The Color of Fear

Sharon McCone hasn't retired yet, and neither has Marcia Muller (there's a new McCone novel, just out in hardback). I'm glad - after losing Sue Grafton last year, there are only two remaining godmothers of the female PI novel.  Most of the mysteries I read are written by women, and I have Muller, Grafton, and Paretsky to thank for that.

The Color of Fear opens a few days before Christmas.  A mob attacks Sharon's birth father, Shoshone artist Elwood Farmer while he's taking a late night stroll.  We know from the start that it's a racially motivated attack, the identity of the gang leader, and the fact that there's also a personal connection to M&R investigations, the firm Sharon owns with her husband Hy Ripinsky.  I appreciate mysteries which play with the genre's conventions, and Muller has written a successful howdunnit. She's also given Sharon a chance to catch up with family.  Her birth mother, attorney Saskia Blackhawk, and her half-sister Robin have featured in the last dozen or so novels, and her nephew/employee Mick and his father (Sharon's ex-brother-in-law) play substantial roles.  This time, Sharon's youngest sister Patsy, unseen and barely mentioned since the All Souls days, makes a brief appearance, along with their mother who seems to be slipping into a fantasy world (or who has been living there for years).  It's an interesting juxtaposition, holiday cheer with family and friends against a distressingly topical racial attack, but it works well, thanks to Muller's skill.