What I ask myself even now is whether I should have picked up the truth any faster than I did, which is to say not fast enough. In hindsight, I marvel at how clueless I was. I’m going to miss Kinsey, but I’ll put the last book off for a bit and string out the goodbyes.X is the New York Times number 1 bestseller and thrilling, twenty-fourth book in the Kinsey Millhone Alphabet series from Sue Grafton. And each story line’s suspense is relatively strong. It’s not simple to tell the good guys and bad guys apart. Grafton’s villians this time are hidden in corners. She debates the level of truth telling necessary, and somehow that just amuses me. I especially appreciate her internal dialogue before her witness interviews.

Her investigative methods are pretty straightforward, and the running commentary about every small detail pulls the story along. Kinsey is still uniquely prickly, but she whines less than in the last book. My conclusionsĪll in all, this was a pleasing outing in Santa Teresa. He’s trying to solve the mystery of a too-high water bill, especially considering the water conservation techniques he’s put in place. Kinsey’s charming octogenarian landlord Henry is still spry. She bounces us back and forth between the two plot lines, and throws in a neighborhood mystery as well. Grafton often weaves a fairly complex story web, and X is no exception. There’s also the small matter of helping a new client find the son she put up for adoption many years before. He left some mysterious materials in a box, and Kinsey decides to follow the trail and possibly close the case. Ruth’s husband Pete, now deceased, was also a private investigator. She’s mostly killing time between better-paying gigs and helping her friend Ruth out. Kinsey has a habit of sticking her nose where no one asked. It’s a reminder of what some people call “simpler days.” Unless, like me, you think always having to ask to borrow people’s phones is more complicated. As always, I smile at the things Kinsey has to do to make a phone call. Although is was published in 2015, the action happens in 1989. X is the second-to-last Kinsey Millhone book from Sue Grafton.

Grafton x