Edwin of the Iron Shoes [Hardcover]

Marcia Muller (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press (1982)
• Language: English
• ASIN: B001AGLYN0
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,894,082 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

MARCIA MULLER has written many novels and short stories. Her novel "Wolf in the Shadows" won the Anthony Boucher Award. The recipient of the Private Eye Writers of America's Lifetime Achievement Award and the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Award - their highest accolade - she lives in northern California with her husband, mystery writer Bill Pronzini.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars If you like female PIs, go to the source, August 24, 1998

By 

Ben Railton ([e-mail]) (Somerville, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Edwin of the Iron Shoes (Mass Market Paperback)

Just as Dashiell Hammett invented the hard-boiled PI and paved the way for the future success of Chadler, Spillane, MacDonald, and others, so Marcia Muller created the equivalent concept of the female hard-boiled PI. Edwin is Muller's first novel, but her detective, Sharon McCone, springs to life fully formed and quite likeable. What's more, the book is actually a well-crafted mystery, a whodunit with very real clues and a killer not revealed until the very end (unlike some of Muller's inheritors, who seem to favor suspense over actual mystery). All in all, a very satisfying read, and especially interesting in light of it's status as originator. All you Paretsky and Grafton (and Cornell, etc) fans, give it a shot!

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Edwin of the Iron Shoes, September 11, 2000

By 

Ricky N. "Ricky C. Nelson" (Commerce, GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Edwin of the Iron Shoes (Mass Market Paperback)

"Edwin of the Iron Shoes" is Marcia Muller's first Sharon McCone novel, and the first hard-boiled female private investigator novel published. It was written in 1977, and since then there have been a rash of hard-boiled female private eye novels published. McCone works for All Souls Legal Cooperative. A small-time antique store owner is murdered with a dagger from one of her display cases. Edwin of the Iron Shoes is a little-boy mannequin with iron shoes who "witnesses" the murder, but of course can't speak. This is a very good novel, which I would give 4 stars in a usual review, but the impact this novel has had on American mystery fiction earns it a 5th star. Marcia Muller was the first, and in my opinion, still the best by far.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding!, May 31, 2003

By 

MLPlayfair (Ravenna, OH) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Edwin of the Iron Shoes (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the 1st of the Sharon McCone books. I discovered it when another author's fictional detective referred to McCone on a "case." And holy cow! This book is copyrighted 1977. Where has it been hiding from me? Sharon McCone is quite a bit like Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone (or vice versa), which is truly high praise from me. It's savvy, sexy, exciting stuff. McCone is way cool. EDWIN OF THE IRON SHOES is set mostly in an antique shop with the eerie "characters" of a headless mannequin named Clothilde and a little "boy" named Edwin who has strange iron shoes. The author creates only a sketchy sense of place, but a definite sense of character, with some really fun potental villains. A very interesting ultimate motive for the murder makes for a satisfying ending. I can see why this is such a popular series. I loved it!