Synopses & Reviews
Calling
T is for Trespass “taut, terrifying, transfixing and terrific,” USA Today went on to ask, “What does it take to write twenty novels about the same character and manage to create a fresh, genre-bending novel every time?” It’s a question worth pondering. Through twenty excursions into the dark side of the human soul, Sue Grafton has never written the same book twice. And so it is with this, her twenty-first. Once again, she breaks genre formulas, giving us a twisting, complex, surprise-filled, and totally satisfying thriller.
It’s April, 1988, a month before Kinsey Millhone’s thirty-eighth birthday, and she’s alone in her office doing 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 booze, but Michael Sutton is twenty-seven, an unemployed college dropout. Twenty-one years earlier, a four-year-old girl disappeared. A recent reference to her kidnapping has triggered a flood of memories. Sutton now believes he stumbled on her lonely burial when he was six years old. He wants Kinsey’s help in locating the child’s remains and finding the men who killed her. It’s a long shot but he’s willing to pay cash up front, and Kinsey agrees to give him one day. As her investigation unfolds, she discovers Michael Sutton has an uneasy relationship with the truth. In essence, he’s the boy who cried wolf. Is his current story true or simply one more in a long line of fabrications?
Grafton moves the narrative between the eighties and the sixties, changing points of view, building multiple subplots, and creating memorable characters. Gradually, we see how they all connect. But at the beating center of the novel is Kinsey Millhone, sharp- tongued, observant, a loner—“a heroine,” said The New York Times Book Review, “with foibles you can laugh at and faults you can forgive.”
Review
"Grafton’s alphabet thrillers just keep getting better."
USA Today "Should a contest be held to name the most credible private eye in mystery fiction, Kinsey Millhone would certainly rank at or near the top. The central figure in Sue Grafton’s long-running series conveys a verisimilitude, in both her professional and private lives, that makes most of her competitors seem like cartoons." The San Diego Union-Tribune
"Grafton, as usual, creates believable and enduring characters and a strong sense of place in her town of Santa Teresa circa 1987." Publishers Weekly
"Sue Grafton is brillant. We'd follow Kinsey Millhone anywhere." Newsday
"A tale of love gone right and wrong and every which way in between. R is for Ricochet will have fans purring contentedly." Kirkus Review
Review
"
Q Is for Quarry provides more insight into the detective's convoluted family relationships than any of Grafton's previous novels, and it's a cracking good story, as well."
—Bookpage
"Grafton weaves an intriguing story, convincing in detail and satisfying in development. Still, what lifts this above the crowd is the character of her protagonist, Kinsey Millhone, who rings true both as a detective and as a woman." —The San Diego Tribune
"Starring affable private eye Kinsey Milhone, Q is quintessential Grafton. It is so well-written that many readers might consider it one of her best." —USA Today
Review
Praise for KINSEY AND ME
"Terrific . . . The Kinsey stories and the Kit stories together open a window into Grafton's soul."—USA Today
“[An] alternately hilarious and pitch-dark new collection . . . The Millhone pieces are sparkling little gems in which the more leisurely pace of the novels is compressed into a mere 20 pages or so; that Kinsey manages to introduce herself, establish the mystery and then solve it, credibly, in such a small span of time and space is nothing short of miraculous. The odd thing is that we don't feel slighted by the relative brevity of plot or even characterization; Grafton is a master of the quick, economical bit of detail, the phrase that tells (or, better, implies) everything. . . The Kit Blue stories are the book's dark heart, its bitter aftertaste, and may come as a grim surprise to many of the author's fans, whose impression of her is of a cheerful, indomitable woman more like the wisecracking Kinsey than the haunted Kit. Of course she is both, and she shares them with us here, bravely, in equal measure. Lucky us.”—Chicago Tribune
“Brutally honest, emotionally powerful, ‘Kinsey and Me is a revelatory triumph, a dance often macabre, but also a dance of celebration choreographed by a writer whose contemplations on justice never fail to offer rich rewards for legions of readers.”—Richmond Times-Dispatch
“What could be better, while waiting for the twenty-third mystery in Graftons alphabet series, than this revelatory collection of stories featuring both Graftons alter ego, PI Kinsey Millhone, and the author herself? . . . Kinsey fanatics, sensing the coming end of the landmark series, will be thrilled to read this nonalphabetic extra.”—Booklist (starred review)
"Piercingly sensitive."—Kirkus
