Cape Perdido

June 27, 2005
MWA Grand Master Muller delivers a relatively routine stand-alone, a murder mystery with an environmental veneer, which falls short of the quality of her acclaimed Sharon McCone series (The Dangerous Hour
, etc.). When a greedy North Carolina corporation seeks to harvest water from a quiet California lumber town—the Cape Perdido of the title—Jessie Domingo, a public and community relations consultant, and Fitch Collier, an arrogant and difficult attorney who specializes in water rights, team up to help the community fight the interloper. The conflict between the townspeople and the company rapidly escalates after a sniper takes a shot at one of the huge bags to be used to transport the water. The lingering shadow from a decades-old unsolved murder connected to many of the local players in the dispute complicates Domingo's work and leads to even more violence. Less than compelling characters and a pat ending mark this as an uncharacteristic lapse for Muller, who hopefully will return to form with her next book. Agent, Molly Friedrich.

June 1, 2005
Muller's third departure ("Point Deception"; "Cyanide Wells") from her popular P.I. Sharon McCone series revolves around a conflict that pits environmentalists and residents of Cape Perdido, a lumber town turned vacation resort, against out-of-state, out-of-country "waterbaggers" Aqueduct Systems (AS). Opposed to the harvesting of the Perdido River's waters are Joseph Openshaw, an environmental activist who has returned to his hometown; Steph Pace, his old flame; Curtis Hope, an ecologist and Pomo Indian; and Timothy McNear, who has been intimidated into selling his mill, once the town's main employer, to AS. As the four struggle to stop AS, ugly truths about themselves and their town are uncovered. While this is an interesting tale, character development falls flat, except when it comes to McNair. Nonetheless, Muller's latest is recommended for all popular collections. The newly anointed Grand Master lives in northern California. [See Prepub Mystery, "LJ" 3/1/05.]" -Michelle Foyt, Russell Lib., Middletown, CT"

Copyright 2005 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2005
Like " Cyanide Wells "(2003), this stand-alone mystery from the creator of the popular Sharon McCone series draws much of its appeal from its rustic, beautiful Northern California setting. A small tourist community, dependent on fishing and boating, is under siege. A -water-exporting company has petitioned the state for rights to literally bag the water from the Perdido River and haul it to drought-plagued communities in the southern part of the state. Tempers are hot, and seasoned environmentalists have stepped in to help the locals fight the commercial interlopers. Suddenly events spin out of control, and two activists disappear. Using the alternating perspective of four characters, Muller teases out the relationship between the present-day struggle and a terrible secret from the past. There is little here in terms of tone, style, and atmosphere that will seem new to Muller's regular readers, but the carefully measured plot revelations, which gradually expose the ways in which past and present are entwined, prove more than enough to keep both longtime fans and newcomers spellbound to the finish.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)