Sunday, January 24, 2010

'U' is for Undertow by Sue Grafton

(hb; 2009: twenty-first book in the Kinsey Millhone mysteries)

From the inside flap:

"In 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 droppout. 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 onto her lonely 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.

"But 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?"

Review:

Another reader-hooking read from Grafton.

This entry in the Kinsey Millhone series is less about whodunnit, and more about how-they'd-do-it and why-they'd-do-it. The few red herrings in the novel are standard fare (especially for those familiar with Grafton's work), but the multi-POV'd characterization, the logical-suspensive storytelling, and the satisfactory finish amount to a virtuosic read that's hard to set down.

Check this whole series out!

Followed by V is for Vengeance.

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