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Summary: Tracing Native American heritage through lies
Review: Private Detective Sharon McCone takes herself as a client when she learns she's adopted and determines to track down her birth family. She discovers a mystery that means danger even today, but finds lies everywhere--even from those whom she likes and seem to like her.McCone's travels take her from San Francisco to Indian reservations in Montana, to remote areas of Northern California. Marcia Muller does a fabulous job describing the cultural divide between affluent America and the Native American culture McCone discovers is her birth heritage. Fortunately, Muller resists the urge to make Indians noble savages. Even they can lie. Only when McCone learns to listen to the silence, the hesitations when her contacts refuse to go forward, can she plumb the real secrets of her birth and of the destruction that seems to follow her. Excellent
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Summary: A deeply personal look at Sharon McCone
Review: Readers who have been following Sharon McCone for years, as I have, will no doubt love this chance to find out more about her personal background and history. I stayed up 'til 2 AM reading "Listen to the Silence." Not only is it a splendid mystery, but it's so beautifully written -- Muller describes the landscapes of Montana, Idaho and Northern California so well that I truly felt I'd visited those places! McCone fans won't be disappointed, although the book does end with a cliffhanger that will make us VERY impatient for the next installment...
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Summary: A new life for Sharon McCone
Review: Sharon always knew that she was part Shoshone, growing up. She took a funny pride in realizing how much she looked like her Shoshone great-grandmother rather than the rest of the siblings in the McCone clan. That pride is seen in a whole new light when her father's death raises questions about her birth. Her exploration of the mystery takes her into the past, looking for the secrets of her heritage. Yet another well-written renewal for the Sharon McCone series. Muller is perhaps better than any other writer at letting her character really evolve. I look forward to the books that will follow the material here.
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Summary: A Fresh Side to Sharon McCone
Review: Sharon McCone doesn't just look like a Shoshone. She is one. Throughout this highly successful mystery series, Marcia Muller has run this continuing tread of her private detective possessing the appearance of a Shoshone ancestor. In Listen to the Silence, Muller reveals why. Sharon's father dies, and she discovers in his papers a truth that had been hidden from her all of her life. Seeking more of this truth, Sharon travels to the Shoshone reservation. There, she encounters deeply buried secrets and homicides that need to be solved. This book is my favorite McCone novel. I enjoyed the socio-cultural aspects of the mystery and as well as the plot. Muller's dialog is always first-rate. Listen to the Silence is a fine mystery novel by a terrific mystery author.
Rating:
Summary: A Fresh Side to Sharon McCone
Review: Sharon McCone doesn't just look like a Shoshone. She is one. Throughout this highly successful mystery series, Marcia Muller has run this continuing tread of her private detective possessing the appearance of a Shoshone ancestor. In Listen to the Silence, Muller reveals why. Sharon's father dies, and she discovers in his papers a truth that had been hidden from her all of her life. Seeking more of this truth, Sharon travels to the Shoshone reservation. There, she encounters deeply buried secrets and homicides that need to be solved. This book is my favorite McCone novel. I enjoyed the socio-cultural aspects of the mystery and as well as the plot. Muller's dialog is always first-rate. Listen to the Silence is a fine mystery novel by a terrific mystery author.
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Summary: LIES, LIES, ALL LIES
Review: Sharon McCone has battled lies throughout her career as a private investigator. Her success in overcoming them has made her the most sought after sleuth in California. Now Sharon is challenged to unravel another lie for a client, herself. A box of papers left after her father's death reveals her adopted status by the McCones. How this happened and the question of who she is propels Sharon on a search for her roots and identity. Come with her as he confronts relatives who refuse to supply her with any information regarding her birth parents. Feel her frustration as she must listen carefully to what is unsaid as well as to what is said. Most of all share her disappointment in the people whom she loved who failed to disclose the truth to her. Lying was much easier. Listen to the Silence is a great and enjoyable novel as it explores the meaning of family and the unraveling of secrets long hid from our favorite female investigator. Join with her in this painful yet liberating quest into her past. You will love the various twists, turns and detours that Sharon must undergo before truth shines through. You will not be disappointed in another great Mccone Mystery Series.
