An enjoyable mystery, with an appealing first-person protagonist, and well-described Western setting, which suffers slightly from telegraphing the solution about half-way through the book.
Reviewed by David on August 24, 2003
Genre: Mystery (Private Investigator)
Synopsis: This is an unabridged recording of Where Echoes Live.
Sharon McCone is a private investigator for a legal cooperative. One of the members is an environmental activist, and hires McCone to investigate unusual occurences in an tiny desert town, the site of an old mining community.
A modern mining corporation wants to reopen operations, and the environmental groups and the corporation have been struggling in courts and the press.
The strange occurences rapidly escalate as a dead body is found. In addition, McCone has to contend with the environmentalist's own secrets, ornery locals, and, most of all, her own doubts and fears.
Full Review: This is a well-paced, entertaining novel. McCone herself is quite appealing, competent but limited, doing homework and methodically investigating the possibilities. Her own doubts are, for the most part occur only during lulls in the action, and do not obscure the main plot.
The only flaw was that some of the major secrets could have been guessed fairly early, and McCone's delay in their discovery seems counterintuitive.
On the whole, a pleasant book, and despite being a part in a series, one that is complete in itself, not requiring knowledge of prior books, and concluding satisfactorily without the need for sequels.
Overall: 6; Plot: 5; Characters: 6; Style: 5.5; World-building: 6; Originality: 5;
Copyright date 1991, Books on Tape, 2000, Audio cassette, 7 cassettes
Order from: Books on Tape