Point Deception: Summary and book reviews of Point Deception by Marcia Muller, plus links to an excerpt from Point Deception and a biography of Marcia Muller.
Point Deception
by Marcia Muller
Hardcover: Jul 2001,
320 pages.
Paperback: Apr 2002,
368 pages.
Marcia Muller created one of the first modern female detectives in the memorable Sharon McCone over two decades ago. Now, in a major departure from her critically acclaimed series, she introduces us to a new heroine, one who wears a badge and a gun, in a dark, edgy thriller that is complex and relentlessly chilling.
Rhoda Swift, Sheriff's Deputy in California's Soledad County, lives with her haunting dreams of an unsolved mass murder thirteen years earlier. In a remote spot on the rocky Pacific coast two families were found riddled with bullets. Two children lay among the dead. And rookie Rhoda Swift was first at the scene. Unjustly blamed for losing the blood samples that might have cracked the case, Rhoda watched her reputation and marriage crumble. It's taken her all this time to prove herself a damn good cop. But another death is about to shake Rhoda's world. The body of a young woman, pretty in a way that says trouble, is found in the sea off Point Deception. Coming almost on the anniversary of the massacre, the new killing revives a community's fears and suspicions that a monster still walks among them. Further stirring the brew is Guy Newberry, a bestselling New York author and journalist determined to write about the unsolved crime and its dark legacy.
Soon Newberry's digging is dividing a town between those who want the truth and those who want to forget it. Like an incendiary device, the new Point Deception murder is inflaming memories and strong feelings for both Rhoda and Newberry, a man with secrets of his own. They cautiously join forces during the investigation, sharing leads and troubling conclusions.
What they are about to uncover will cut close to the bone for Deputy Sheriff Rhoda Swift, testing her as a cop and a woman...and forcing her to face how far she is willing to go for justice. Or for love.
Publishers Weekly
Muller's circle of secondary characters is wide and deep, but most readers will come away from this one humming the scenery instead of the plot.... Lots of McCone fans should be drawn to their favorite author's first stand-alone mystery.
Booklist
This is a page-turner of the highest quality, fueled by a well-constructed, suspenseful plot. Muller addresses the issue of domestic violence with sensitivity and insight, and, as always, her take on human relationships reflects complexity and feeling.
Library Journal
In addition to increasing plot complexity, she maintains her ability to develop strong characters that readers care about.
Recent Reader Reviews
Rated of 5
by Jim Gilliam The First Point Deception I discovered this book, or rather my publisher did when he did a title search prior to publishing my first novel also titled Point Deception. By way of explanation Muller's book is about a geographical location (crime scene) and its inhabitants and... Read More
Tanenbaum delivers his grittiest, most ethically challenging thriller yet, as New York chief assistant district attorney Butch Karp fights for his family in the wilds of West Virginia's coal mining country.
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A bold, mesmerizing novel about the woman known as "Typhoid Mary," the first known healthy carrier of typhoid fever in the burgeoning metropolis of early twentieth century New York.
Z, the novel about the life of Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald is at points charming and; like another reviewer, I kept thinking of the movie, "Midnight...
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Although heavy on the scientific details, which slowed down the story for me (OK, I admit, I was one of those liberal arts majors who skipped out on...
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Loved this book. Magical, quirky, enchanting I could go on. All books do not have to be literary fiction, sometimes it is just so comforting to read...
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British Parliament asks Amazon to clarify why it pays $9 million in income tax on $23 billion of UK sales.(May 20 2013) Amazon will be called back to give further evidence to members of the British Parliament "to clarify how its activities in the U.K. justify its low corporate...
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