The Color of Fear

Starred review from June 26, 2017
The savage beating of Sharon McCone’s 82-year-old father by a gang of thugs kicks off MWA Grand Master Muller’s outstanding 34th mystery featuring the San Francisco PI (after 2016’s Someone Always Knows). McCone’s father, nationally known Native American painter Elwood Farmer, arrived in San Francisco from Montana two days earlier for the Christmas holidays. He was shopping for gifts in the city’s Marina district when he was assaulted in what may have been a racially motivated attack. SFPD Sgt. Priscilla Anders, however, suspects the beating may be tied to Farmer’s relationship to McCone, and that theory seems more and more plausible after a break-in at McCone’s office and vandalism directed at her employees. The stakes rise when McCone becomes the target of cyberattacks and death threats. She pursues a number of leads, many of which fail to pan out and others that are frustratingly vague, but she eventually discovers that a hate group may be involved after all. At the exciting climax, McCone valiantly arms herself and goes into action alone. Agent: Molly Friedrich, Friedrich Literary.

Elizabeth Evans is completely convincing as she narrates bestselling author Marcia Muller's 34th Sharon McCone mystery. While Sharon's 82-year-old father, a world-famous Shoshone artist, is visiting for the Christmas holidays, he is brutally beaten by a racially motivated mob and lies in a coma. Evans is especially compelling at delivering McCone's anguish over her father's grave condition. But she also projects McCone's strength and determination as she begins her own investigation into her father's attackers. And when McCone herself receives death threats from a white supremacist hate group, Evans's voice reflects her deep concern. After McCone's office is vandalized, she takes matters into her own hands, and Evans captures her take-no-prisoners attitude. Evans is spot-on delivering Muller's dialogue, unique characters, and crisp plotting. S.J.H. � AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine