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Fiction. Mystery. HTML:Sue Grafton delivers an intensely gripping mystery based on an actual unsolved murder in this #1 New York Times bestseller featuring private investigator Kinsey Millhone. She was a "Jane Doe," an unidentified white female whose decomposed body was discovered near a quarry off California's Highway 1. The case fell to the Santa Teresa County Sheriff's Department, but the detectives had little to go on. The woman was young, her hands were bound with a length of wire, there were multiple stab wounds, and her throat had been slashed. After months of investigation, the murder remained unsolved... That was eighteen years ago. Now the two men who found the body are nearing the end of their careers in law enforcement�??and they want one last shot at the case. Old and ill, they need someone to help with their legwork and they turn to Kinsey Millhone. Kinsey is intrigued by the cold case and agrees to take the job. But revisiting the past can be a dangerous business, and what begins with the pursuit of Jane Doe's real identity ends in a high-risk hunt for her kill… (more)
User reviews
This one Grafton seems to have really come back. Better storyline, less unexplained side
The story beautifully renders the relationship between the two older men, one alone, the other a widower, and how they care for each other. Grafton makes them endearing to this reader, very real in their flaws and their dedication to solving the murder still on the books.
Kinsey's family shows up as well, her cousin Tasha, her aunt, her family history. In fact, the entire book is about family, the good guys and and bad guys. A sweet read.
Kinsey is contacted by Con Dolan, a police detective that has come up in many of the previous books, to help him with a cold case. He has a friend, one of his early mentors as a detective, who he believes is dying of cancer and needs an interest to keep him alive. He wants to reopen a Jane Doe murder case that they had first investigated 18 years ago. Kinsey is intrigued and joins the investigation.
I don't want to give spoilers but the investigation trail is fascinating to me. How they pick up clues from 18 year old police reports and follow them to the end is really intriguing! The cast of characters they encounter feel like people you know in your everyday life. The settings in the book like the small town and the abandoned condominium development are can be pictured as clearly as if you'd been there yourself. The murderer is unexpected.
Most of this story happens out of Santa Teresa. I don't find myself missing Henry and Rosie though, because the story is so engrossing.
Two more things add a deeper level to this entry in the series. The first is that Kinsey re-encounters her mother's family in a big way. The murder dump site is actually on her family's property and her mother's sister comes to visit her bringing stories and providing photos. The second is that this mystery is based on a true story that Sue Grafton heard about at a dinner party. The sad end to that is, however, that the Jane Doe she heard about has still never been identified or the murderer brought to justice. This kept running through my mind as I was reading and I'm sure it's why this story is so much more poignant than the other stories in the series. This is definitely the best Kinsey yet.
Team Dolan works surprisingly well together.
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PLOT OR PREMISE:
Dolan brings Kinsey a cold case -- an 18-year-old case of homicide for an unidentified Jane Doe.
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WHAT I LIKED:
The plot device Kinsey working with Dolan while helping out a retired old-timer who was one of the original
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WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
Dolan and Stacey bicker like an old married couple, and it gets tedious. The story is also about 30% longer than most of the novels, and it does drag in a few places.
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DISCLOSURE:
I received no compensation, not even a free copy, in exchange for this review. I am not personal friends with the author, nor do I follow her on social media.
This books is a fairly straightforward murder mystery, with the only significant twists, the murder happened 18 years ago and it is being investigated by two
The best part of the book, again, are the physical descriptions. You can smell the high desert and see the homely features of the middle class families whose lives she turns inside out. A home made quilt features as a significant clue.
I will keep reading books in this series, but this one is not a favorite.
Not a bad
Readability: Kinsey is one of my oldest literary friends, so it was almost soothing to read and hear her voice and dry humor again. Finding out information about her family, too, was such a breath of fresh air! Like learning something new about a best friend.
Predictability: I had the wrong guy! I was pleased that I didn't know whodunnit. Grafton did not let me down.
Couldn't Put it Down Factor: Four out of Five. Five out of Five for the last 100 pages. Stayed up til 2am to finish. : )
Recommend it?: Absolutely. I would recommend anything by Grafton. Watch out for some f-words, and pretty grizzly details about Jane Doe, however.
Overall Rating: Five stars. I just love this series.
She begins the book bringing back her mother's family (again), but then moved away from that
Take this one for instance. Based on an unsolved true story of a young girl murdered in California, Grafton paints a lovely picture of small town America - the interrelationships, the unhappiness, the expectations, and comes up with an elegant and plausible plotline explaining the girl's death. Kinsey partners up with two old, sick cops who worked the murder, and the characterizations of the two are touching, and the relationships between the three are gently funny.
Grafton tries to push ahead some of the subplots of the other characters, but I'm not too sure what you can do with a romance involving a 90-year-old. I suspect it was put into the series as a bit of comic relief, and now she's going to have to write her way out of it. I'm looking forward to seeing how it all gets put together.
Random Subplot: Henry's love life. WHy? we really don't care.