X

Starred review from June 29, 2015
An inventive plot and incisive character studies elevate MWA Grand Master Grafton’s 24th Kinsey Millhone novel (after 2013’s W Is for Wasted), which includes a variety of X’s (a divorced couple named Xanakis, a spot on a map, etc.). Wealthy Hallie Bettancourt hires the Santa Teresa, Calif., PI for a simple assignment—find Christian Satterfield, a bank robber recently released from prison who was the baby 15-year-old Hallie gave up for adoption years earlier. Meanwhile, Kinsey agrees to help her friend Ruthie Wolinsky settle some papers belonging to Ruthie’s late husband, Pete, a private detective who was shot the year before in a robbery gone wrong. The two investigations spiral into complicated personal tales. Hallie has myriad secrets, and Pete’s papers lead Kinsey to finish one of his old cases, putting her in the crosshairs of the hate-filled Ned Lowe, who may be a murderer. This superior outing will remind readers why this much-loved series will be missed as the end of the alphabet approaches. Agent: Molly Friedrich, Friedrich Literary Agency.

Starred review from June 15, 2015
What does X stand for? Xanakis, XLNT, maybe even Father Xavier, all features of Kinsey Millhone's dense, meaty 24th case. The drought of 1989 is causing anxiety all over Santa Teresa, but money seems to have rained down on Kinsey's latest client, Hallie Bettancourt, who's seeking the current whereabouts of just-released robber Christian Satterfield, the son she had when she was only 15. Kinsey makes a few calls, rings a few bells, tracks down the address, and sends it on to the client, only to discover that everything Hallie told her, from her name to her relationship with Satterfield, was false. To add insult to injury, one of the $100 bills Hallie, or whoever she was, insisted on paying Kinsey is one of the same bills wealthy Ari Xanakis used two years ago to ransom a Turner painting back for $25,000 from his ex-wife, Teddy, who'd taken it upon herself to add it to the divorce settlement. Meanwhile, Kinsey's gotten involved in another equally messy case, driven by her unwelcome suspicion that her late colleague Pete Wolinsky-hired years ago by salesman Ned Lowe's attorney, Arnold Ruffner, to dig up dirt that would impeach the testimony of Taryn Sizemore, who'd accused him of harassment and stalking-had cast his net further and decided to blackmail either Lowe or someone else connected with the case. Showing as much initiative as Hallie or Pete and a lot more rectitude, Kinsey resolves to close the book on Pete's shadowy game and to return a pair of sentimental religious keepsakes she'd found hidden in Pete's files to their rightful owner. A droll drought-driven subplot revolving around Henry Pitts, Kinsey's ancient landlord, is the icing on the cake. Grafton's endless resourcefulness in varying her pitches in this landmark series (W Is for Wasted, 2013, etc.), graced by her trademark self-deprecating humor, is one of the seven wonders of the genre.

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Starred review from July 1, 2015
Just X? Yes, Grafton breaks her own rule for her titles: despite X being an initial for several characters here, no single word beginning with X encompassed the whole of her twenty-fourth Kinsey Millhone mystery, so X alone it is. And what an excellent outing it is! Kinsey is taken in by an elaborate scheme engineered by stunning Teddy Xanakis, who wants to steal a potentially priceless painting from her newly divorced husband, a plotline followed to a happy conclusion. But having come into money (in W Is for Wasted, 2013), Kinsey also can afford to spend time helping Ruth Wolinsky settle the business affairs of her late PI husband, Pete, killed in the previous book. Among Pete's effects are a carefully hidden mailing pouch and a specially coded list of women's names that send Kinsey nosing around Ned Lowe, whose past turns out to be increasingly dark, as she reassesses her long-held disapproval of Pete. Meanwhile, her landlord, Henry Pitts, takes drastic action to lower his water use during the California drought of 1989 while assisting the elderly couple who just moved in next door. Grafton cleverly follows a pulse-pounding scene with a reflective wrap-up showing Kinsey's sensitive side at its best. With only two installments to go in her landmark series, Grafton has never been better.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: TV series that run for five years generate hoopla when they reach the end; Grafton has been writing her alphabet series for nearly 35 years, and as it draws to a close, interest is piquing all over again.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)

March 15, 2015

We're nearing the end of Grafton's alphabet mystery series starring beloved private investigator Kinsey Millhone. No word yet on the plot (or what that X will stand for), but with Grafton's credentials (the Crime Writers' Association Cartier Diamond Dagger Award, three Shamus Awards, and more), plus her status as a No. 1 New York Times best-selling author, are you really going to hesitate to buy?

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