning of the series. While the ending was mildly anti-clamatic, her only better works were: "Double" and "Where echoes live." Muller is not a 'Sue Grafton,' her stories are not tired an weak. Muller still tells a wonderful story.
Rating:
Summary: Lazy Work From A Brilliant Writer
Review: I have always been a huge fan of Marcial Muller and her husband Bill Pronzini. When their books come out, I can't wait to dive into a new Sharon McCone or Nameless Detective mystery. Unfortunately this book is a real let-down. Ms. Muller lives in the Bay Area and yet she seems to have done no research for this book. She places a trendy bar (with back room gambling) on the block that is considered the roughest, most crime-ridden and dangerous block in San Francisco. People may like grunge chic, but no way would the wealthy go to a club in this block. She places a gay bar in an area of San Francisco where there hasn't been a gay bar in over twenty-five years. When Sharon enters the bar, the male customers get upset and the bartender rushes over to tell her that she isn't welcome in a gay bar. There hasn't been a gay bar like this in SF in over two decades. Women are welcome and are regularly seen in gay bars in San Francisco. The mysteries are equally lame. Why is her office manager, Ted, acting so strangely? What a letdown when you find out. Doesn't Ms. Muller realize that threats of violence and verbal assault from homophobic people are not a rare occurence in the life of a gay person? Doesn't she know that there are organizations in SF that deal with this that Ted would certainly know about. As for her stalker, once you find out who it is, it's a long yawn to the finish. A mystery with no mystery and one that uses stereotypes that were old a quarter of a century ago. Hopefully her next book will return to the brilliance that we've all come to expect from Ms. Muller.
Rating:
Summary: Taut, Compelling Tale That Keeps You Riveted
Review: I thought that the build-up of the suspense in this book was the best in the series. If you go with the story (and not worry about how accurate all the details are), you'll have a gripping experience that will stay with you with you in the wee hours of the night. The inner journey from disbelief, to fear, to anger was especially rewarding as McCone gets down to finding out what is happening as someone impersonates her. McCone is usually a little too self-contained for my taste, and this book makes her more appealing. I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did.
Rating: 
Summary: a tall tale, but not too deep
Review: in both ends of the night, the eighteenth sharon mccone mystery, marcia muller attempts to convince the reader that her private eye has gotten to be such a celebrity that now some unknown woman is impersonating her! the other woman manages to convince clients and strangers alike that she's the famed investigator. the woman's motivation is murky; once it's finally revealed it leaves the reader disappointed... so much for so little? the sub-plot with ted is distracting at best, and does nothing to develop the characters or the story line. and i'm kind of frustrated with hy's character; i know freedom is the buzzword of sharon's relationship with hy, but the guy's never around when she needs him. they seem to have very little emotional attachment to each other, despite the house they share, maybe the author just needs to develop his character some more, other than reminding us that his beloved wife died years before... maybe muller needs to try something new altogether, mccone's antics are getting old, but she seems almost desperate not to.
| 
