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A review by martydah
The Cheshire Cat's Eye by Marcia Muller
5.0
I've been reading this series randomly for 15 years. It really doesn't matter where you start, the Sharon McCone stories are pretty much timeless and you don't need to read the books in order to enjoy them.
In this installment, Sharon is called upon to unravel the mystery of her friend Jake's murder. Jake, who transformed San Francisco Victorian houses into the archetypal "Painted Ladies" is found dead in a pool of clumsily spilled red paint - a clear indication to Sharon that this is a staged scene. She's hired to investigate the murder by David Wintringham, son of a local millionaire and owner of the house where the crime took place. As usual, there's plenty of hostility, violence.
Wintringham is trying to renovate the neighborhood, a move that is forcing out the working class African-American population. Local merchants and a former, embittered councilman with a thug enforcer are openly hostile to his efforts. He's also facing opposition from the local historical preservation organization, as well as dealing with his sleazy, former-rock-producer partner, an emotionally fragile boyfriend and the high costs of running his renovation business.
To make things even more confusing, there's the matter of a valuable missing Tiffany lamp, in the shape of the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland. It had disappeared, only to reappear in a dumpster with several fakes. Sharon manages to retrieve it, but not without running afoul of the local ex-councilman. Her investigation is further complicated by the fact that Wintringham's partner appears to be conducting his own 'investigation' into the lamp's disappearance, just a few irritating steps ahead of her.
I didn't quite guess who-dun-it toward the end, which is my standard for a good mystery. If there is a down side to the early books, it's Sharon's relationship with her homicide detective boyfriend, Greg. He's a bit of a misogynist and a jerk. Not a character that I could believe Sharon would give the time of day let alone date.
In this installment, Sharon is called upon to unravel the mystery of her friend Jake's murder. Jake, who transformed San Francisco Victorian houses into the archetypal "Painted Ladies" is found dead in a pool of clumsily spilled red paint - a clear indication to Sharon that this is a staged scene. She's hired to investigate the murder by David Wintringham, son of a local millionaire and owner of the house where the crime took place. As usual, there's plenty of hostility, violence.
Wintringham is trying to renovate the neighborhood, a move that is forcing out the working class African-American population. Local merchants and a former, embittered councilman with a thug enforcer are openly hostile to his efforts. He's also facing opposition from the local historical preservation organization, as well as dealing with his sleazy, former-rock-producer partner, an emotionally fragile boyfriend and the high costs of running his renovation business.
To make things even more confusing, there's the matter of a valuable missing Tiffany lamp, in the shape of the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland. It had disappeared, only to reappear in a dumpster with several fakes. Sharon manages to retrieve it, but not without running afoul of the local ex-councilman. Her investigation is further complicated by the fact that Wintringham's partner appears to be conducting his own 'investigation' into the lamp's disappearance, just a few irritating steps ahead of her.
I didn't quite guess who-dun-it toward the end, which is my standard for a good mystery. If there is a down side to the early books, it's Sharon's relationship with her homicide detective boyfriend, Greg. He's a bit of a misogynist and a jerk. Not a character that I could believe Sharon would give the time of day let alone date.