Marcia Muller: Games to Keep the Dark Away (USA 2012)

From the Publisher:
Picture Salmon Bay: an isolated, run-down northern California village, home to an idle fleet of fishing boats, a deserted amusement park, and a handful of secretive, even hostile residents. When P.I. Sharon McCone arrives in search of one of the town's wayward daughters, the trail leads to the thriving resort of Port San Marco. McCone believes that the missing woman, a former social worker named Jane Anthony, was involved in the suspicious deaths of three terminally ill patients at an exclusive hospice. But the elusive Jane Anthony turns up all too soon -- washed up beneath a rotting pier in Salmon Bay. McCone discovers that no one -- not her client, a reclusive photographer, nor Jane's mother, nor her hospice employers -- wants to find out why she died. Then the killer strikes again, Jane's secret life comes into focus, and McCone finds out that someone wants her out of the way -- permanently!

Marcia Muller: Games to Keep the Dark Away. A Sharon McCone Mystery. Blackstone, ISBN: 9781609986124 (January, 2012), eBook, 494 KB (ca. 224 p.), $6.99.

Marcia Muller: Games to Keep the Dark Away (USA 1995)

From the Publisher:
THE WOMAN UNDER THE PIER
Picture Salmon Bay: an isolated, run-down northern California village, home to an ide fleet of fishing boats, a deserted amuse ment park, and a handful of secretive, even hostile residents. When private investigator Sharon McCone arrives in search of one of the town's wayward daughters, the trail leads to the thriving resort of Port San Marco. McCone believes that the missing woman. a former social worker named Jane Anthony, was involved in the suspicious deaths of three terminally ill patients at an exclusive hospice.

But the elusive Jane Anthony turns up all too soon-washed up beneath a rotting pier in her Salmon Bay. McCone discovers that no one -- not her client, a reclusive photographer, nor Jane's mother, nor her hospice employers-wants to find out why she died. Then the killer strikes again, Jane's secret life comes into focus, and McCone finds that someone wants her out of the picture-permanently.

"MULLER PACKS THIS ONE WITH VIVID STREET SCENES, BREATHING, YEARNING CHARACTERS, AND A PLOT THAT WRENCHES IN THE SAME WAY AS AN OBITUARY FOR A TEENAGER." -- Chicago Sun-Times

Marcia Muller: Games to Keep the Dark Away. A Sharon McCone Mystery. Mysterious Press, ISBN: 0445408510 (July, 1995), 215 p., $5.99.

Marcia Muller: Games to Keep the Dark Away (UK 1994)

From the Publisher:
A new paperback Sharon McCone mystery, in which the detective is hired by a reclusive photographer to find his missing roommate, and when she is found dead, McCone has to confront numerous suspects.

Marcia Muller: Games to Keep the Dark Away. A Sharon McCone Mystery. The Women's Press; ISBN: 0704343681 (August, 1994), 215 p., £5.99.

Marcia Muller: Games to Keep the Dark Away (USA 1990 / 4th printing)

From the Publisher:
"Ms. Muller has received a good deal of attention for her books, and she deserves all of it." -- NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
PRIVATE EYE SHARON McCONE IS hired by the reclusive and sensational photographer Abe Snelling to find his missing roommate -- one Jane Anthony. The trail leads Sharon along the California coast, and Jane turns up all too soon -- dead beneath a rotting pier in the sleepy fishing village of Salmon Bay.

In a small town everyone is suspect, includingJane's eccentric mother, with whom she never got along. But so is Jane's girlhood friend Liz Schaff, whose concern may mask something more sinister; Allen Keller, Jane's former employer and the director of the Tidepools, an exclusive hospice with a history of suspicious deaths; and even Snelling himself -- a man catapulted to prominence by a single photo, but closemouthed about his past.

Despite static from the locals, Sharon persists in her city-girl sleuthing. At the center of a web of small-town secrets waits a maniacal killer, who could strike again at any moment. Sharon's uncovering of the key to the mystery leads to a terrifying brush with death near the icy and isolated tidepools.

"Muller packs this one with vivid street scenes, breathing, yearning characters, and a plot that wrenches in the same way as an obituary for a teen-ager." -- CHICAGO SUN-TIMES

Marcia Muller: Games to Keep the Dark Away. A Sharon McCone Mystery. Mysterious Press, ISBN: 0445408510 (March, 1990 / 4th printing, no date given), 215 p., $3.95.

Marcia Muller: Games to Keep the Dark Away (USA 1984)

From the Publisher:
Sharon McCone is fast becoming a crackerjack private eye. Back on the beat in her fourth mystery, Sharon is hired by the reclusive and sensational photographer Abe Snelling, renowned for his "realistic portraiture," to find his missing roommate -- one Jane Anthony. The trail leads Sharon up and back down the California coast, and Jane turns up all too soon -- dead beneath a rotting pier in the sleepy fishing village of Salmon Bay.

In a small town, everyone is suspect, including Jane's eccentric mother, with whom she never got along. But so is her girlhood friend, Liz Schaff, whose anxious concern seems to mask something more sinister; Allen Keller, Jane's former employer and the director of the Tidepools, an exclusive hospice with its own history of financial trouble -- and unsolved deaths; and even the reticent Snelling himself, catapulted to prominence by a single photo but closemouthed about his life, especially his past.

Despite static from the locals, Sharon persists in her city-girl sleuthing and uncovers the key to this mystery in Snelling's world-famous negatives. At the center of a web of small-town secrets waits a maniacal killer, who could strike again at any moment. Sharon's close brush with death near the icy and isolated tidepools makes for the exciting climax here, in the most accomplished of Marcia Muller's clever mysteries to date.

MARCIA MULLER is the author of four Sharon McCone mysteries. She lives in San Francisco.

Marcia Muller: Games to Keep the Dark Away. A Sharon McCone Mystery. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1984, ISBN: 0445408510, 148 p., $10.95.