Marcia Muller: Dead Midnight (USA 2008)

From the Publisher:
Sharon McCone has decided to throw herself into work so she can get past her brother's suicide, but the wrongful-death suit she is working on hits too close to home. It's a civil case in which the family of a young 'zine employee claims his suicide was the result of his company's treatment of him. In his final journal entry, Roger Nagasawa describes his fatal plunge from the San Francisco Bridge as being "swept away from sadness." With the help of her friend, J.D. Smith, McCone investigates the InSite offices and soon learns of its publisher's less-than-professional activities. She also learns that Roger had been afraid for his life since he was a witness to computer espionage. Faced with the death of her friend, Smith, and the sudden disappearance of Roger's associate, McCone must keep one step ahead of the game and solve this mystery -- or else become the next victim.

Marcia Muller: Dead Midnight. A Sharon McCone Mystery. Grand Central Publishing, ISBN: 9780446549882 (November, 2008), eBook, 435 KB (ca. 300 p.), $9.99.

Marcia Muller: Dead Midnight (USA 2003)

From the Publisher:
Stretching flat across the water, the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge is a popular spot... for jumpers. Roger Nagasawa, a brilliant employee at a popular Internet magazine, is its latest "suicide" and veteran P. I. Sharon McCone's new case. But instead of getting closure for his family, McCone uncovers more questions than answers: Roger's stark apartment... his aloof parents, who had wanted an investigation and now refuse to talk... a cutthroat workplace... a cache of secrets in a shady waterfront deal. It's a puzzle within a puzzle with a deadly game at its heart. For the elusive, twisted trail is about to circle back into Sharon McCone's own life-and bring the danger home.

Marcia Muller: Dead Midnight. A Sharon McCone Mystery. Warner Books, ISBN: 9780446612524 (July, 2003), 317 p., $7.50.

Marcia Muller: Dead Midnight (USA 2002)

From the Publisher:
Sharon McCone, who has faced and survived many personal crises, must endure another long, dark journey after her brother Joey takes his own life. Reeling from the anguish and the perplexing reasons for Joey's suicide, Sharon tries to escape through work.

On the surface, the new case seems straight-forward enough. Yet as the keen private investigator knows, it's often what's hiding under the surface that's deadly. McCone is asked to investigate another suicide, this one of Roger Nagasawa, a talented young man who worked for an online magazine that chronicled the new and hip in the Bay area. Even with millions of dollars in venture capital backing it, Insite is failing and the 'zine's management has become so cutthroat that Roger evidently jumped off the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge rather than face another day at the office. Or did something sinister behind the scenes prod him to take the plunge?

The investigation hits achingly close to home as McCone struggles to answer the questions that plague Roger's grieving family. With her emotions sandblasted and her reactions slowed, she fails to recognize the peril that surrounds her as the case takes a violent twist.

From Rogers empty apartment to an eerie abandoned resort on the San Francisco waterfront, McCone is caught in a deadly battle to uncover the truth. And to survive, she must confront the many painful secrets of her own life... and a killer whose heart is as black as the moonless bay.

Marcia Muller: Dead Midnight. A Sharon McCone Mystery. Mysterious Press, ISBN: 089296765X (June, 2002), 289 p., $24.95.