This book in the Sharon McCone series by Marsha Muller is an old one; I have a book club edition from 1995. However, it was perfect for reading during a heat wave. I love Sharon McCone. She's gutsy, but worries about her courage, is down to earth, and really cares about people. Muller's stories are tight yet detailed, full of wonderfully described scenery yet stays on point, and she lets Sharon accept help when necessary but also lets her solve things on her own when she can. In other words, McCone is one smart cookie but not to proud to accept help.This story involves the issue of diplomatic immunity and how it is abused by some countries. Of course, Muller makes up a country for an embassy, but it all sounds very real. In this case, McCone reluctantly signs on for a contract job with RKI, the company Hy, her lover, partially owns and works for. She doesn't really approve of RKI's way of doing things, but she needs the information only they can get, so when Hy's partner offers to work with her on locating a character based on the Unibomber, she takes him up on it. Her motive for continuing in a dangerous mission is to protect an innocent but clever nine-year-old girl.
The story goes from California to the Caribbean and back again. The book is a page turner and although I suspected who the bad guy was, I wasn't real sure until nearly the end. If you've missed this one, I highly recommend it. Good beach reading!
