Point Deception [Audiobook] (MP3 CD)

Review: In the best mystery stories, the place sometimes becomes the center of the story. Think about The Hound of the Baskervilles. Rarely do mystery novelists have the skill and the patience to build that element properly. Marcia Muller has done so in Point Deception, and you will feel very rewarded by this richly located story. Ms. Muller always employs place well in her stories, but I think this is her best work in that regard.

Many will inevitably compare this book to Bitterroot. Point Deception is much better done in every way, from handling of the place to unfolding the plot to the development of the characters.

Signal Port, California is a small town with a past that it doesn't like to talk about. In the fall of 1987, two families and a friend were gunned down on their rural property. The investigation was muffed, in part by not calling in the FBI and in part by some misplaced blood samples. Almost everyone who lived in the town then has seen their lives changed by the event . . . for the worse. As a result, they've withdrawn, taken to more drink, and become mean to each other. Five days before the 13th anniversary of the killings, three women disappear. Could there be a connection to the previous massacre?

Point Deception is a brilliantly symbolic name for this novel, because everyone in the book has several major deceptions going on . . . including self-deceptions in some cases. The story opens powerfully with a frantic woman next to a broken down car, anxious to get help. Cars whiz by, including a sheriff's vehicle, but no one helps her. The fog builds, the temperature drops, and she grows frightened. That situation draws you powerfully into the story, and never lets go. That story line continues with flashbacks throughout the book.

The main story is built around the daily activities of Rho Swift as she goes about her sheriff's deputy duties. She has seen the woman who was stranded, but was called away by a shooting just as she was about to stop and help. Early in the book, she meets stranger Guy Newberry, who is a best selling author from New York who specializes in writing exposes on small towns. The locals don't want him around, but cannot get rid of him. Rho and Guy develop a wary relationship that contributes to solving the mystery.

One of the pleasures of this book is that you can arrive with new characters without any preconceptions. In a long-running series, you have expectations. I hope that Ms. Muller will continue with these characters, and leave them open to changes in their lives, work styles, and characters. In this book, people do change . . . or they are harmed in the process of trying to remain the same. With such a rich beginning, this series could become Ms. Muller's best.

After you finish enjoying this fine novel, I suggest you think about how you can be sure that you do not ignore people in trouble. The lesson here seems to be that we should assume that no one else will help unless we do.

Seek out ways to help!

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While I always look forward to the next episode in Muller's long running Sharon McCone series, this rates with some of the best McCones. I'm pleased to see Muller has written another book set in the same (fictitious) town, Cyanide Wells.

Rhoda is in a hurry and wary about stopping to help a young woman at the side of the road. When the woman is found dead, of course she feels guilty. Investigating what happens with the help of a visiting researcher forces her to think again about her own past, that she has been trying to forget.

An atmospheric story which makes its setting sound really interesting.

Luci

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