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Summary: McCone at her best
Review: The news that her beloved father died in his San Diego home from a heart attack stuns San Francisco Private investigator Sharon McCone. However, Sharon fails to obtain closure when she finds documents that prove she was adopted. Unable to let this revelation remain buried, Sharon decides to handle her own case and uncover the identities of her biological parents. Sharon soon finds evidence that sends her to a Shoeshone reservation in Idaho. Further inquiries lead to Saskia Blackhawk, the woman Sharon believes birthed and deserted her. Attorney Saskia is in a land dispute with developer Austin DiCarlo, who might be Sharon's father. Before Sharon can obtain the truth, a hit and run driver sends Saskia into a coma and makes the California sleuth wonder if her dad is trying to kill her mom, that is if they are her parents? LISTEN TO SILENCE is one of the best McCone mysteries to date, if not the best. The award winning Marcia Muller shows why she is so highly regarded as she personalizes the investigation, which adds focus on the sleuth. Sharon has never been this good as her emotions go through a grinder that leaves her raw, but anxious to know whose DNA she inherited. Ms. Muller freshens up the professional detective sub-genre with this personalized mystery. Harriet Klausner
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Summary: A Thought-Provoking Novel About What a Family Is
Review: This distinguished series has been a favorite of mine for many years, but I found this novel to be the most rewarding to me. In other novels, Sharon McCone's character, wit, and action are stronger . . . but the underlying issues are much less fundamental. Here, she has to look squarely at the question of who she is in the broadest sense. To pull that off after so many novels is quite a feat. I heartily commend and thank Marcia Muller for writing this book. I can't tell you very much about the plot without giving away things that will spoil the story for you. So I apologize for not giving you as much detail as I usually do. Let me talk instead about how the plot is organized. Sharon McCone is off on a search for identity where one clue connects to another. So there is the usual mystery-unraveling aspect to the plot. The complications are above average in their extent, and provide satisfying revelations right up to the end. As you may know from other Sharon McCone novels, Marcia Muller likes to work with mental dialogue as well as spoken dialogue. In this case, the internal dialogue is about listening for what people don't say, when they hesitate, or change the subject. From this interesting technique, you will probably become a better listener. Like most of us, Sharon McCone lets most of this information pass her by the first time she hears it. But upon further reflection, she sees missing elements. And then profitably focuses her attention on those. By this method, most of the plot is unraveled. But the development of what a family is makes this a remarkable mystery. In this one novel, Marcia Muller looks at intergenerational relations, the implications of adoption and remarriage, male-female relations with and without marriage, and clan relations as well. Few novels have this scope, and I hope you will look for this element and think about it as you read this rewarding novel. For Sharon McCone fans, this book is going to be very exciting for another reason: The elements in this book create vast potential for developing new and expanded themes in future books in the series. If you have not read any of the books in the series, however, I suggest that you not start with this one. A lot of its appeal comes in the surprises that you will experience as the plot unfolds. I envy you the chance to start in the beginning and read all of these books in order! Overcome your complacency about thinking you know what is about to happen in your own life. Use this book to identify a single assumption you are making about your life which, if changed, would refocus everything you do. Then consider whether your assumption is really a good one. Who knows what you will discover? Enjoy!
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Summary: Fast, Interesting Read
Review: This was my first Muller book and I selected it because of the American Indian influence. Not sure how I'd like her others, but I wasn't disappointed in this. I saw that one person picked it apart. Too bad. You see that most people liked it and I'd take a chance. I thought it was clever and is one of my favorite mysteries. Sharon will stay with you, especially if you have even a passing interest in Indian issues. She doesn't go to deep in that either, but it's pleasant.
Rating:
Summary: Fast, Interesting Read
Review: This was my first Muller book and I selected it because of the American Indian influence. Not sure how I'd like her others, but I wasn't disappointed in this. I saw that one person picked it apart. Too bad. You see that most people liked it and I'd take a chance. I thought it was clever and is one of my favorite mysteries. Sharon will stay with you, especially if you have even a passing interest in Indian issues. She doesn't go to deep in that either, but it's pleasant.
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