Leave a Message for Willie

A Sharon McCone Mystery, Book 5

By: Marcia Muller

Narrated by: Laura Hicks

Amid the shifting world of San Francisco flea markets, shady vendors sell junk, precious antiques, and stolen goods side by side. Somewhere in the mix, a priceless collection of sacred Torah scrolls is gathering dust - and attracting a group of fanatical killers. When private investigator Sharon McCone helps one flea market kingpin fend off a stalker, she's drawn into the netherworld of deal-making and thievery, a dangerous milieu seldom seen by outsiders.

For her client Willie Whelan, the sidewalk sales are a game: Trick the customer, outsell the competition, and stay one step ahead of the cops. But Willie's enemies have something more sinister in mind - a conspiracy so heinous it threatens the religious artifacts, Willie's freedom, and McCone's life.

©1984 The Pronzini-Muller Family Trust (P)2012 AudioGO Ltd.

First published in 1984

The stories in this series are good, solid mysteries.

That said, they certainly reflect the time they were written in. I lived in San Francisco at that time and the descriptions here bring back memories of the city I knew, sometimes pleasant and sometimes not.

They are also rife with concepts that were prevalent at the time, but which now feel blatantly racist, sexist, fatphobic and homophobic. I can look at that and feel relieved that in 40 years society has progressed to a place where these things are not acceptable to many people, but want to give fair warning to others who may not want to purchase this kind of content.

Sharon McCone Mystery No. 5.

This is no. 5 in the Sharon McCone series. Sharon’s boss at the Legal Coop in San Francisco, sends her to the flea market to help a buddy from the Vietnam War days. Sharon is asked by Willie to find someone who is stalking him. Willie fences stolen goods, as do some of the other vendors in the flea market. Some Torah scrolls were stolen in the flea market. As Sharon attempts to help Willie, she finds herself in danger from what appears to be a para-military group. Another in the early part of the series. Although not as well written as later books in the series, I consider the early ones the best.