Point Deception

Rating:
Summary: REGRETS & RENEWAL
Review: All of them passed her along the road intending to help but other matters drew their attention. Days later, the body of the young woman is found. Those who passed her by share their regrets. Deputy Rhoda Swift was one of them who passed by the stranded motorist. Now as she deals with thid new death, she must face the ghosts of an unsolved mass murder of thirteen years ago. There too, she has her regrets.

Welcome onto the scene this new character of Marcia Muller's canon of mystery. Point Deception puts us into a closed knit community where everyone is responsible for everyone but when a mass murder occurs the place closes tight like a clam shell. This new murder only serves as a catalyst to cause the world to refocus itself on a town gone paranoid.

Swift finds herself attempting to confront those demons while working on the case. A hot shot author from New York comes to town asking questions that people resent. Swift's mentor starts to get overly violent and the town works in a conspiracy to keep things quiet.

Rhoda is methodical, sensitive and cares about her work but you find a side of her that stays in denial. Guy Newberry, the writer, has his own demons to exorcise but feels the deep pain of Rhoda. The two of them team up to solve not only this present murder but to resolve the massacre of years past.

The characters are captivating and the mystery itself is intriguing as you attempt to understand what makes this community tick. Swift is a great character in this new series that will put Sharon McCone to shame. Enjoy Point Deception.

Rating:
Summary: Enjoyable police procedural
Review: Almost thirteen years ago, Rhoda Swift's career in law enforcement seemed over before it started. She was a rookie when she was the first officer to arrive at the site of the massacre of two families including children. However, the blood samples needed to potentially identify the killer were somehow lost and the first year cop took the blame though she knew she was innocent.

Hard work has helped her overcome some of her loss of credibility with the Soledad County, California deputy sheriff department. Five days before the anniversary that started Rhoda's nightmares, journalist Guy Newberry arrives to write the definitive true story about the crime. October would have been enough to raise fears, but with the New Yorker mucking around followed by a new murder, apprehensions attain dangerous levels, as no one in the county trusts anyone else.

POINT DECEPTION is an exciting police procedural that centers on collective guilt and redemption. The townsfolk still feel culpable for the deaths of the two families and the recent homicide while Rhoda sees a second chance to prove her worthiness as a detective. The story line is cleverly designed to highlight emotions and reactions and Guy brings in the right mix of romance and cynicism that strengthens those feelings. However, most Marcia Muller fans will keep expecting for the great Sharon McCone to show up at High Noon. Rhoda is a good protagonist, but readers know McCone, and consider McCone a friend, and Rhoda is definitely no McCone.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: MULLER'S AMAZING FLEXIBILITY
Review: As a mystery author who juggles two protagonists (one for novels and one for short stories)with varying degrees of success, I am amazed at Marcia Muller's masterful flexibility. Sharon McCone is certainly her most famous lead. There are also some books with Elena Olivarez or Joanna Stark in the lead. Each series has its own tone and subject matter, perfectly appropriate for each series. In POINT DECEPTION, Marcia Muller has either written a magnificent stand-alone thriller or a solid debut of a new mystery series. POINT DECEPTION is basically a police procedural starring Deputy Sheriff Rhoda Swift. She is haunted by a mass murder dating from the start of her career and as the anniversary of that murder rolls around a New York writer named Guy Newberry shows up to write about the unsolved homicides. More deaths occur in time present, and Rho wants to solve all of the crimes. Rho Swift is a complex character. She carries this book, and she could carry a series. The plot is complicated yet believable, and Ms. Muller's writing is up to its usual highest standards. We have a terrific book here.

Rating:
Summary: Seriously disappointing
Review: Awkward, cliche-riddled dialog and emotions support a inept plot whose torturous contrivances defy any hope of suspending disbelief. (Examples include the suicide that's beyond explanation once its use as a red herring is over, and a murderer whose face should be familiar to all but is recognized only by a stranger with a faxed photo.) This book has little to recommend it, and as a fan of the McCone series I was seriously disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: A brisk read
Review: I enjoyed this book. It was a clever mystery that moved along at a brisk pace. I did not suspect whodunit until almost the end. And I never guessed the name of the killer. My only disappointment was that he did not live to tell his part of the story.

I have always wondered what happened to the idealism of the hippies. Point Deception gives us a tale about a few of the flower children who tried to create their own paradise and failed. It was sad. The effect it had on their families and all the people who just barely knew them was sad. There are no happy people in this book. No happy scenes, no happy endings. No character without some guilt. But there is a promise that life goes on, and that it gets better. Skip it if you are depressed. Otherwise, it is a good read. Mild references to sex, drugs, violence, and child abuse.


Rating:
Summary: Better than the recent Sharon McCones
Review: I have been disappointed in the last few Sharon McCone novels as they seem somewhat lackluster, although I very much enjoy the series as a whole. This book has an energy and mystique missing from Muller's last few novels. Excellent read, hard to put down.

