U is For Undertow (Kinsey Millhone #21) by Sue Grafton

Synopsis

It's April 1988, a month before Kinsey Millhone's thirty-eighth birthday, and she's alone in her office catching up on paperwork when a young man arrives unannounced. He has a preppy air about him and looks as if he'd be carded if he tried to buy a beer, but Michael Sutton is twenty-seven, an unemployed college dropout.

He tells her a story. More than two decades ago, a four-year-old girl disappeared, and a recent newspaper story about her kidnapping has triggered a flood of memories. Sutton now believes he stumbled on her secret burial and could identify the killers if he saw them again. He wants Kinsey's help in locating the grave and finding the men. It's way more than a long shot, but he's persistent and willing to pay cash up front. Reluctantly, Kinsey agrees to give him one day of her time.

It isn't long before she discovers Sutton has an uneasy relationship with the truth. In essence, he's the boy who cried wolf. Is his story true, or simply one more in a long line of fabrications?

Moving between the 1980s and the 1960s, and changing points of view as Kinsey pursues witnesses whose accounts often clash, Sue Grafton builds multiple subplots and memorable characters. Gradually we see how everything connects. And as always, at the heart of her fiction is Kinsey Millhone, a sharp-tongued, observant loner who never forgets that under the thin veneer of civility is often the roiling dark side of the soul.

U is For Undertow is another installment in the Kinsey Millhone series. But, if you weren't aware of that going in, I could see how it may fool you. Because it's a Kinsey Millhone novel . . . with a severe lack of Kinsey. 

This is due to the novel traveling back and forth in time between the 60's and the 80's and between points of view. You get the perspective of 4 different characters, including Kinsey. I had no idea how it was all going to come together in the end, because they all seemed like completely different stories. 

It was a strange book where a lot happened, and it was fairly long, but it didn't really go anywhere until the very end. I understand having to lay down the full background and what led up to Kinsey investigating the case of a missing child from about 20 years prior, but I just didn't care about most of it. 

I could have lived without McNally's perspective. Corso was interesting. Deboroah Unruh's was necessary to paint the story with how it played out. Had the novel just flipped back and forth between Kinsey and Jon Corso, I feel like it may have had some more life and would have been more interesting - much like for T is for Trespassing flipped between Kinsey and "Solana Rojas". And that book kept me on the edge of my seat, especially at the end. 

There were just too many peripheral characters in 'U' that I didn't care about. Some of the chapters became a chore. 

And again - there was a severe lack of Kinsey. 

3/5 stars

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T is For Trespass (Kinsey Millhone #20) by Sue Grafton

Synopsis

In what may be her most unsettling novel to date, Sue Grafton's T is for Trespass is also her most direct confrontation with the forces of evil. Beginning slowly with the day-to-day life of a private eye, Grafton suddenly shifts from the voice of Kinsey Millhone to that of Solana Rojas, introducing readers to a chilling sociopath. Rojas is not her birth name. It is an identity she cunningly stole, an identity that gives her access to private caregiving jobs. The true horror of the novel builds with excruciating tension as the reader foresees the awfulness that lies ahead. The suspense lies in whether Millhone will realize what is happening in time to intervene. Though set in the late eighties, T is for Trespass could not be more topical: identity theft; elder abuse; betrayal of trust; the breakdown in the institutions charged with caring for the weak and the dependent. It reveals a terrifying but all-too-real rip in the social fabric. Once again, Grafton opens up new territory with startling results.

Kinsey Millhone is back again! I wasn't the biggest fan of the installment prior to this one. But, T is For Trespass was definitely a wild journey that kept me turning the page! It was great to be pulled into this one after it was so hard for me to get through S. 

T is for Trespass alternated voices between Kinsey and a newcomer to the neighborhood, Solana Rojas. The book being written this way gave us, as the reader, a different insight into knowing what was happening before and while Kinsey was figuring it all out. It was an interesting way to get into the story, but it also made the whole book SO frustrating. 

I was rooting for Kinsey to figure everything out sooner rather than later. But once the ball finally got rolling, it was an intense ride. The ending of the book had me on the edge of my seat and I was actually sweating as my heart was pounding as I raced to the end. 