"Provides moving and surprising insights into the woman behind the bestsellers . . . fans will admire Grafton's impressive output and feisty fictional detective all the more knowing the challenging beginnings from which both grew."—Publishers Weekly
"It's a pleasure just to be in Kinsey's company as she refreshes the formula conventions with her snappy wit and candid opinions."—Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review
Praise for Sue Grafton
“After three decades Graftons iconic detective remains a quirky delight. With the help of McDonalds pit stops and her single no-wrinkle black dress, Kinsey is sure to keep up the good fight through W, X, Y and Z—taking punches for the little guys and keeping the bad ones at bay.”—People
“As Grafton nears the end of this series (only four more to go, and yes, were counting), she seems to be making it harder for Kinsey to hold on to her values and maintain her independence. Were still in the 1980s here (Kinsey turns 38 on May 5, 1988, and receives two black eyes and a broken nose for a present), which means society is becoming increasingly cutthroat. But for now, its still possible for a resourceful woman to use her righteous anger on behalf of people who cant fight for themselves.”—The New York Times Book Review
"Mesmerizing . . . U is for Undertow makes me wish there were more than 26 letters at her disposal…. In U is for Undertow, Grafton not only once again flaunts her mystery-writing chops but also proves herself to be a discerning social chronicler of the turbulent decade that ushered gal gumshoes like Millhone into the forefront of American detective fiction.”—NPR's Fresh Air
"Just beneath the extroverted mask she presents at bookstore appearances is the deeply contemplative writer still determined to stretch her chops and chart territory that removes any semblance of a comfort zone. Rather than rest on her laurels, Grafton does the exact opposite.”—Los Angeles Times
"Milhone's complexity is mirrored by the novels that document her cases: books that nestle comfortably within the mystery genre even as they prod and push its contours."—The Wall Street Journal
Review
Praise for KINSEY AND ME
“Brutally honest, emotionally powerful, ‘Kinsey and Me is a revelatory triumph, a dance often macabre, but also a dance of celebration choreographed by a writer whose contemplations on justice never fail to offer rich rewards for legions of readers.”—Richmond Times-Dispatch
“[An] alternately hilarious and pitch-dark new collection . . . The Millhone pieces are sparkling little gems in which the more leisurely pace of the novels is compressed into a mere 20 pages or so; that Kinsey manages to introduce herself, establish the mystery and then solve it, credibly, in such a small span of time and space is nothing short of miraculous. The odd thing is that we don't feel slighted by the relative brevity of plot or even characterization; Grafton is a master of the quick, economical bit of detail, the phrase that tells (or, better, implies) everything. . . The Kit Blue stories are the book's dark heart, its bitter aftertaste, and may come as a grim surprise to many of the author's fans, whose impression of her is of a cheerful, indomitable woman more like the wisecracking Kinsey than the haunted Kit. Of course she is both, and she shares them with us here, bravely, in equal measure. Lucky us.”—Chicago Tribune
“Sue Graftons most insightful and revealing book to date is arguably ‘Kinsey and Me, . . . The catharsis of ‘Kinsey and Me is Graftons gift to her readers, who see that she is Kit Blue and Kinsey Milhone as well as a writer who, in creating both characters, has accepted and also transcended herself. In identifying with Kit and Kinsey and Sue Grafton too, readers can better negotiate their own imperfect lives with humor and courage and strength.”—The Courier-Journal
"Terrific . . . The Kinsey stories and the Kit stories together open a window into Grafton's soul."—USA Today
“What could be better, while waiting for the twenty-third mystery in Graftons alphabet series, than this revelatory collection of stories featuring both Graftons alter ego, PI Kinsey Millhone, and the author herself? . . . Kinsey fanatics, sensing the coming end of the landmark series, will be thrilled to read this nonalphabetic extra.”—Booklist (starred review)
“Provides moving and surprising insights into the woman behind the bestsellers…fans will admire Graftons impressive output and feisty fictional detective all the more knowing the challenging beginnings from which both grew.”—Publishers Weekly
“Piercingly sensitive.”—Kirkus
"It's a pleasure just to be in Kinsey's company as she refreshes the formula conventions with her snappy wit and candid opinions."—Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review
Review
“TERRIFIC.”—
USA Today “Nine crisply plotted Millhone tales, each with a clever hook…[and] moving and surprising insights into the woman behind the bestsellers.”—Publishers Weekly
