June 29, 1998
That's when Sharon McCone, ace San Francisco PI, grapples with nightmares in this gripping 19th outing in 20 years (following Both Ends of the Night, 1997). Someone is impersonating Sharon, wearing her name-tag at parties, sleeping with unsuitable men, committing crimes of which the detective can be accused, erasing her phone messages, using her credit cards, even breaking into her apartment, mistreating her cat and opening a bottle of her favorite wine. The imitator seems to want to become the PI, but why? McCone's mood isn't helped when one of her assistants, Ted Smalley, starts acting weirdly, and her lover, Hy Ripinsky, seems to be pinned down in a mysterious kidnapping in Latin America and is out of touch for far too long. McCone has to work hard to stay afloat under fearful pressure, and only the loyal teamwork of her crew and her determination to run her nemesis to earth brings a hard-won release. Her new flying skills are put to good use in a nail-biting climax as her doppelg nger steals her and Ripinsky's cherished Citabria plane . As always, Muller's straightforward, no-nonsense writing and fully dimensioned characterizations lend credibility and color to her deftly plotted tale.
May 1, 1998
The renowned Sharon McCone finds life and livelihood threatened by a malicious look-alike. When police detain Sharon for a crime committed by the imposter, anger spurs her to find her double. An essential purchase from the author of Both Ends of the Night (LJ 3/1/97).
April 15, 1998
Someone is impersonating Sharon McCone, making big trouble for the Bay Area investigator and threatening her impeccable reputation. When her double escalates from a troublemaker to a menacing stalker, McCone finds herself in a personal contest with a woman who thinks just like her and is also one step ahead of her. Muller, in her nineteenth outing with PI McCone, who made her debut in 1977--before Warshawski, before Millhone, before the scores of other female detectives--has produced another in a series of fast-paced, superbly crafted mysteries featuring an eminently appealing protagonist. McCone is extremely professional and quite thorough but not immune to rage, as her foe breaks into her home, violates the sanctity of her beach retreat, and hijacks her precious private airplane. With her lover, Hy, absent and unreachable, McCone even reveals a touch of vulnerability. Inevitably, her stalker, a brilliant but demented nemesis, issues the challenge that sets up a thrilling one-on-one finale. ((Reviewed April 15, 1998))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1998, American Library Association.)