I don't know about you, but I always love when a book can pull me in so much that it can get me worked up like that while reading. 'T' was definitely a great rebound  from 'S', in my opinion. I had to jump right in to reading 'U' when I finished it!

5/5 Stars

Memorable Quotes: 

"In reality, the place had stimulated my hopes for an early and sudden death."

"At the end of every day, I was exhausted from having to maintain such a tight grip on myself. Fear, like any other strong emotion, is difficult to hide. Much of my energy was devoted to denying it was there." 

"I don't want to think about predators. I know they exist, but I prefer to focus on the best in human nature: compassion, generosity, a willingness to come to the aid of those in need. The sentiment may seem absurd, given our daily ration of news stories detailing thievery, assault, rape, murder, and other treacheries. To the cynics among us, I must sound like an idiot, but I do hold to the good, working wherever possible to separate the wicked from that which profits them. There will always be someone poised to take advantage of the vulnerable: the very young, the very old, and the innocent of any age. Though I know this from long experience, I refuse to feel discouraged. In my own unassuming way, I know I can make a difference. You can as well."

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S is For Silence (Kinsey Millhone #19) by Sue Grafton

Synopsis

Just after Independence Day in July 1953 Violet Sullivan, a local good time girl living in Serena Station Southern California, drives off in her brand new Chevy and is never seen again. Left behind is her young daughter, Daisy, and Violet's impetuous husband, Foley, who had been persuaded to buy his errant wife the car only days before . . .

Now, thirty-five years later, Daisy wants closure.

Reluctant to open such an old cold case Kinsey Millhone agrees to spend five days investigating, believing at first that Violet simply moved on to pastures new. But very soon it becomes clear that a lot of people shared a past with Violet, a past that some are still desperate to keep hidden. And in a town as close-knit as Serena there aren't many places to hide when things turn vicious . . .

A small tight-knit town. A woman the whole town lusted over. A mysterious disappearance. 

S is For Silence was another installment in the Kinsey Millhone series. It time hops between 1953 and "current time" (the 80's in Kinsey's world) to tell the story of Violet and Kinsey's search for her. 

This was one of those books where, despite the intriguing story, it took me forever to get through it. I don't really know why. Perhaps I didn't feel connected to the characters when the book flashed back in time. So trying to get through those chapters was a lot more tough. 

But, I did need to know what happened to Violet. And Kinsey is always interesting. So I kept pushing through. I'm glad that it wrapped up and didn't leave any questions hanging. 

Maybe not the BEST book in the whole series, but it's worth the read. 

3/5 Stars

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R is for Ricochet (Kinsey Millhone #18) by Sue Grafton

 Synopsis:

Reba Lafferty was a daughter of privilege, the only child of an adoring father. Nord Lafferty was already in his fifties when Reba was born, and he could deny her nothing. Over the years, he quietly settled her many scrapes with the law, but he wasn't there for her when she was convicted of embezzlement and sent to the California Institution for Women. Now, at thirty-two, she is about to be paroled, having served twenty-two months of a four-year sentence. Nord Lafferty wants to be sure she stays straight, stays at home and away from the drugs, the booze, the gamblers." "It seems a straightforward assignment for Kinsey: babysit Reba until she settles in, make sure she follows all the rules of her parole. Maybe all of a week's work. Nothing untoward - the woman seems remorseful and friendly. And the money is good." But life is never that simple, and Reba is out of prison less than twenty-four hours when one of her old crowd comes circling round.

Jumping back into the Kinsey Millhone world is always great. In this one, she had to deal more with someone else’s trouble rather than getting into trouble of her own!

That was something new to get used to. 

It was a fun ride, though. I don’t think this book was a stand out in the series, but it was a fun ride either way. I look forward to seeing how Kinsey’s new budding relationship grows. 

