In the old days, Sharon McCone was a scrappy, idealistic investigator working out of a rambling old San Francisco Victorian that housed the All Souls legal collective. In the 1990s, All Souls is a conventionally successful law firm, and McCone is on her own. These days her profile is a lot higher, thanks to a People magazine article, and her digs, both personal and professional, are decidedly more upscale. But the price of fame is higher than she knows; somewhere there's a woman with Sharon's face, Sharon's name, and a supply of Sharon's business cards. The impersonator isn't just drumming up business on her own--she's sleeping with McCone's clients and then stealing from them, destroying the agency's reputation, and threatening Sharon's family and friends as well as her livelihood. The mystery woman may even have found a way to screw up Sharon's relationship with Hy Ripinsky, her long-time lover. What's certain is that she knows the most intimate details of McCone's private as well as public life, and that wherever Sharon goes, her impersonator has somehow managed to get there first. What seemed at first like an innocent case of heroine-worship turns decidedly deadly, especially since McCone has no clue as to the mystery woman's motives, plans, or identity.

Marcia Muller almost single-handedly invented the genre of female P.I.'s, and she's in top form here, capitalizing on McCone's vulnerabilities as well as her strengths in a tightly plotted mystery with a dramatic climax, strong characters, and solid characterization. In prior installments, both Muller and McCone had started to lose their edge a bit, but fans of longstanding will be delighted by this engrossing adventure. --Jane Adams

From Publishers Weekly
That's when Sharon McCone, ace San Francisco PI, grapples with nightmares in this gripping 19th outing in 20 years (following Both Ends of the Night, 1997). Someone is impersonating Sharon, wearing her name-tag at parties, sleeping with unsuitable men, committing crimes of which the detective can be accused, erasing her phone messages, using her credit cards, even breaking into her apartment, mistreating her cat and opening a bottle of her favorite wine. The imitator seems to want to become the PI, but why? McCone's mood isn't helped when one of her assistants, Ted Smalley, starts acting weirdly, and her lover, Hy Ripinsky, seems to be pinned down in a mysterious kidnapping in Latin America and is out of touch for far too long. McCone has to work hard to stay afloat under fearful pressure, and only the loyal teamwork of her crew and her determination to run her nemesis to earth brings a hard-won release. Her new flying skills are put to good use in a nail-biting climax as her doppelg?nger steals her and Ripinsky's cherished Citabria plane . As always, Muller's straightforward, no-nonsense writing and fully dimensioned characterizations lend credibility and color to her deftly plotted tale. Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
The renowned Sharon McCone finds life and livelihood threatened by a malicious look-alike. When police detain Sharon for a crime committed by the imposter, anger spurs her to find her double. An essential purchase from the author of Both Ends of the Night (LJ 3/1/97).Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From AudioFile
San Francisco P.I. Sharon McCone is being stalked and imitated by a dangerous imposter who bears a remarkable resemblance to her. This skillful con artist "picks up" strange men, offers crime-solving services, and infiltrates almost every part of McCone's life. Jean Reed Bahle presents McCone as a tough, intelligent, and independent woman, capable of solving almost any crime but overwhelmed by this stranger's tireless campaign against her. She provides consistent character delineation through expressive tones and portrayals of distinct personalities. Her thorough organization and entertaining style allow the listener the freedom to enjoy the twists and turns. B.J.P. © AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From Kirkus Reviews
Someone is stalking Sharon McCone. Not merely stalking but impersonating. Not merely impersonating but trying to improve on her--trying to be, in Sharon's phrase, ``a better McCone.'' At first the experience is little more than annoying to the ace investigator in her 19th adventure (Both Ends of the Night, 1997, etc.). It puts her out, for instance, to learn that she wore this clingy, very chic teal gown to a party she didn't happen to attend. Soon enough, though, annoyance gives way to fury as matters escalate wildly: Sharon discovers she's gone to bed with a man shes never set eyes on; then there's the handing out of spurious McCone business cards, the unwelcome counseling of prospective McCone clients, and, worst of all, the nasty phone calls to members of the McCone family--all acts perpetrated by McCone's would-be clone. When the real Sharon is almost arrested for petty larceny, she knows she better do something proactive. It's about then that a promising idea gets needlessly sabotaged. Instead of the crisp, lean action piece Muller was well on her way to producing, she diverts to a Ross Macdonaldlike journey into the pretender's past. Bad decision. The past turns out to be lengthy, derivative, and dull. And narrative muscle converts to flab. Starts well, stumbles, never recovers. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Book Description
It starts when Sharon McCone's acquaintance tells her that someone was pretending to be McCone at a party. The mysterious woman is handing out McCone's business cards, advising clients, and picking up men for intimate encounters. The woman's physical resemblance is uncanny. Her knowledge of McCone's life is chilling.

