PHASES AND STAGES OF A PRIVATE EYE: MARCIA MULLER'S THE LOST COAST AND OTHER SHARON MCCONE STORIES

Before V.I. Warshawski and Kinsey Malone, Marcia Muller's Sharon McCone knocked down the door for female private detectives in the novel Edwin of Iron Shoes. Other than gender, she stood out from other investigators by working for the San Francisco legal co-op All Souls, using her gumshoe skills to serve the downtrodden. Recently, Stark House Press released a collection of short stories dealing with the character in The Lost Coast and Other Sharon McCone stories.

It kicks off with what could be the epitome of a McCone mystery, "Deceptions". It begins with a meditative take on The Golden Gate Bridge, where a woman Sharon s looking for may have jumped from. It also uses the location of Fort Point, near the bridge throughout the tale, particularly well in the suspenseful conclusion. The end paragraph ties up the setting, story, plot, and theme in a well crafted manner that hits the emotions in the way Muller does without being overwrought.

She often uses San Francisco as more than just a backdrop. "Somewhere In the City" looks back at the 89' Earthquake with Sharon searching for she was talking on the phone with before the disaster hit. She takes thriller set up, leading it into a human story that ends up as a salute to the city and resilience of its people. "Benny's Place" uses the rougher side of town to portray the people struggling to carve out a life in it.

Some of the stories shed light on Sharon's family and past. The Christmas tale "Silent Night" has her searching for her runaway nephew. She uses the Mission Dolares for a touching climax. We really get a peek into her past with "Knives At. Midnight" where she goes back to her hometown and reluctantly teams up with her brother to help friends of his.

Two of Sharon's Lost Souls co-workers get their own story. Her assistant, Rae Kellher, gets her own case helping out a young immigrant and his politically incorrect employer, Muller demonstrates how she can view Sharon's world from a different point of view. Ted Sully narrates "Up At Riverside" about how Sharon, his boyfriend, and him go north of the city to look at a jukebox in a dilapidated hotel and are confronted with sins old and new connected to the areas gay heyday.

The final story, "The McCone Files", serves as a perfect end cap. It looks at the first case Sharon takes at All Souls, involving a con man who prey on lonely hearts, that goes unsolved until the file pops up when she moves to her private practice. It shows Muller's skill at delivering a solid classic PI yarn while creating emotional content with sentiment that never veers into the maudlin.

We see McCone's subtle arc over the years as well as Marcia Muller's range as we move through the The Lost Coast and Other Sharon McCone Stories. The author has fun with Sharon going on a series of dates to break up a burglary ring connected to a match-making service and gets pretty noir with the title story. However, there is always that streak of humanism in both the heroine and the writing. This may be a look back, but it had me looking forward to McCone's cases in the future.