“[A] triumph.”—Richmond Times-Dispatch
“Beyond question the most likeable of all private eyes.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Its a pleasure just to be in Kinseys company as she refreshes the formula conventions with her snappy wit and candid opinions.”—The New York Times Book Review
Review
Praise for Sue Grafton
“After three decades Graftons iconic detective remains a quirky delight. With the help of McDonalds pit stops and her single no-wrinkle black dress, Kinsey is sure to keep up the good fight through W, X, Y and Z—taking punches for the little guys and keeping the bad ones at bay.” —People
“Millhones complexity is mirrored by the novels that document her cases: books that nestle comfortably within the mystery genre even as they push and prod its contours.”—The Wall Street Journal
“Ive come to believe that Grafton is not only the most talented woman writing crime fiction today but also that regardless of gender, her Millhone books are among the five or six best series any American has ever written.”—The Washington Post
“Grafton purposively begins with a standard situation . . . and then sets about breaking every cardinal rule of the mystery novel.”—The Los Angeles Times
Review
Praise for W IS FOR WASTED
“Grafton is a writer of many strengths—crisp characterizations, deft plotting, and eloquent dialogue among them—and she has kept her long-running alphabet mystery series fresh and each new release more welcome than the last. Her greatest skill may be the way she melds disparate, unwieldy, often difficult subjects into a cohesive whole that satisfies as both entertainment and art. It's one thing to write a bestseller (or 23), but quite another to do so while addressing larger societal ills. Achieve both, and you reach the pinnacle of the profession—as Grafton has. Her work is layered, textural, sensate—ingenious and satisfying in any genre. . . Lesser authors churn books out; Grafton continues to knock them out of the park.”—Louisville Courier-Journal
“‘W is for Wasted is further proof - as if it were needed - of Graftons immense talent. And her ability to give equal weight to the story of the detective and the detective story sets her apart in the world of crime fiction.” --Richmond Times-Dispatch
“Kinsey Millhone, the well-nigh immortal sleuth in this enduring series, still has time to play her rebel role simply by living a spartan existence in a world of greedy narcissists…How sweet it is to see the California private eye back in her garage apartment…Its also fun to watch her at work, taking notes on index cards, typing reports on a Smith-Corona and heres what really matters—communicating with people face-to-face.” --New York Times Book Review
“Involving, amusing and fast-paced.”—The Wall Street Journal
“Nearing the conclusion of this celebrated series, Grafton continues to shape Millhones character, toughened by circumstance but still both understanding and forgiving.”—Booklist
“Grafton has lost none of her ability to bring her character vividly to life: Kinsey is as witty and engaging as ever, although somewhat more subdued and thoughtful owing to the emotionally charged tasks she has to perform. As Grafton nears the end of her long-running alphabet series, readers of mystery and suspense and Graftons many fans will delight in and savor this latest addition.”—Library Journal (starred review)
Praise for Sue Grafton
“After three decades Graftons iconic detective remains a quirky delight. With the help of McDonalds pit stops and her single no-wrinkle black dress, Kinsey is sure to keep up the good fight through W, X, Y and Z—taking punches for the little guys and keeping the bad ones at bay.” —People
“Millhones complexity is mirrored by the novels that document her cases: books that nestle comfortably within the mystery genre even as they push and prod its contours.”—The Wall Street Journal
“Ive come to believe that Grafton is not only the most talented woman writing crime fiction today but also that regardless of gender, her Millhone books are among the five or six best series any American has ever written.”—The Washington Post
“Grafton purposively begins with a standard situation . . . and then sets about breaking every cardinal rule of the mystery novel.”—The Los Angeles Times
Synopsis
Reba Lafferty was a daughter of privilege. Abandoned by her rebellious mother when she was an infant, she was the only child of a rich man already in his mid-fifties when she was born, and her adoring father thoroughly spoiled her. Now, at thirty-two, having had many scrapes with the law, she is about to be released on probation from the California Institution for Women, having served twenty-two months of a four-year sentence for embezzlement. Though Nord Lafferty could deny his daughter nothing, he wasn’t there for her when she was brought up on this charge. Now he 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 niceties of her parole. Maybe 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.
