From the death of a clown in Diablo Valley to the disappearance of a young socialite on the Golden Gate Bridge, from the murder of a teenage gang leader in San Francisco to the drowning of an aged Japanese herb-gatherer, and from streets filled with juvenile runaways to the quietness of a mausoleum, Sharon investigates not only who committed the crimes but also what they say about the world toward the end of the twentieth century.
Marcia Muller was named MWA Grand Master in 2005. She has published fifty novels, thirty-two in the Sharon McCone series, as well as six short story collections and numerous articles, stories, and book reviews. Her other honors include two Edgar Award nominations, three Shamus Awards and the Lifetime Achievement Award (1993) from the Private Eye Writers of America, an RT Lifetime Achievement Award (1999), the Bouchercon Lifetime Achievement Award (2005), and a Western Writers of America Short Fiction Spur Award (with Bill Pronzini, 2008). In addition, her character Sharon McCone received the PWA Hammer (2010) for her longevity and contribution to the genre.