Dead Midnight - Hardcover

Sharon McCone, Marcia Muller's street-smart, San Francisco PI, is still dealing with the emotional aftermath of her brother Joey's suicide when she's hired by Roger Nagasawa's parents to prove that their son died of overwork, and that he was driven to kill himself by the brutal, high-pressure atmosphere at Insite, the hip online magazine that employed him. Enlisting the help of her reporter friend J.D., McCone learns that the magazine is failing, despite the millions in venture capital that's supposedly financing it. The mystery deepens when she retrieves deleted files from Roger's computer suggesting that he knew who was sabotaging the magazine and shared that information, which he characterized as "insurance," with Jody Houston, a close friend, before he jumped off the Bay Bridge. Tracking Houston to an isolated cabin on the Oregon coast, McCone stumbles over the dead body of her friend J.D., and then finds herself framed for his murder. By the time she uncovers the truth about Roger's suicide and unmasks J.D.'s killer, she's confronted her remorse over Joey's death and put a painful part of her own past behind her. As usual, Muller turns in a solidly plotted, well-paced mystery with a heroine who grows in self-awareness and complexity with every new adventure. --Jane Adams

Marcia Muller has written many novels and short stories. She has won six Anthony Awards, a Shamus Award, and is also the recipient of the Private Eye Writers of America's Lifetime Achievement Award as well as the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Award (their highest accolade). She lives in northern California with her husband, mystery writer Bill Pronzini.