R is for Ricochet. And R is for romance: love gone right, love gone wrong, and matters somewhere in between.
Synopsis
Thirty-four years ago, Violet Sullivan put on her party finery and left for the annual Fourth of July fireworks display. She was never seen again.
In the small California town of Serena Station, tongues wagged. Some said she'd run off with a lover. Some said she was murdered by her husband.
But for the not-quite-seven-year-old daughter Daisy she left behind, Violet's absence has never been explained or forgotten.
Now, thirty-four years later, she wants the solace of closure.
In S is for Silence, Kinsey Millhone's nineteenth excursion into the world of suspense and misadventure, S is for surprises as Sue Grafton takes a whole new approach to telling the tale. And S is for superb: Kinsey and Grafton at their best.
Synopsis
tres¥pass \'trespes\ n: a transgression of law involving one's obligations to God or to one's neighbor; a violation of moral law; an offense; a sin
-Webster's New International Dictionary, Second Edition, Unabridged
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.
Synopsis
Quarry, n. An open excavation.
Quarry, v. Transitive: To dig or take from. Intransitive: To delve into.
Quarry, n. An object pursued or hunted; prey.
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.
Synopsis
A spiderweb of dangerous relationships lies at the heart of V is for Vengeance, Sue Grafton's daring new Kinsey Millhone novel.
A woman with a murky past who kills herself-or was it murder? A spoiled kid awash in gambling debt who thinks he can beat the system. A lovely woman whose life is about to splinter into a thousand fragments. A professional shoplifting ring working for the Mob, racking up millions from stolen goods. A wandering husband, rich and ruthless. A dirty cop so entrenched on the force he is immune to exposure. A sinister gangster, conscienceless and brutal. A lonely widower mourning the death of his lover, desperate for answers, which may be worse than the pain of his loss. A private detective, Kinsey Millhone, whose thirty-eighth-birthday gift is a punch in the face that leaves her with two black eyes and a busted nose.
And an elegant and powerful businessman whose dealings are definitely outside the law: the magus at the center of the web.
V: Victim. Violence. Vengeance.
Synopsis
She's every lover's feisty girlfriend.
She's every father's courageous daughter.
She's every woman's tough, vulnerable, and spirited alter ego.
She's Kinsey Millhone, familiar to millions of readers around the globe, and she's back in full stride in P is for Peril, her latest venture into the darker side of the human soul. Mordant, mocking, and deceptively low-key, hers is a voice we know we can trust, from a character we've come to love.
Through fifteen novels, Sue Grafton has gone from strength to strength, never writing the same book twice. So it's no surprise that she has taken on new territory in her sixteenth, this time entering the world of noir. It's a world cast in shades of black amid shafts of steel and silver, a shadow land in which the mysterious disappearance of a prominent physician leads Kinsey into a danger-filled maze of duplicity and double-dealing as she taps into the intricacies of a cunning Medicare fraud.