4.5 Stars

Memorable Quotes: “The basic question is this: given human nature, are any of us really capable of change? The mistakes other people make are usually patently obvious. Our own are tougher to recognize. In most cases, our path through life reflects a fundamental truth about who we are now and who we’ve been since birth. We’re optimists or pessimists, joyful or depressed, gullible or cynical, inclined to seek adventure or to avoid all risks.”

“I listened to the dial tone in a state of despair. I could see now I was being penalized for shirking my job. I should have gone in to work. The Universe keeps track of our sins and exacts devious and repugnant punishments, like dates with unknown men.”

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Q is for Quarry by Sue Grafton

Synopsis:

She was a "Jane Doe," an unidentified white female whose decomposed body was discovered near a quarry off California's Highway 1. The case fell to the Santa Teresa County Sheriff's Department, but the detectives had little to go on. The woman was young, her hands were bound with a length of wire, there were multiple stab wounds, and her throat had been slashed. After months of investigation, the murder remained unsolved.

That was eighteen years ago. Now the two men who found the body, both nearing the end of long careers in law enforcement, want one last shot at the case. Old and ill, they need someone to help with their legwork and they turn to Kinsey Millhone. They will, they tell her, find closure if they can just identify the victim. Kinsey is intrigued and agrees to the job.

But revisiting the past can be a dangerous business, and what begins with the pursuit of Jane Doe's real identity ends in a high-risk hunt for her killer.

Q is for Quarry is the first Kinsey Millhone book that didn’t completely hook me in. I don’t know what it was about this book. I did enjoy it and the story was interesting. But, it kept losing me and took me a few months to read. That could also be due to the reading slump I’ve been in lately. Maybe a bit of both.

What I didn’t know going into it was that it’s based on a true story. I wish I had known that from the start. I may have been more invested.  Sue Grafton added some details that weren’t from the real story because this is a work of fiction, but she kept the integrity of the case in tact. What’s even better is that she got involved in trying to help solve the case. All of this was added as a note at the end of the book.

You can pretty much get what the whole thing was about from the synopsis. So, I’m just going to include a link where you can read about the Jane Doe of Santa Barbara. Someone has to know who this woman is. We can only hope it’ll get solved and she will get the justice she deserves all these years later.

http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/205ufca.html

https://www.independent.com/2011/07/21/who-was-jane-doe/

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'P' is for Peril by Sue Grafton

Synopsis:

Kinsey Millhone never sees it coming. She is mired in the case of a doctor who disappeared, his angry ex-wife, and beautiful current one–a case that is full of unfinished business, unfinished homes, and people drifting in and out of their own lives. Then Kinsey gets a shock. A man she finds attractive is hiding a fatal secret–and now a whole lot of beauty, money, and lies are proving to be a fatal distraction from what Kinsey should have seen all along: a killer standing right before her eyes. . . .

Man, I don’t know what it is about this book in particular but it took me what felt like forever to get through it. I couldn’t find myself caring at all about the missing doctor or his family.

It felt more like reading about Kinsey running in circles than actually doing anything, and it was missing a lot of her wit that we are used to. It was there, it just wasn’t as strong. So, that, along with a case that I didn’t care about made it a struggle.

It started to get intriguing once we learn the twist about her new office landlords. That storyline seemed to carry it until the end as the other one was winding down.

It was an interesting book that I probably would have gotten bored with if it wasn’t a Kinsey Millhone book. It wasn’t written differently than the other, I just couldn’t make myself care about the other characters.

3/5 Stars

Memorable Quotes: “This sandwich, I confess, was the highlight of my weekend, which is what life boils down to when you’re celibate.”

“I hadn’t even realized I’d fallen asleep, except for the drooling, which I don’t ordinarily do when awake.”

“Who were these two? Maybe we were on the verge of a burglar’s jamboree, all three of us stealing files for differing but nefarious purposes.”

“Death, by its nature, reshapes the connection between family members and friends. Survivors tend to gather, using food and drink as a balm to counteract the loss. There is usually laughter. I’m not quite sure why, but I suspect it’s an integral part of the healing process, the mourner’s talisman.”

