Edwin of the Iron Shoes

By: Marcia Muller

Narrated by: Laura Hicks

It's Sharon McCone's first case as staff investigator for All Souls Legal Cooperative. She knows nothing about antiques, yet she has an affection for Salem Street with its charming mix of antique and curio shops. Now elderly dealer Joan Albritton has been found dead, stabbed with an antique dagger. Her neighbors are shocked. Recurring vandalism has them frightened. Ferreting out the facts will take Sharon from the chaotic jumble of the junk dealer's establishment to a museum where San Francisco's most elegant socialites gather.

©1977 The Pronzini-Muller Family Trust. All rights reserved. (P)2011 AudioGO

Really enjoyed the story

Particularly liked all of the characters, and the great relationships. It’s lightweight but entertaining. Very much in the genre of Kinsey Millhone. Anyone who enjoys those novels will definitely enjoy this!

The Beginning of a Long Run

This is the first of over thirty Sharon McCone mysteries and was a pretty good first novel. The story unfolds quickly and in such a way that doesn't leave you shaking your head and cursing the author for presuming that you're so dim you'll suspend your belief that far from reality. There are some large holes in the narrative and McCone falling for the detective Greg Marcus seems a long shot; there is very little about him that seems at all likable. If it's your goal to have the entire series this is a good place to start. If you want to ascertain if the works of Marcia Muller are for you; the best of the McCone mysteries start further along in the series.

The first McCone and still the best

What made the experience of listening to Edwin of the Iron Shoes the most enjoyable?

Reliving the experience of the story, which I had read when it was first published.
The narrrator captures the voice very well and the story flows effortlessly.

Good detective fun

At last a real story, well told and well written.

It’s kind of a Dashiell Hammett style of storytelling which is very entertaining. It’s also refreshing to have an author who knows her way around the English language, including know a pronoun as object of a preposition even in a compound object. Rare these days c

Ty for a good listen. Now onto the next in the series.

Inconsistencies In the Story

The story is just not believable. A private detective is allowed to work an active murder investigation? In a big city no less? The person who at first insists the private investigator work the case then immediately, immediately starts accusing her of being responsible because she didn’t catch vandals of earlier incidents she was investigating for them. Something comes up later which again has you scratching your head saying well why did you insist she investigate?

When you start out with just so much skepticism, it’s hard to get into the story. The writing is not bad, the scenarios are just not thoroughly thought out.