Reviewing: "Burn Out" by Marcia Muller

It is late October and Sharon McCone is hiding out at the ranch near Tufa Lake located in the high desert country of California near Yosemite. Depression has a tight grip on her mind and soul with her questioning nearly everything in her life. Events in the “Ever Running Man” have taken a huge toll and eight months later things aren’t any better. Everything that is except her love for her husband Hy. It was his idea that Sharon come out to this ranch for a break instead of the Touchstone ranch on the Mendocino Coast and so far it hasn’t done any good. The plan remains to rest and think about what she wants to do in the future. Her days running the investigation business and dealing with the bad guys/gals just might be over.

That is until she becomes haunted by the sight of a local Indian girl standing outside a local convienice store. She was a troubled teen, that much was clear, and Sharon honored her own internal promise to stay away from everyone and investigate nothing. One promise to herself that she will regret honoring as that girl was in serious trouble and she could have helped her.

While some call this book a sequel to the “Ever Running Man” it isn’t. Instead, this book is the latest installment in a long running series. Those events are alluded to in several places and it isn’t necessary to have read that novel to clearly understand what is happing in this book.

Sharon is on her own for most of this book in a tale of psychology just as much as crime. Author Marcia Muller quickly pulls readers into the world of depression while at the same time creating a first class mystery full of suspects, twists and turns, many clues and plenty of action. The read moves at a quick pace despite the presence of many internal moments as Sharon works the cases of the troubled teen and her own deeply troubled psyche. The result is a very good read and one that will pull you deep inside before finally spitting you out at the end.



Burn Out
Marcia Muller
http://www.marciamuller.com/
Grand Central Publishing
http://www.hachettebookgroup.com
2008
ISBN# 0-446-58107-0
Hardback
309 Pages


Book provided by the good folks of the Plano, Texas Public Library System.


Kevin R. Tipple © 2009