Fans of Marcia Muller’s popular Sharon McCone series have
come to expect a good, well-written story, populated with familiar
family and friends. Wry humor, crackling banter, thorough
investigative techniques and brilliant legal work have all become
hallmarks of her mysteries. But it’s always a special thrill
when a book goes beyond expectations and the author delivers even
more. Muller does just that with LOCKED IN.

This latest installment in the series immediately pulls the
reader into the world of San Francisco, from the salty mist
drifting in off the bay to the groan of a distant foghorn. As the
book opens, Sharon is hurrying back to her office on the pier to
retrieve her cell phone, quickening her steps as night descends.
Sounds and echoes of the evening are exaggerated by her
surroundings, setting the tone for something ominous to occur. Upon
reaching her workplace, the unthinkable happens, and she is shot.
When she finally regains consciousness 10 days later, she finds
herself paralyzed, unable to speak or move any part of her body
except for her eyes.

Friends and family alike are not only in shock but enraged,
eager to bring whoever shot Sharon to justice. Some are even ready
to exact immediate vengeance. And when the investigators attempting
to find the culprit begin looking closely at a number of seemingly
unrelated cases that Sharon was working on (the death of a young
prostitute, the apparent murder/suicide of two top San Francisco
politicos, and the missing gay scion of a successful wine-producing
family), they find a thread that leads to some questionable
practices at Pro Terra, an environmental group seeped in local
politics. What does this group have to do with all these dissimilar
cases? Are they the ones responsible for Sharon’s
condition?

Sir Walter Scott once said, “Oh what a tangled web we
weave when first we practice to deceive.” And a tangled web
is what the team finds as it fans out to track down who is to blame
for Sharon’s unfortunate circumstances. All the lies and
deceptions practiced by those involved in these overlapping cases
make getting to the truth almost impossible. However, it all begins
to come together as Sharon becomes a part of the team, using only
her eyelids to blink “yes” or “no.” The
teamwork that has been built up over the years proves itself once
again.

LOCKED IN is written in bite-sized chapters from each of the
main characters’ perspectives, making it very fast-paced. So
lock yourself in your favorite reading cave and enjoy the latest
Sharon McCone mystery. This is one you’ll want to read
straight through.