The Color of Fear

by Marcia Muller

Overview

In New York Times bestselling author Marcia Muller's captivating new mystery, private detective Sharon McCone's investigation hits closer to home than ever before...

When a knock on the door in the middle of the night wakes Sharon, she's wholly unprepared for the horrifying news: her father has been the victim of a vicious, racially-motivated attack.

A nationally recognized Shoshone artist, Elwood had been visiting Sharon for the holidays, browsing for gifts in San Francisco's exclusive Marina district when he was set upon by a mob of angry young men. Now he lies in a coma, hovering between life and death.

With little progress on the investigation from the overworked, short-handed police, Sharon resolves to track down Elwood's attackers herself. But when Sharon begins receiving hate-filled, racist threats from a shadowy group, it becomes clear that her pursuit of justice may be putting her own life in jeopardy...

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781455538904
Publisher:	Grand Central Publishing
Publication date:	04/24/2018
Series:	Sharon McCone Series , #33
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	4.25(w) x 1.00(h) x 6.80(d)

About the Author

Marcia Muller has written many novels and short stories. She has won six Anthony Awards, a Shamus Award, and is also the recipient of the Private Eye Writers of America's Lifetime Achievement Award as well as the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Award (their highest accolade). She lives in northern California with her husband, mystery writer Bill Pronzini.

Editorial Reviews

"One of the world's premier mystery writers."—Cleveland Plain Dealer

"Her stories crackle like few others on the mystery landscape."—San Francisco Examiner & Chronicle

"If you are ever in trouble, you want [Sharon McCone] to have your back. Fans will enjoy cruising the city's streets with her once again."—Booklist

"The Night Searchers [has] the clean, classic moves of her earliest novels...[Muller] is never better than when she's roaming the streets of the city she knows and loves so well."—New York Times Book Review on The Night Searchers

"Absorbing...McCone's daring and smarts make her an irresistible heroine. The brisk narrative vividly evokes contemporary San Francisco."—Publishers Weekly on The Night Searchers

"A plot so imaginative that readers will have no choice but to sit down and settle in for an exciting read they will not forget...The action never slows down, as the two investigators and their employees find themselves dead center in the middle of a truly bizarre group of folks that the reader will never forget. This is a definite keeper!"—Suspense Magazine on The Night Searchers

"Muller has displayed a knack both for keeping the series fresh and for allowing her character to grow....Muller's series remains a gold standard for female detective stories."—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review on Locked In

"Muller has created a delicious mixture of adventure, action, altruism, pathos with a touch of humor, and romance thrown in to build a massive base of loyal fans . . . She is one of those rare series authors who never lets her characters grow stale or trite."—BookReporter.com

"Muller undoubtedly remains one of today's best mystery writers."—Associated Press

From the Publisher

★ 06/26/2017
The savage beating of Sharon McCone’s 82-year-old father by a gang of thugs kicks off MWA Grand Master Muller’s outstanding 34th mystery featuring the San Francisco PI (after 2016’s Someone Always Knows). McCone’s father, nationally known Native American painter Elwood Farmer, arrived in San Francisco from Montana two days earlier for the Christmas holidays. He was shopping for gifts in the city’s Marina district when he was assaulted in what may have been a racially motivated attack. SFPD Sgt. Priscilla Anders, however, suspects the beating may be tied to Farmer’s relationship to McCone, and that theory seems more and more plausible after a break-in at McCone’s office and vandalism directed at her employees. The stakes rise when McCone becomes the target of cyberattacks and death threats. She pursues a number of leads, many of which fail to pan out and others that are frustratingly vague, but she eventually discovers that a hate group may be involved after all. At the exciting climax, McCone valiantly arms herself and goes into action alone. Agent: Molly Friedrich, Friedrich Literary. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

2017-07-17
Race-baiting violence invades Sharon McCone's Yuletide celebrations.Christmas is a time when you want your family to gather around you, but not because they're offering support after your birth father, 82-year-old painter Elwood Farmer, has been viciously beaten by white supremacists, extending his visit from the Montana reservation he calls home and changing its venue to San Francisco General Hospital. As Elwood hovers between life and death, McCone, egged on by questions from coldhearted Sgt. Priscilla Anders that imply that the attack wasn't just random, racks her brains for anyone from her first 32 cases who might have it in for her personally. The list she comes up with, which includes the likes of her husband and partner Hy Ripinsky's vengeful ex-partner Gage Renshaw (Someone Always Knows, 2016), is a lot shorter than the list of friends and relations who've come together to offer comfort and help: her birth mother, Saskia Blackhawk, now convinced she's engaged to Elwood; McCone's symbolic cousin, Will Camphouse; McCone's nephew, Mick Savage, chief researcher at McCone & Ripinsky; and dozens of other M&R staffers. McCone's sleuthing, at once heartfelt and half-hearted, uncovers nothing but false leads until she stumbles on a section in her copy of Hints on Criminal Investigation admonishing her to be mindful of "MISDIRECTION" shortly before a malware attack and an extortion demand up the ante while clearing up a mystery that was never all that mysterious to begin with. More seasonal goodwill (think of a rainbow-cast remake of It's a Wonderful Life) than misdirection in a story that perfectly illustrates its heroine's bromide: "When you think about it, all crimes are stupid."

Kirkus Reviews