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'O' is for Outlaw by Sue Grafton

Synopsis:

Through fourteen books, fans have been fed short rations when it comes to Kinsey Millhone's past: a morsel here, a dollop there. We know of the aunt who raised her, the second husband who left her, the long-lost family up the California coast. But husband number one remained a blip on the screen until now.

The call comes on a Monday morning from a guy who scavenges defaulted storage units at auction. Last week he bought a stack. They had stuff in them—Kinsey stuff. For thirty bucks, he'll sell her the lot. Kinsey's never been one for personal possessions, but curiosity wins out and she hands over a twenty (she may be curious but she loves a bargain). What she finds amid childhood memorabilia is an old undelivered letter.

It will force her to reexamine her beliefs about the breakup of that first marriage, about the honor of that first husband, about an old unsolved murder. It will put her life in the gravest peril."O" Is for Outlaw: Kinsey's fifteenth adventure into the dark side of human nature.

Wow, okay. So I thought ‘M’ was emotional. Talk about the last paragraph of this one…. My heart hurts. But, I’m getting ahead of myself. 

We are now 15 books into Kinsey’s story, and we learned a lot about her and her past in this one. With an overall slow moving pace, it kept the book alive and interesting. The subject matter was intriguing, but it wasn’t action packed like some of the other books. At least she was in Santa Teresa for most of it – but that’s just my own personal thing if you’ve read my past reviews about the series.  

It also had two super random plot lines thrown in. They both moved the story forward, but they seemed like throw ins. First was the guy at the beginning that brought Mickey back into Kinsey’s life. His part was integral in the story, but it was over so quickly. Second was the document production at the Honky Tonk. It was just kinda shrugged off. I’m not sure it had to be there at all, but it didn’t detract from the book. 

I feel like as the series goes on, the books get more and more descriptive. I started noticing it in ‘M’, it was really evident in ‘N’, and it was still there at times in this one. Interesting little observation, but I’m curious to see if the trend continues. It also seemed like there was less dialogue in this one. Maybe that’s just compared to the last two. 

Overall, I really enjoyed learning more about Kinsey’s past and the characters that she used to interact with. I think having one book dedicated to exploring it is a great option rather than spending needless time throughout the series going through it. 

4/5 stars just because it was a little slower


Memorable Quotes: “Once in awhile a piece of old business surfaces, some item on life’s agenda you thought you’d dealt with years ago. Suddenly, it’s there again at the top of the page, competing for your attention despite the fact that you’re completely unprepared for it.”

“The truth about lying: You’re putting one over on some poor gullible dunce, which makes him appear stupid for not spotting the deception. Lying contains the same hostile elements as a practical joke in that the “victim” ends up looking foolish in his own eyes and laughable in everyone else’s. I’m willing to lie to pompous bureaucrats, when thwarted by knaves, or when all else fails, but I was having trouble lying to a man who wrote worm adventure stories for his great-grandson."

“For once my angels were in agreement. One said, Nobody’s perfect, and the other said, Amen.”

“On the one hand, I was a true law-and-order type, prissy in my judgement, outraged at those who violated the doctrines of honesty and fair play. On the other hand, I’d been known to lie through my teeth, eavesdrop, pick locks, or simply break into people’s houses, where I snooped through their possessions and took what suited me. It wasn’t nice, but I savored every single minute of my bad girl behavior. Later, I’d feel guilty, but I still couldn’t resist. I was split down the middle, my good angel sitting on one shoulder, Lucifer perched on the other."

“What is it that prompts us to reenact our unresolved issues? We revisit our wounds, constructing the past in hopes that this time we can make the ending turn out right.”

“After the rapture of love comes the wreckage, at least in my experience."

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'N' is for Noose by Sue Grafton

Synopsis:

Tom Newquist had been a detective in the Nota Lake sheriffs office --- a tough, honest cop respected by everyone. When he died suddenly, the town folk were sad but not surprised. Just shy of sixty-five. Newquist worked too hard, drank too much, and exercised too little.

Newquist's widow, Selma, didn't doubt the coroner's report. But still, she couldn't help wondering what had so bothered Tom in the last six weeks of his life. What was it that had made him prowl restlessly at night and brood constantly? Determined to help Selma find the answer, Kinsey Millhone sets up shop in Nota Lake, where she finds that looking for a needle in a haystack can draw blood --- very likely, her own ...