To make matters worse, McCone's office manager, Ted Smalley, has been acting oddly. As she reluctantly decides to investigate Ted's behavior, McCone's double breaks into her house, interferes with her family, and leads McCone in a terrifying game of cat and mouse through the bizarre nightlife of San Francisco. McCone begins to uncover Ted's desperate problem, but the imposter escalates her dirty tricks. The determined PI must pull out all the stops to defeat the criminal hitting too close to home.

From the Inside Flap
The Bookcassette® format is a special recording technique developed as a means of condensing the full, unabridged audio text of a book to record it on fewer tapes. In order to listen to these tapes, you will need a cassette player with balance control to adjust left/right speaker output. Special adaptors to allow these tapes to be played on any cassette player are available through the publisher or some US retail electronics stores.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

With her agency going great guns, Sharon McCone is known as one of the best detectives in the business ... until her untarnished reputation is threatened by an impostor. A mysterious woman is handing out McCone's business cards, advising clients, and picking up men for intimate encounters. The woman's physical resemblance to McCone is uncanny. Her knowledge of McCone's life is chilling. More than professionally damaging, the situation is deeply disturbing even to the experienced McCone. Who is this strange woman and what does she want? To make matters worse, McCone's office manager, Ted Smalley, has been acting so oddly that his live-in lover asks McCone to investigate. With her own lover, Hy Ripinsky, away on business and an impersonator invading her life, McCone reluctantly agrees. Spying on Ted soon has her pondering the extent of a person's right to privacy. Then the issue is brought home when McCone's double breaks into her house, interferes with her family, and leads McCone on a terrifying game of cat and mouse through the bizarre nightside of San Francisco. Just as McCone begins to uncover Ted's desperate problem the impostor escalates her dirty tricks. With her professional detachment fast giving way to blinding rage, McCone must go one on one against an enemy with a sinister motive, an insidious plan ... and the kind of violent craziness that even a seasoned investigator may not foresee - or stop in time.

FROM THE CRITICS

Susan Scribner

Many mystery fans out there will be familiar with this long-running series that helped establish the female detective genre. If you're notyou will probably still enjoy While Other People Sleep ￯﾿ﾽ Muller does a credible job of providing a sketchy background for the characters ￯﾿ﾽ but you certainly won't be sorry if you read a handful of the earlier books as well. —The Mystery Reader.com

Chicago Sun-Times

Sustains Muller's stature as virtual founder of the contemporary, hard-boiled, female private-eye genre....A plot enlivened by twists and counter-twists.

Publishers Weekly

That's when Sharon McCone, ace San Francisco PI, grapples with nightmares in this gripping 19th outing in 20 years (following Both Ends of the Night, 1997). Someone is impersonating Sharon, wearing her name-tag at parties, sleeping with unsuitable men, committing crimes of which the detective can be accused, erasing her phone messages, using her credit cards, even breaking into her apartment, mistreating her cat and opening a bottle of her favorite wine. The imitator seems to want to become the PI, but why? McCone's mood isn't helped when one of her assistants, Ted Smalley, starts acting weirdly, and her lover, Hy Ripinsky, seems to be pinned down in a mysterious kidnapping in Latin America and is out of touch for far too long. McCone has to work hard to stay afloat under fearful pressure, and only the loyal teamwork of her crew and her determination to run her nemesis to earth brings a hard-won release. Her new flying skills are put to good use in a nail-biting climax as her doppelgnger steals her and Ripinsky's cherished Citabria plane . As always, Muller's straightforward, no-nonsense writing and fully dimensioned characterizations lend credibility and color to her deftly plotted tale. (July)

Library Journal

The renowned Sharon McCone finds life and livelihood threatened by a malicious look-alike. When police detain Sharon for a crime committed by the imposter, anger spurs her to find her double. An essential purchase from the author of Both Ends of the Night.

Library Journal