X by Sue Grafton: A review

X (Kinsey Millhone, #24)X by Sue Grafton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Picking up a book by Sue Grafton is always a relaxing experience. You know you are in the hands of a master, so you can just lean back and let the experience of the book flow over you.

X, the 24th in the Kinsey Milhone series, certainly continues the Grafton experience, although this book has a much darker story to tell than many of the others in the series. In this one, Kinsey comes up against a very scary sociopath, who, it turns out, has had a long career of serial murders of young women (of course). His crimes have gone completely undetected, and, even though the villain is identified early in the book, the problem for Kinsey becomes whether or not she can find the evidence to prove his guilt before she becomes his next victim.

Once again, we are back in 1988 and it is interesting to see Kinsey trying to find a payphone to call her landlord Henry or to make other calls. There is now a whole generation of readers who will not even remember such anachronisms, but for those of us who lived through those times, it's just a bit of nostalgia.

In addition to Kinsey's stalking of the sociopath, she has a mystery to solve closer to home. California is in the middle of one of its periodic droughts and water rationing is a very real possibility. Diligent citizens, like Kinsey's landlord Henry Pitts, are making every effort to control their water usage, but in spite of his and Kinsey's efforts, his bills keep rising. He calls in plumbers to check for leaks and to recommend actions and one of them discovers the source of the problem: the next-door neighbors.

An elderly couple has moved in next door after the old neighbors moved to the East. They give the impression that they have bought the house, but a bit of investigation by Kinsey reveals that, in fact, they are squatters. Furthermore, they are stealing Henry's water!

Actually, I found this subplot very entertaining. I always enjoy the Kinsey and Henry interactions. Henry and his whole family are such charming characters.

I have been reading these books since the first one (A is for Alibi) came out in 1982, so Kinsey Millhone is one of my oldest and most enduring literary friends. I always enjoy a visit with her and I read the new books as soon as I can after publication. This one was not the best of the lot, but it rated pretty highly with me. The villain was creepy and scary and, sadly, quite believable, and Kinsey's stubborn determination to bring him to justice was altogether true to the Kinsey Millhone I've come to know over the years.

The ending was frustrating, but, again, it was believable. There was no magic wand waving to make everything fall into place and justice prevail. In this, it was without question true to life.


View all my reviews

Comments

  1. CarmenNovember 9, 2015 at 8:20 PM

    I like it when you can take a look back and see how a character and society at large have changed over the years.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersNovember 9, 2015 at 10:42 PM

      That's one of the attractions for me in reading series.

      Delete
  2. RoseNovember 10, 2015 at 7:13 AM

    Even if this one is not the "best of the lot," I'll be reading it soon. As you say, reading Grafton is like visiting an old friend. I don't know how she's managed to keep Kinsey in the 80's for so long, though:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersNovember 10, 2015 at 10:22 AM

      Apparently, the 80s were a very eventful decade in Santa Teresa!

      Delete
  3. Judy KruegerNovember 10, 2015 at 11:11 AM

    OMG, I am so behind on Sue Grafton, I may never catch up. I like her books because they are set in Santa Barbara, CA, which is not far from LA and a town I love to visit. Thanks for reminding me!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dorothy BordersNovember 10, 2015 at 12:04 PM

      The wonderful thing is, no matter how far behind you are, you can pick up again any time and feel instantly at home.

      Delete
    2. Judy KruegerNovember 10, 2015 at 12:06 PM

      Ah. I feel better now!

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Poetry Sunday: Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver

How about we share another Mary Oliver poem? After all, you can never have too many of those. In this one, the poet seems to acknowledge that it is often hard to simply live in and enjoy the moment, perhaps because we are afraid it can't last. She urges us to give in to that moment and fully experience the joy. Although "much can never be redeemed, still, life has some possibility left." Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes something happens better than all the riches or power in the world. It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instant when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid of its plenty. Joy is no
Read more

The Investigator by John Sandford: A review

Image
  I have read a few of John Sandford's books in the Prey series featuring Lucas Davenport. This book is a literal offspring of that series. It's the first in a series featuring Davenport's adopted daughter Letty Davenport. Letty is in her mid-20s and a graduate of Stanford. She works for a U.S. senator named Christopher Colles in a desk job but she's bored with her assignments. Then the senator offers her a chance to go into the field as a liaison between his office and the Department of Homeland Security.  In her first assignment in that position, she is sent to Texas along with DHS investigator John Kaiser to try to find out what is happening in regard to thefts of crude oil. The senator is not so concerned about the lost oil but wants to know where the money from its sale is going. Who is selling the oil and what they are doing with the profits? The suspicion is that a particularly nasty militia group led by a woman is involved. Letty and Kaiser head out to Texas, de
Read more

Poetry Sunday: Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman

You probably remember poet Amanda Gorman from her appearance at the inauguration of President Biden. She read her poem "The Hill We Climb" on that occasion. After the senseless slaughter in Uvalde this week, she was inspired to write another poem which was published in The New York Times. It seemed perfect for the occasion and so I stole it in order to feature it here, just in case you didn't get a chance to read it in the Times . Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman Everything hurts, Our hearts shadowed and strange, Minds made muddied and mute. We carry tragedy, terrifying and true. And yet none of it is new; We knew it as home, As horror, As heritage. Even our children Cannot be children, Cannot be. Everything hurts. It’s a hard time to be alive, And even harder to stay that way. We’re burdened to live out these days, While at the same time, blessed to outlive them. This alarm is how we know We must be altered — That we must differ or die, That we must triumph or try.
Read more