So, through 14 books in this series, I’ve discovered that I enjoy it the most when Kinsey is actually in Santa Teresa. Whenever she ventures out from her hometown, things tend to get weird and it doesn’t feel like the same series. It’s very comfortable when she’s at her own place and chatting with Henry. 

That said, the story was pretty interesting. There was a lot of mystery surrounding it due to the actual case as well as the people in Nota Lake writing Kinsey off and treating her as an outsider. Everything was so off and it made everything feel weird, but not uncomfortable to the point where you couldn’t keep reading.

One thing about this one is that it actually really got my heart racing near the end. Sort of a spoiler – Kinsey gets drugged. The description of what she’s going through and how she’s experiencing the events around her was written so well that you could actually feel it as you read along. 

Kinsey is such a great novel protagonist, and this book is no different. She’s strong, smart, and makes you laugh. If you haven’t started this series, go back to ‘A’ and start from the beginning!

4/5 Stars. It’s mostly just my preference for Kinsey being in Santa Teresa and not some weird mountain town. The story was very interesting. 

Memorable Quotes: “If we understood the consequences of any given action, we could exercise discretion, thus restructuring our fate. Time, of course, only runs in one direction, and it seems to do so in an orderly progression. Here in the blank and stony present, we’re shielded from the knowledge of the dangers that await us, protected from future horrors through blind innocence.”

“Given my nature, what scared me was the possibility of emotional claustrophobia, not physical danger.”

“I’m not fond of mountains, in part because I have so little interest in winter sports, especially those requiring expensive equipment. I avoid activities associated with speed, cold, and heights, and any that involve the danger of breaking significant body parts. As fun as it sounds, it’s never appealed to me. The ocean is another matter, and while I can spend brief periods in land-locked locations, I’m never as happy as I am when I’m close to deep water. Please understand, I don’t go in the water, because there are all manner of biting, stinging, tentacles, pincered, slimy things down there, but I like to look at the water and spend time in its immense, ever-changing presence. For one thing, I find it therapeutic to consider all the creatures not devouring me at any given moment.”

“I don’t want someone across the table from me while I’m eating breakfast. I don’t want to share the newspaper and I don’t want to talk to anyone at the end of the day. If I were interested in that shit, I’d be married again by now and put a permanent end to all the peace and quiet.”

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‘M’ is for Malice by Sue Grafton

Synopsis:

"M" is for money. Lots of it. "M" is for Malek Construction, the $40 million company that grew out of modest soil to become one of the big three in California construction, one of the few still in family hands.

"M" is for the Malek family: four sons now nearing middle age who stand to inherit a fortune--four men with very different outlooks, temperaments, and needs, linked only by blood and money. Eighteen years ago, one of them--angry, troubled, and in trouble--went missing.

"M" is for Millhone, hired to trace that missing black sheep brother.

"M" is for memories, none of them happy. The bitter memories of an embattled family. This prodigal son will find no welcome at his family's table. "M" is for malice.

And in brutal consequence, "M" is for murder, the all-too-common outcome of familial hatreds.

"M" is for malice . . . and malice kills.

The 13th book in the Kinsey Millhone series. I think I can say she is my favorite novel protagonist. It’s a hard competition between her and Lindsay Boxer. I think it switches back and forth depending on the series I’m reading. 

The alphabet series just has a way of making me chuckle at least a few times during every book while also somehow going into really deep topics and hitting and emotional spot within me. 

‘M’ is for Malice hit that spot harder than most of the series except for maybe ‘D’. There was just something about the way that Kinsey related to Guy and their banter that made me emotional. Seeing how the story played out made me even almost tear up at one point. 

It was kind of a nice change of pace. I love when books can make me feel something like that. The last one to make me full on sob was The Book Thief. I’m not sure another one will make me cry like that, but I can’t rule that out for sure. It’s possible that I will when I get to the end of this series just because it’ll be over. 

