Private investigator Sharon McCone of All Souls Legal Cooperative has been hired by Abe Snelling, a reclusive San Francisco photographer. His roommate Jane Anthony has been missing for a week. Sharon heads to California’s Central Coast in search of Jane’s family and some answers to her whereabouts.
Games to Keep the Dark Away follows Sharon’s investigation. Eighteen months have passed since the events of The Cheshire Cat’s Eye. McCone’s law enforcement love interest from previous novels has apparently been dumped, though author Marcia Muller doesn’t explain why Sharon is suddenly single, but conveniently provides opportunity for her heroine to play the field.
Sharon McCone has a tendency to stumble on dead bodies wherever she goes. Games to Keep the Dark Away is no exception. There are some characters that won’t make it to the final page. Those that do become murder suspects.
This fourth installment in the popular, decades-old mystery series is good but not great. Sharon McCone seems two-dimensional and it takes some effort to like her. Games to Keep the Dark Away offers a decent plot and the promise of future adventures for McCone. For background information and a better understanding of the series, start with Edwin of the Iron Shoes.
