Both Ends of the Night
Both Ends of the Night by Marcia Muller 1997 Warner Books Edition Mystery
This is the 18th book in the Sharon McCone series so I missed a lot from the first book. Sharon no longer works for the All Souls Legal Corp., but Ted Smalley is still her lawyer. She has a thriving private investigation agency, but she works alone except for asking her employees to do research. The new man in her life is Hy Ripinksy whose wife died of an illness. He owns a ranch, and they jointly own a house. Her sister Charlene has six kids with ex-husband Rick which causes holiday problems for her. They were the subject of an earlier book by all the references in this one.
Muller took flying lessons, and this book has a lot of information about flying. The story is about Sharon’s flying instructor Matty Wildress whose boyfriend, John Seabrook, has disappeared, leaving her to care for his son, Zach. Matty has an airshow she has to attend even though Sharon and Hy warn her not to perform. Sure enough, her plane does a nosedive into the ground.
Sharon does a lot of flying as she begins to figure out who John Seabrook is and who rigged Matty’s plane. Sharon and Hy track down the mechanic, but he’s been shot along with another man at the airfield. Sharon finds out Zach’s mother was assassinated coming out of a grocery store in Florida, and John fled with Zach. Her FBI friend confirms they are in the witness protection program.
Sharon talks to the pilots and mechanics at the airfield and discovers John knew how to fly and was taking lessons so he could fly under his new name. He fled after a plane from Stirling Aviation arrived, and that gives Sharon the big lead. She goes out alone to interview the people from Stirling, and the cues pile up in rapid succession.
In a mystery, the investigator needs a personal interest in the victim such as Sharon’s friendship with Matty. This is established in the first chapter. Matty isn’t killed until about a third into the story, but her friendship makes it’s important for Sharon to find her killer and even put herself in danger, which she does. If your heroine is going to stick her neck out, it has to be for a good cause.
Sharon also has family problems with her sister and other relatives that add to her stress but offer intimate moments into her life that make her more real to the reader. The hard nose detective who only solves crimes is hard to relate to for most readers. Also, Sharon has a love life although she doesn’t seem to be on solid ground with Hy, and I had to wonder why they would buy a house together.
Several minor characters were developed with bonds to Sharon, and I had to wonder if they will be future victims. If you are writing a series, bring back minor characters in future books to have problems or become victims. That previous tie makes the case personal with a stronger motive to solve like this one.
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