I began reading the stories in Mistletoe Mysteries in 2014, and this week I finally finished the book. The last story was "Silent Night" by Marcia Muller. I have not read much by this author. I read the first book in her Sharon McCone series (which consists of 35 books, published between 1977 and 2021), and now I have read some of her short stories.
"Silent Night" features Sharon McCone. Sharon's nephew has run away from home at 14, and has been missing for 5 days; his family lives in Pacific Palisades, California. On Christmas Eve, Sharon learns that he has been spotted in San Francisco, where Sharon lives. Of course, she starts looking for him immediately, first checking out homeless encampments near where he was last seen. This is a sentimental Christmas story, but not overly so.
This week, I also decided to read more stories from A Moment on the Edge, edited by Elizabeth George. Coincidentally the next unread story in the book was also by Marcia Muller, "Wild Mustard." This was also an early Sharon McCone story, first published in 1984 in The Eyes Have It.
In "Wild Mustard," Sharon becomes interested in an old Japanese woman who she notices digging for plants on a slope near the Sutro Baths ruins in San Francisco. Sharon visits a restaurant in that area every Sunday with a friend, and they usually see the old woman collecting more plants. One day she decides to ask the woman what she is doing; she explains that is picking wild mustard, which she tells Sharon is very good for her. It is clear she has little money and uses the plants that grow on the slope to supplement her diet. One Sunday, months later, Sharon notices that the old woman is not on the slope digging away as usual and follows up. It is a sad story, not really a crime story, but very readable.
Reading both of these stories has encouraged me to read some more books from the Sharon McCone series by Muller.
The first post I wrote about A Moment on the Edge is here, and has more details on that anthology.
16 comments:
Excellent. Muller is not, I think, the biggest fan of her first McCone novel, EDWIN OF THE IRON SHOES, but I liked it...but was fortunate to begin reading the series with the then-new TROPHIES AND DEAD THINGS, one of the best novels in the series, I'd say, and sparked in part by the deaths of Abbie Hoffman and Eldridge Cleaver, and what those proximate passings and their divergent paths implied about the recent history of the nation and society. I've yet to read either of your short stories, but should rectify that soon.
Muller was, in my opinion, a real pioneer in the creation of strong female detective protagonists, Tracy. I do like her Sharon McCone, although I admit I don't like everything she does. And it's interesting to see how authors like Muller do both novels and short stories. I'm glad you enjoyed these two.
I am not sure I have read any of hers. I should try one though. Thanks for the reminder.
Muller, Paretsky and Grafton are often cited as helping (re)launch women in medium/hard boiled writing, which to some extent does sort of slight, for example, Marijane Meaker and Patricia Highsmith and Margaret Millar and "Craig Rice" and Leigh Brackett and and...but they did good work and write/wrote sustained series when that was the way to sustained readership...or so the publishers decided!
Todd, I had wonder if there was a good place to start later than the 2nd one. Bill Pronzini has said that the first three are not as good as the rest of the books in the series. I will keep TROPHIES AND DEAD THINGS in mind as a starting place.
Margot, I do hope to read more of the Sharon McCone series and see how I like it now. It has been a good while since I read the first one.
Patti, I am sure it would be worth your time to read one of her books someday. But I run into the problem into having an excess of authors I want to read.
Todd, I am a big fan of Margaret Millar's writing but I haven't read much by any of the other female authors you mentioned that were writing before Muller. But I agree that they had a lot of impact too. Liza Cody also had a female private eye in a series starting "about" the same time as Muller and Grafton and Paretsky, and I really like what I have read by Cody. I haven't read much by Paretsky either. The thing I like the best about Grafton's books is the setting in a city based on Santa Barbara.
I had let Cody slip my mind, in my US-chauvinist way (I remember her best for such fiction about criminals as "Lucky Dip" at the moment)...she's brilliant, at very least at her best, and I should check her tec series. I've liked Muller at her best a bit more than Paretsky, but also like her work a lot, and Grafton comes in third for me of the trio, while still good but less compelling. I rode an elevator with Grafton at my only Bouchercon...a bit slow to realize this woman alone with me in the car was she, smiling and awaiting patiently for a question or a gush, but by the time I was aware she was SG, it was basically time to step off, so I just nodded. Alice is more a fan of her work than I, and was annoyed when I mentioned it to her that I didn't at least say that my housemate was a fan. Alas, much too late now.
Todd, I like that story about Sue Grafton in the elevator. If I have time, availability, etc. I would love to read more by all those authors of P.I. novels that we have discussed: Paretsky, Grafton, Cody, and Muller.
Hi Tracy, A Moment on the Edge edited by Elizabeth George sounds really interesting because we are introduced to female crime writers for the past hundred years and the reader can sample, the short stories to see which author they might want to read further I love these kind of anthologies
It is very interesting, Kathy, and so far I have like all the stories I have read. Each story is prefaced by a nice introduction to the author of the story.
I always liked Charlotte MacLeod because she lived in Boston and supported herself by doing advertising copywriting before her writing earned enough for her to do it full time.
Happy New Year!
Constance, that is an interesting tidbit to learn about Charlotte MacLeod. I have read a good number of her books, mostly before blogging. Some of the Peter Shandy series and some from the Sarah Kelling series. Only one set in Canada, Murder Goes Mumming.
I always wondered if she was Canadian or from the US because she had two series written under a pseudonym that were set in Canada. But now I find out that she was born in Canada but emigrated to the US one year later. So Canadian-American, and a US citizen.
A crime story anthology edited by Elizabeth George? Sounds pretty good, and thank you for the rec. Happy New Year, Tracy -- and hope you find some great mystery books this year. :) ~Lex (lexlingua.co)
Lex, it is good to hear from you. It is a good anthology, with lots of stories, and I have only read a little over half of them.
Happy New Year to you too. I bought a good number of mysteries before the end of the year, and I have high hopes for my reading this year.
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