Aside from the emotional aspect, ‘M’ is for Malice was a solid addition to the series. It was interesting because Kinsey didn’t really have to be her typical physical badass self, it was more about her intelligence and mental skills than her physical ones. She had to deal with a pretty ridiculous family and still came out on top. 

Overall, I enjoyed the book a lot. I got through it very quickly. I look forward to N. It was nice to see the return of Dietz as well. 

5/5 Stars

Memorable Quotes: “My caution was like a wall I’d built to keep me safe. But safety is an illusion and the danger of feeling too much is no worse than the danger of being numb.”

“I could feel my eyes cross while I tried controlling my impatience. I knew I’d be smarter to keep my mouth shut, but I’ve never been good at keeping my opinions to myself.“

“The tears I wept for him then were the same tears I’d wept for everyone I’d ever loved. My parents, my aunt. I had never said good-bye to them, either, but it was time to take care of it. I said a prayer for the dead, opening the door so all the ghosts could move on. I gathered them up like the petals of a flower and released them in the wind. What’s done is done. What is written is written. Their work is finished. Ours is yet to do.”

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‘K’ Is For Killer by Sue Grafton

Synopsis:

Lorna Kepler was beautiful and willful, a loner who couldn't resist flirting with danger. Maybe that's what killed her.

Her death had raised a host of tough questions. The cops suspected homicide, but they could find neither motive nor suspect. Even the means were mysterious: Lorna's body was so badly decomposed when it was discovered that they couldn't be certain she hadn't died of natural causes. In the way of overworked cops everywhere, the case was gradually shifted to the back burner and became another unsolved file.

Only Lorna's mother kept it alive, consumed by the certainty that somebody out there had gotten away with murder.

In the ten months since her daughter's death, Janice Kepler had joined a support group, trying to come to terms with her loss and her anger. It wasn't helping. And so, leaving a session one evening and noticing a light on in the offices of Millhone Investigations, she knocked on the door.

In answering that knock, Kinsey Millhone is pulled into the netherworld of unavenged murder, where only a pact with the devil will satisfy the restless ghosts of the victims and give release to the living they have left behind.

I just need to mention how much I love Kinsey as a character. I feel like I identify with her and her sassiness and general inability to deal with people’s nonsense. She makes me laugh every time I read one of the books. She also has actual deep feeling though, and those were on display in this book with Danielle. It is a shame we will not be able to know whether they could develop a deeper friendship or not.

This was one of those mystery books were everyone seems like they are guilty. They are all a little bit off, and I was almost positive that everyone was guilty at one point. I am extremely dissatisfied with how this novel closed though. I feel like there was no real conclusion and that it wasn’t actually solved.

I wish we would have figured out more about the motive of the murder, more about the relationships that Lorna had with people, and who the heck she was getting married to. There were a lot of things that I wanted more of, but I guess it would have been too long of a book at that point.

Reading about Kinsey barely sleeping and then messing up her sleeping schedule was also hilarious and I felt myself identifying with her more.

If we could  have gotten more of a resolution and a deeper dive into the relationships, this book would get a full 5-star rating.

3/5 Stars

Memorable Quotes: "I'm the current ranking expert at reading upside down and seldom hesitate to insert myself into matters that are not my concern."

“Sometimes anxiety and caffeine have the same effect.”

“I could feel my stomach lurch at the thought of more coffee. The cups I’d consumed were already making my brain vibrate like an out-of-balance washing machine.”

“I fell asleep wondering if there was a cause-and-effect relationship between memory loss and abstinence. Apparently so, as that was the last thing I was aware of for the next four hours.”

“If I’d gone to bed at nine or even ten o’clock, I could have slept through the night. But now my sleep permit had reached its expiration point. Having stayed awake this long, I was consigned to further wakefulness.”

“’I didn’t actually say that, but if I did, I lied. I’m really a wretched person. I’m sorry you didn’t understand that. Now get out of my car’”

“My phone rang at noon. I’d been awake for an hour but unwilling to stir. Having completed my transmigration into the nocturnal realms, I found the notion of getting up any time before two repugnant.”

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