P is for Peril: the novel in which Millhone stakes her life on a thin thread of intuition because the facts glint elusively out of reach and only guesses offer any shot at the truth.
"Unlike many detective series, Grafton's seems only to get better each time out," wrote Entertainment Weekly, and P is for Peril is a case in point. Pushing herself, reaching further with each new book, Sue Grafton delivers every time.
Synopsis
In 1982, Sue Grafton introduced us to Kinsey Millhone. Thirty years later, Kinsey is an established international icon and Sue, a number-one bestselling author. To mark this anniversary year, Sue has given us stories that reveal Kinsey’s origins and Sue’s past. “I've come to believe that Grafton is not only the most talented woman writing crime fiction today but also that, regardless of gender, her Millhone books are among the five or six best series any American has ever written.”—Patrick Anderson, The Washington Post
Kinsey and Me has two parts: The nine Kinsey stories (1986-93), each a gem of detection; and the And Me stories, written in the decade after Grafton's mother died. Together, they show just how much of Kinsey is a distillation of her creator’s past even as they reveal a child who, free of parental interventions, read everything and roamed everywhere. But the dark side of such freedom was that very parental distance.
The same feisty voice and witty apercus readers fell in love with in A Is for Alibi permeate the Kinsey stories. Those in the And Me section trace a remarkable voyage, from anger to understanding, from pain to forgiveness. They take us into a troubled family, dysfunctional as most families are, each in their own way, but Grafton’s telling is sensitive, delicate, and ultimately, loving. Enriching the way we see Kinsey and know Sue, these stories are deeply affecting.
Synopsis
In 1982, Sue Grafton introduced Kinsey Millhone. Today, Kinsey is an icon of detective fiction and her creator is at the top of her form. This collection is both a look at Sue Graftons own early life in the guise of the character Kit Blue, and a fascinating glimpse of Kinsey Millhone in nine tales featuring the spunkiest, funniest, and most engaging private investigator [in] the entire detective novel genre.”Entertainment Weekly
Synopsis
Of the #1 New York Timesbestselling Kinsey Millhone series, NPR said, Makes me wish there were more than 26 letters.”
Two dead men changed the course of my life that fall. One of them I knew and the other Id never laid eyes on until I saw him in the morgue.
The first was a local PI of suspect reputation. Hed been gunned down near the beach at Santa Teresa. It looked like a robbery gone bad. The other was on the beach six weeks later. Hed been sleeping rough. Probably homeless. No identification. A slip of paper with Millhones name and number was in his pants pocket. The coroner asked her to come to the morgue to see if she could ID him.
Two seemingly unrelated deaths, one a murder, the other apparently of natural causes.
But as Kinsey digs deeper into the mystery of the John Doe, some very strange linkages begin to emerge. And before long at least one aspect is solved as Kinsey literally finds the key to his identity. And just like that,” she says, the lid to Pandoras box flew open. It would take me another day before I understood how many imps had been freed, but for the moment, I was inordinately pleased with myself.”
In this multilayered tale, the surfaces seem clear, but the underpinnings are full of betrayals, misunderstandings, and outright murderous fraud. And Kinsey, through no fault of her own, is thoroughly compromised.
W is for . . . wanderer . . . worthless . . . wronged . . .
W is for wasted.
About the Author
New York Times bestselling author Sue Grafton is published in 28 countries and 26 languagesincluding Estonian, Bulgarian, and Indonesian. Books in her alphabet series, begun in 1982, are international bestsellers with readership in the millions. And like Raymond Chandler, Ross Macdonald, Robert Parker, and John D. MacDonaldthe best of her breedSue Grafton has earned new respect for the mystery form. Her readers appreciate her buoyant style, her eye for detail, her deft hand with character, her acute social observances, and her abundant storytelling talents.
Sue divides her time between Montecito, California and Louisville, Kentucky, where she was born and raised. She has three children and two grandchildren. Grafton has been married to Steve Humphrey for more than twenty years. She loves cats, gardens, and good cuisine.