The latest installment in the Sharon McCone series, The Dangerous Hours will not disappoint. Sharon's life is finally coming together-her business is thriving, her relationship with Hy, her long-term boyfriend is moving towards serious commitment, and even her extended family seems to be settling down.
Suddenly, Sharon's business is at risk from the illegal actions of a new, unlicensed employee. Sharon and her entire team take on the challenge of finding out what is going on to save the agency and their jobs. At the same time, Sharon finds help from old friends such as attorney Glenn Solomon and Hy, while making new friends in the form of two new hires to the agency.
The answer to Sharon's current problems lies in an old case, and once she has a suspect in mind, Sharon goes after him with the single mindedness familiar from previous installments. There is an interesting segue in this book where Sharon faces the impact of two of her cases on the people involved-this one, where the guilty party is truly criminal, and another case that affected someone who had simply fallen on bad times. Sharon takes appropriate action in both instances, and I found this juxtaposition a highlight of the story.
I have been a fan of Marcia Muller for a number of years, and really enjoyed The Dangerous Hour. Muller has been able to grow and mature McCone in a manner that is consistent with Sharon's personality and history. Although this is not quite the quick tempered, adventure seeking McCone of the past, it is also wonderful that Muller has not allowed McCone to become stale or obvious. As always, the book is tightly written and flows smoothly through out, and hopefully we will not need to wait too long for a new book from Muller.