Both Ends of the Night

by Marcia Muller

Book Overview

The extraordinarily popular Sharon McCone, the female private eye who showed Sara Paretsky, Sue Grafton, and company how it's done, takes on a deadly missing persons case.Sharon McCone's flight... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 089296622X
• ISBN13: 9780892966226
• Release Date: January 1997
• Publisher: Mysterious Press
• Length: 353 Pages
• Weight: 1.04 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Enjoyed it a lot

I'm a big fan of the Sharon McCone series and this one was a very good read. Fast-moving, credible. I enjoyed all the plane-related detail. Muller, like Sharon and Hy, obviously loves flying. I'd never do it myself, but I enjoyed going along for the ride, so to speak.If you're new to Muller, I URGE you to read the McCone books in order, starting with "Edwin of the Iron Shoes." Believe me, you'll get to this one soon enough.

Catch up with Sharon's latest adventure!

During the time I've known her, Sharon McCone's career has advanced from humble beginnings as an investigator in a co-operative legal service to owning her own private investigation agency employing several operatives and a computer guru. She's moved from a tiny studio apartment with eccentric neighbours to a fully renovated house with two cats and has a half share in a property on the coast. She has learned to fly and become an accomplished pilot. After a series of go-nowhere relationships, she's finally settled into a comfortable long-term partnership, on her terms, with someone who doesn't want to change her. She's been shot at, beaten up and got herself into and out of every sort of dangerous situation. She's a product of Marcia Muller's imagination, and every time I open one of her novels, I feel like I'm catching up with an old friend.When Matty, the woman who taught Sharon to fly contacts her with a rather transparent excuse for a meeting, Sharon soon finds herself on another case. Turns out the instructor's live-in lover has disappeared, leaving Matty with his adolescent son and $70,000 in the bank. When she finds a message from her missing lover warning that her life may be in danger, Matty refuses to forego a planned aerobatic air show, with disastrous results. Sharon finds herself with a grieving boy on her hands, but luckily, her network of friends are more than willing to help. Soon Sharon finds the missing man is not who everyone thinks he is and she, together with her lover, Hy Ripinsky, set off across the country on a search for the truth. And the truth is not pretty, as they uncover a network of corruption involving a large corporation and government, while desperately trying to stay alive.Since I met Sharon many years ago in an anthology of short stories by women detective fiction writers, and quickly catching up with her old stories, I've been lucky enough to meet up with her at least once a year to hear of her latest escapades. Yeah, I know she's not real, but once you get involved in this series of books, you can't help but feel she is. Marcia Muller has created such a constantly evolving character that instead of becoming stale after 18 novels, she's only become more interesting, and has taken on a life of her own. Most writers can't help but project some of themselves onto their characters, and I'm guessing Marcia Muller is fearlessly loyal to her friends, happy in her relationship and really LOVES to fly!Keep `em coming, Marcia Muller! I'll keep reading them as long as you keep writing them.

One of Muller's Best

"Both Ends of the Night" is one of the best of the Sharon McCone novels. McCone is hired by Matty Wildress, who was McCone's flight instructor when Sharon got her pilot's license, to find her lover, John Seabrook, who had disappeared. Matty does aerobatics and had one final meet for the year. Before that she gets a letter from John telling her not to fly in the last meet. He puts $70,000 into Matty's account and asks her to take his son, Zach, and flee California. Matty choses to fly anyway, and dies in a crash while performing a simple move for her. Since Matty is McCone's friend, McCone continues her investigation. because the murder of Matty and John Seabrook's disappearance, seem to be conected. McCone's lover, Hy Ripinsky, who is usually a minor character, plays a major role helping Sharon to find Matty's killer because of his friendship with Matty from years back. They uncover corporate corruption, government witness programs, and people who will stop at nothing to fulfill their dreams. This novel is very well written. The characters are well-drawn and Muller is one of the best at putting the reader there. I had shivers when she and Hy were in sub-zero weather in Minnesota. An excellent novel!

Marcia Muller is great!

Marcia Muller is the mother of the female private eye genre. If you enjoy Paretsky, Grafton, Cornwell and other women writers who write about female main characters, you need to read Muller. I find her books tighter and more poignant than the other authors I mentioned, even though I really enjoy those. Start with the first McCone book and read them ALL.

Another winner by a magnificent storyteller

Three years ago, Matty Wildress taught private detective Sharon McCone how to fly an airplane. It is time for Sharon to renew her flying license, so she goes to see Matty, who she has not seen in a while. Matty does not seem like the same person as Sharon once trained under. She is nervous and upset because her lover John Seabrook has disappeared, leaving behind his pre-teen son to be watched by Matty. A week later, Matty receives a letter from John pleading with her to immediately flee town (with the lad in hand) before something terrible happens to her (or the child). Matty plans to heed the advice, but only after she does one last air show. Shockingly, the plane crashes killing Matty. ...... Sharon cannot ignore the death of her friend. She begins to investigate the missing John and, with the help of her nephew, traces the vanished man to Florida. Further investigation proves that John has pulled this stunt at least once before, apparently a decade ago following the murder of his spouse. As she gets closer to the truth, Sharon, with the help of her lover, place themselves in danger, needing their best flying skills to survive. ..... BOTH ENDS OF THE NIGHT is the eighteenth Sharon McCone story and surprisingly with that girth of books and the decade that has passed since the first tale, the novel and the character remain extremely fresh as if it is the first story of this classic series. The San Francisco based McCone is a great female detective and the current story line is fast-paced and exciting. However, what makes Marcia Muller's novel a passionate one sitting reading experience is the supporting cast, who add layers of dimension and excitement. Ms. Muller continues to prove that she earned that 1993 Life Achievement Award for one of the best (if not the best) female private eye series on the market today. .....Harriet Klausner