Marcia Muller s beloved heroine Sharon McCone is back to investigate a personal betrayal by one of her operatives that has put her business and reputation on the line. The future s looking bright for Sharon McCone and the staff of McCone Investigations-until one of the firm s operatives， Julia Rafael， is arrested for major credit card fraud. A former juvenile delinquent， Julia was a risky hire， but by all accounts had been turning her life around. Banking on her innocence， Sharon goes to work looking for the real thief-only to discover a cache of illegal merchandise stashed in Julia s apartment. Is it the damning evidence that will seal her employee s fate， or the key to a larger conspiracy? Sharon must find out the truth....or lose her firm and reputation in the process. H Muller s previous novel，Cyanide Wells， was published in Mysterious Press hardcover in 7/03， and will be released in mass market simultaneous with THE DANGEROUS HOUR. H Dead Midnight (Mysterious Press， 6/02) hit the Los Angeles Times bestseller list， winning rave reviews from the New York Times Book Review， San Francisco Chronicle， Library Journal， Publishers Weekly (starred review)， and Booklist. The mass market edition was published in 7/03. H Muller s McCone series has consistently received strong reviews from national publications， including the New York Times Book Review， USA TODAY， and the Los Angeles Times， among others. H The McCone mysteries are being developed by Spring Creek Productions and CBS-TV into a pilot for a new television series. Praise for the Sharon McCone series: Intriguing and unpredictable......One of the most consistently satisfying series in whodunit history. -San Diego Union-Tribune Muller s novels are models of thoughtful plotting and rich characterization. -Seattle Times