Rating:
Summary: Muller has another winning character in Rho Swift
Review: I picked up this book expecting to be disappointed. I have been reading the Sharon McCone series so long that I didn't think that Ms. Muller could write anyone as well. I was wrong. I picked up this book yesterday and couldn't put it down until I read the last word. Rho and Guy are two very sympathetic but human characters with terrible past experiences that they have managed to overcome-mostly. The novel is set in a little coastal town in Northern California. Almost thirteen years ago, horrible massacre occurred in Cascade Canyon. Six adults and two children were brutally murdered. Only one child survived. The tragedy pretty much killed the spirit of the town, and almost destroyed Deputy Rho Swift. Guy Newberry, a writer who specializes in stories about towns in trouble, is researching a book about the murders and their effect on the community. Together, they work to solve the murders and get past their pasts.

Rating:
Summary: a deceptively scary mystery!
Review: It's the 13th Anniversary of a gruesome mass murder in a remote canyon along the Pacific coast & Sheriff's Deputy Swift, who was first on the scene as a rookie cop, is having nightmares again.

Along the only coastal highway, Chrystal waits by her classic Mercedes at a turnout near the old driveway to Cascade Canyon, she's put the hood up in the time-honored distress signal. That day, however, the denizen of Signal Port are not stopping to help.

Guy Newberry, an investigative reporter, is one of the people who notices the young woman as he drives by. He doesn't stop because he's got places to see & a mystery to solve & a heart that's hurting from his wife's death. When he reaches Signal Port the first thing he notices is that it is a town in trouble & he's going to lay bare the reasons.

The scene is set for a fine mystery. Creepy canyons, hostile natives, festering memories, illegal shenanigans & flawed relationships with plenty of red herrings, some hair-raising detours complete with the last thoughts of a damsel in distress: a curious device which actually works out well.

A gripping tale of despair & redemption expertly etched out of thin air.

Rating:
Summary: There's Life in the Old Girl Yet!
Review: Kudos to Marcia Muller (and my apologies for the "old girl" remark) for "Point Deception," a welcome and unexpectedly entertaining departure from her Sharon McCone mysteries. To be honest, I've become tired of the increasingly high-tech McCone series, which in the past few entries seems to be running out of steam. I was wary of following Muller in a new direction, but I'm awfully glad I did! This is a taut, atmospheric thriller that shows Muller in top form, reminding me why I fell for her writing in the first place. I look forward to the next Rhoda Swift novel, which is the greatest praise I can think of.

Rating:
Summary: Hard-Drinking, Unfriendly Town in Trouble
Review: Review Summary: Point Deception is a strong novel, built around a superb sense of place. The context is built up lovingly through eerie scenes, action by the characters, and flashbacks. To this, Ms. Muller has added two powerful situations, a mass murder that occurred 13 years earlier that still haunts the town and a young woman stranded with a broken down car while passers-by ignore her. The action revolves around the parallel investigations of current and past events by the local sheriff's department and county detectives and an expose writer looking to create his next book. The main character, Deputy Sheriff Rhoda (Rho) Swift, will inevitably be compared to Sharon McCone, Ms. Muller's most famous fictional character. I found Ms. Swift to be less quirky and less humorous, but just as appealing and feisty. Ms. Muller is talented in setting up a book about having one or two characters take on a whole town, and Point Deception is her best work in that style.

Review: In the best mystery stories, the place sometimes becomes the center of the story. Think about The Hound of the Baskervilles. Rarely do mystery novelists have the skill and the patience to build that element properly. Marcia Muller has done so in Point Deception, and you will feel very rewarded by this richly located story. Ms. Muller always employs place well in her stories, but I think this is her best work in that regard.

Many will inevitably compare this book to Bitterroot. Point Deception is much better done in every way, from handling of the place to unfolding the plot to the development of the characters.

Signal Port, California is a small town with a past that it doesn't like to talk about. In the fall of 1987, two families and a friend were gunned down on their rural property. The investigation was muffed, in part by not calling in the FBI and in part by some misplaced blood samples. Almost everyone who lived in the town then has seen their lives changed by the event . . . for the worse. As a result, they've withdrawn, taken to more drink, and become mean to each other. Five days before the 13th anniversary of the killings, three women disappear. Could there be a connection to the previous massacre?

Point Deception is a brilliantly symbolic name for this novel, because everyone in the book has several major deceptions going on . . . including self-deceptions in some cases. The story opens powerfully with a frantic woman next to a broken down car, anxious to get help. Cars whiz by, including a sheriff's vehicle, but no one helps her. The fog builds, the temperature drops, and she grows frightened. That situation draws you powerfully into the story, and never lets go. That story line continues with flashbacks throughout the book.

The main story is built around the daily activities of Rho Swift as she goes about her sheriff's deputy duties. She has seen the woman who was stranded, but was called away by a shooting just as she was about to stop and help. Early in the book, she meets stranger Guy Newberry, who is a best selling author from New York who specializes in writing exposes on small towns. The locals don't want him around, but cannot get rid of him. Rho and Guy develop a wary relationship that contributes to solving the mystery.

One of the pleasures of this book is that you can arrive with new characters without any preconceptions. In a long-running series, you have expectations. I hope that Ms. Muller will continue with these characters, and leave them open to changes in their lives, work styles, and characters. In this book, people do change . . . or they are harmed in the process of trying to remain the same. With such a rich beginning, this series could become Ms. Muller's best.

After you finish enjoying this fine novel, I suggest you think about how you can be sure that you do not ignore people in trouble. The lesson here seems to be that we should assume that no one else will help unless we do.

Seek out ways to help!