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LISTEN TO THE SILENCE by Marcia Muller
Mysterious Press, July 2000
When Private Detective Sharon McCone's father dies, she discovers that she was adopted. McCone is compelled to search for her Native American heritage despite her mother's anger and her adoptive siblings' fears. What she finds is an old story of betrayal and a sense of oneness with the Indian culture.
Although the adoption took place forty years earlier, McCone soon discovers that whatever motives drove it are still alive. She is plunged into a world of very current danger and adventure.
Marcia Muller does a fabulous job bridging the anglo and Indian cultures. The novel's settings range from ultra-urban San Francisco to Indian reservations in Montana. Everywhere, people seem intent on hiding something. Her parents hid her adoption. The Indians she meets seem open, but their silences reveal more than their words. Her birth-mother is run down by a hit-and-run driver before McCone can contact her leaving her silent.
LISTEN TO THE SILENCE is a well written and compelling story. McCone is a sympathetic character and the reader will root for her to discover her full family while hoping that she can somehow reconsile herself with this new knowledge. Muller uses the 'listen to the silence' technique to recapitulate the story, then drive it forward, making all of McCone's decisions sympathetic even as she throws herself into danger.
Four Stars
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