W is for wasted
Although the A-to-Z mystery series is reaching its (heart-pounding) conclusion, Sue Grafton may have saved the best for last. W is for Wasted is a tour de force.
The plot blends two gripping whodunits, probes more deeply than before into the emotional inner workings of series heroine Kinsey Millhone, and articulates an evocative response to the social issue of homelessness—W may stand for Wasted, but this narrative has heart.
The latest installment of the bestselling mystery chronicle centers on the death of a street drifter that leads to Kinsey inheriting money from an uncle she didn’t know existed and forces her into an entanglement with new adversaries: family. Yet this familial imbroglio is the least of her worries—Kinsey has to find out why a fellow private eye was killed, and what, if anything, the two deaths have in common. The gutsy gumshoe follows a trail of deceit that leads to family secrets and personal truths she is forced to admit—“I was too psychologically stunted to experience sorrow.”
But don’t worry, the quick wit and sarcasm readers have come to love in Kinsey are still there at every turn, and even when she ponders the deepest parts of herself, she quickly snaps back—“Was I nuts? … If I were that screwed up, I wouldn’t be capable of reflecting on the point, would I?” In the end, Kinsey’s character emerges more revealed, more cynical of people, and more determined than ever to “never give up” and “fight to the death,” if need be.
W is for Wasted
By Sue Grafton
A Marian Wood Book/G.P. Putnam’s Sons
$28.95 (H)