Private-eye Sharon McCone receives an email asking for help from her emotionally disturbed half brother Darcy Blackhawk. She replies. . .but gets no response. As Sharon digs deeper, she discovers that Darcy sent his message from an Internet cafe in San Francisco, a city he's never been to before. Sensing that her brother is in terrible danger, Sharon begins a search for him throughout the city. The investigation leads her to the body of a woman at the Palace of Fine Arts, where a witness had told her that Darcy was headed. Then, as she digs deeper, Sharon uncovers a connection to the unsolved murder of a young heiress to a multimillion-dollar banking fortune. Now Sharon must race to solve both murders and ensure her brother's safety, despite the imminent danger that lurks within her own family. ( )

Time was I would have picked up a new McCone novel the second it hit the doormat & not put it down until I was done. It's taken me the best part of two months to get through this, more putting down than picking up. The story isn't that bad. It's written in short chapters, switching viewpoint between McCone & her nephew Mick Savage (mostly, there are others represented too). I just found it too choppy to hold my attention. Sorry Sharon! ( )

It's hard to believe that City of Whispers is Marcia Mullers 29th Sharon McCone novel. It seems like just yesterday I was reading the wonderfully entitled Edwin of the Iron Shoes, the first in the series, published in 1977.

Generally considered to be the first modern female private investigator, Sharon has (unlike some other long-running series characters) grown and changed with time. She has a successful marriage, a successful business, and an ever-growing family. Having learned that she was adopted as an infant, Sharon found her birth parents, both of whom are Native Americans.

In City of Whispers, Sharon receives an email from her half-brother Darcy from an internet cafe in San Francisco. Informed by her mother that Darcy, who has continuing drug and mental issues, has never been in SF before, Sharon mounts a search with the help of her nephew, tech-wizard Mick. The pursuit of Darcy becomes much more complicated than Sharon expects, involving some of the city's wealthiest families.

At the beginning of the series, the story was told in the first person, from Sharon's point of view. Here, Muller includes some chapters written from Mick's and Darcy's viewpoint (though not in the first person) allowing the reader to view the same incidents through several pairs of eyes, as well as to experience things that Sharon does not.

Of course, opinions are divided as to whether or not Sharon's gorwth has been positive or negative. Some readers complain that too much of the action now takes place inside Sharon's head, that too much of the action is external, that it's wonderful to see Sharon happy in a stable relationship, that her husband is a cloying character. She might as well be a real person.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for providing me an e-book to review. ( )

What could he have done now? Where has he been? Why does he show up when he needs something and then not allow us to know where he is?

Those were questions Shar asked herself after she received an e-mail from her constantly absent half-brother, Darcy. She always helped him out, but she couldn't help if she couldn't find him. She was worried that this time he was truly in deep trouble.

The story takes place in San Francisco in wealthy neighborhoods and also in squalor. You can guess where they were looking for Darcy. The book centered on the search for Darcy and also on his role in the murder of Gaby. His return to the city prompted the re-investigation of Gaby's murder.

The chapters were divided into the book’s characters describing each character's role in the search for Darcy. Luckily Shar and her co-workers were good at detective work.

Each suspect in the murder had something to hide and each suspect kept quiet. Gaby had been dead for two years, and opening up the investigation caused those involved to become alarmed and to hide more secrets and cover up what happened with more murders. There were some characters who you would readily suspect and others that will surprise you. The characters were likable, and they all had their secrets….”Secrets, damned secrets.” Page 193 According to Sharon, secrets were the root of all evil….she even had some of her own.

This is the first Sharon McCone mystery I have read. Not bad, but not a gripper.

The author, Marcia Muller, has a good writing style, and I liked how she set up each chapter. It became more gripping toward the end. I would not be opposed to reading more of Ms. Muller’s work. 4/5 ( )

PI Sharon McCone receives an email from Darcy, her drug-addicted, mentally unstable half-brother. The email is short - 'Help me. I'm in SF'. Sharon emails back but gets no reply. She assumes he just needs money but something about the message bothers her so she begins a search for him. Soon she finds herself involved in an old, unsolved murder and there are some powerful people who will do anything to keep it that way.

City of Whispers is about families and secrets. In this case, somehow, Darcy has got himself involved in some very deadly family secrets and Sharon must find him before he becomes the next victim. Along the way, she will uncover some of her own family's secrets.

This novel is divided up into different and alternating sections with three different points of view - Sharon's sections are in the first voice, while Mick Savage's, her assistant and nephew and Darcy's are in the third. With Sharon, we get her concern for her family, Mick his dislike of Darcy but love of his job and with Darcy, not surprisingly, we get the confused, and fractured thoughts of a man with mental and emotional problems.

It has been a few years since I read a McCone mystery but I found it easy to pick up where I left off. Author Marcia Muller makes her characters complex and interesting enough that they remain memorable even after long absences. The mysteries are always intriguing but it is these characters which keep the reader coming back for more. ( )