Y is for Yesterday by Sue Grafton

(hb; 2017: twenty-fifth book in the Kinsey Millhone mysteries)

From the inside flap

"The darkest and most disturbing case report from the files of Kinsey Millhone, Y is for Yesterday begins in 1979, when four teenage boys from an elite private school sexually assault a fourteen-year-old classmate—and film the attack. Not long after, the tape goes missing and the suspected thief, a fellow classmate, is murdered. In the investigation that follows, one boy turns state’s evidence and two of his peers are convicted. But the ringleader escapes without a trace.

"Now, it’s 1989 and one of the perpetrators, Fritz McCabe, has been released from prison. Moody, unrepentant, and angry, he is a virtual prisoner of his ever-watchful parents—until a copy of the missing tape arrives with a ransom demand. That’s when the McCabes call Kinsey Millhone for help. As she is drawn into their family drama, she keeps a watchful eye on Fritz. But he’s not the only one being haunted by the past. A vicious sociopath with a grudge against Millhone may be leaving traces of himself for her to find."

Review

Y is a dark and plot-promising read. While it is not terrible, it is marred by its overlong, chatty and predictable execution. For readers who need every little thing and character described and spelled out for them, bingo, this is a book custom written for them! For the rest of us, Y is a lesser entry in a series that started out as excellent, engaging and tightly-woven, and has slowly gone downhill from there. If you must read it, this is best borrowed from your local library, unless you are a spell-it-out reader.