A Walk Through the Fire [Mass Market Paperback]

Marcia Muller (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2000

ALOHA MURDER

Accidents are plaguing a documentary film crew on breathtakingly beautiful Kauai. Can San Francisco P.I. Sharon McCone ferret out possible sabotage behind the scenes? The job sounds like a breeze -- McCone envisions romantic, tropical nights with her lover, Hy Ripinsky. Instead, she finds a troubled paradise with rising tensions between native and non-native Hawaiians, a film going south fast, and a macabre ritual death. Then a mysterious local pilot rattles her commitment to Hy, and soon McCone is in danger herself...caught in the place Hawaiians call "ahi wela maka'u", the place between fire love and fire terror, the place where even a seasoned private eye can get burned.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In the 20th Sharon McCone mystery, the San Francisco-based PI leaves her usual haunts for Hawaii. McCone's downstairs office neighbor, Glenna Stanleigh, is a documentary filmmaker with a project on the island of Kauai. Glenna and her partner, Peter Wellbright, are making a film about Hawaiian legends and myths, based on the writings of Peter's father, Elson Wellbright, a descendant of early missionaries to the islands. There have been a series of accidents on the film set, and Glenna suspects that someone is trying to kill her or a member of her crew. Can McCone help? McCone is not licensed to operate in Hawaii, so she takes along her lover, Hy Ripinsky, and finds a way to work with the local branch of his security company, RKI. As she delves into the curious circumstances on the set, McCone keeps running into trouble with the large, influential and badly dysfunctional Wellbright family. Two family membersAElson himself and his youngest sonAhave gone missing for some years, and nobody seems to care much. As her inquiries lead her inevitably into learning more about the local folklore and history, McCone falls under the spell of the islands. She also fights an attraction to Russ Tanner, a local helicopter pilot and distant relative of the Wellbrights. Along with a taut, expertly plotted story, Muller conveys the magical appeal of Kauai, as well as the long-simmering resentment of some of the islanders toward white settlers. The Hawaiian setting, so well employed by Muller, reinvigorates a veteran, if a consistently entertaining and imaginative, PI series.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

YA-In this 20th book in the series, detective Sharon McCone and her lover Hy Ripinsky are called to Hawaii when a friend's film crew is plagued with accidents. The documentary he is making about the island's gods and goddesses has awakened the ire of someone or something, and it's up to McCone and Ripinsky to discover who or what is threatening this potentially award-winning work. As the PI delves into the accidents, she finds that the family of the film backer has more than its share of secrets, each of which could have an impact on the project. Smooth writing, an entertaining plot, and sustained suspense contribute to Muller's reputation as a top-notch writer of gumshoe mysteries.
Pam Spencer, Young Adult Literature Specialist, Virginia Beach, VA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; Reprint edition (July 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446608165
• ISBN-13: 978-0446608169
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1 x 6.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,174,783 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

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Muller is fantastic!, August 26, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: A Walk Through the Fire (Mass Market Paperback)

I have read all of Marcia Muller's books and this one was one of the best. I am never disappointed but A Walk Through Fire kept me on the edge of my seat. I sent this one to my sister and now she is a Muller fan. Sharon McCone is a great character and just grows better and better with each new book. I love the way Muller takes us through McCone's changes in lifestyles and boyfriends. I almost feel like I know this woman and could call on her to help me in any situation. She is not as flippant as Grafton but I can hardly bear to put the books down to go to sleep or to work. Muller is one of the best writer's of the mystery/private eye genre that I have come across and I have read quite a lot. This one was all the better because it took us out of the usual setting of San Francisco to Hawaii. Love it!

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Muller trips in time warp & emerges as a gothic romancer!, June 28, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: A Walk Through the Fire (Hardcover)

What on earth happened here?! One of my favorite writers, Marcia Muller, has converted one of my favorite characters, Sharon McCone, into some sort of lame-brained "damsel" victimized by her lusting hormones, conniving acquaintances, and short-circuited brain cells. I grew up reading way too much of this genre -- the "Gothic romance mystery" of the '60s & '70s was vacuous and insulting to the reader's intelligence then and this book proves it still is! Most readers will have figured out more than half the "mystery" before they've read half the book; but reading isn't really necessary or desirable. This book is perfect for the Summer Beach Reading category, the type you can just skim and not miss a thing in doing so.

Please, Marcia, promise us this McCone entry was just a brief summertime aberration and that you'll be bringing back the intelligent, independent and forthright Sharon we all know in your next book. I promise not to give up on you just because of this one disappointment!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars least interesting of all the Sharon McCone books., May 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: A Walk Through the Fire (Hardcover)

I had eagerly looked forward to reading the newest Marcia Muller book. i truly felt she had slept-walked thru writing this. Never having been to Kauai ( just Maui, an island i love very much ) i didn't care if i ever went there by the time i finished the book. i don't know how much this will improve the much needed tourist business. to sum up, a thin book with a thin plot that was a great disappointment.