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July 17
Hardback
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A Walk Through the Fire
by Marcia Muller
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Reviewed by Charles Wagner
San Francisco PI Sharon McCone has always been self-sufficient and
in control of herself. Her agency is doing well, and her personal
life has never been better since she found Hy Ripinsky, a man as
capable and self-assured as she is. When the two of them go to
Hawaii to help out an old friend of McCone's, Sharon is looking
forward to mixing business with pleasure.
The friend, Glenna Stanleigh, is making a documentary about Hawaiian
myths and legends, as told from the point of view of Elson
Wellbright, a descendent of a missionary who loved and respected the
Hawaiian people and their heritage. Elson disappeared mysteriously
years earlier, and the documentary is funded by Peter Wellbright,
Elson's son, against the express wishes of the rest of the family.
When mysterious incidents begin to threaten the film's completion,
Glenna calls Sharon and asks for her help.
But the primary reason for the trip soon slips into the background
when Sharon discovers that she is inexplicably attracted to Russ
Tanner, a helicopter pilot tangentially involved with the
Wellbrights and the film. Ripinsky senses some kind of attraction
between the two of them, and Sharon suddenly finds herself torn
between the man she thought she loved and another who touches her
emotionally in a way Ripinsky never has before.
McCone is not a person comfortable with examining her own feelings.
Her inner turmoil begins to overshadow the investigation, especially
since the mystery she came to solve never becomes as compelling as
some of her other adventures. The events keep the reader curious,
but the investigation seems almost to exist solely as an excuse to
keep McCone in Hawaii, where her emotional conflict cannot be
ignored.
This is not necessarily a bad thing. Putting a character in conflict
with herself often reveals things about that character that readers
would otherwise never know. McCone's tightly-controlled emotional
life is an area that Muller has not explored until recently.
Sharon's response to recent events in her life, like her evolving
relationship with Ripinsky, and the breakup of her sister's
marriage, have exposed layers of McCone's character not seen in
previous volumes in the series. And in the last novel, While Other
People Sleep, McCone's very identity was threatened by a stalker who
impersonated her, damaging her livelihood and her reputation while
making her feel vulnerable to attack in ways she never thought she
could.
In the end, A Walk Through The Fire succeeds on several levels,
artfully resolving both the mystery and McCone's inner conflict. The
series is still alive and vital, more so because of Muller's
willingness to explore what is, for McCone, new territory. The
author has lost none of her considerable ability to evoke places and
characters through McCone's focused first-person narration. And
despite its being the twentieth volume in an already
• What are your favorite female PI novels?
• Should female PIs have romantic interests or should they walk those mean streets
alone?
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P.I.s: Women PIs >>
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well-established series, A Walk Through The Fire will appeal to both
new and veteran fans. Readers familiar with past books in the series
will enjoy seeing Sharon wrestle with her own insecurities for a
change, while those encountering Muller's protagonist for the first
time will be treated to a mystery of a different nature, watching an
experienced investigator ferret out the truth about herself.
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