W Is for Wasted: A Kinsey Millhone Mystery

After writing several (good) Kinsey Milhone books which were more about family and coming of age than of crime or detection, Grafton is back on familiar turf with a straight mystery about the death of a homeless man and a crooked detective named Wolinsky. After being wrongfully convicted and later exonerated, a homeless man sues the State of California for wrongful imprisonment and collects $600,000. However, he is so emotionally shattered that he lives the life of a homeless alcoholic. He leaves a mysterious message indicating that he wants to get in touch with Kinsey, but dies under somewhat strange circumstances before he can contact her. However, he leaves a will disinheriting all his relatives and leaves the bulk of his $600,000 estate to Kinsey, whom he names as executrix. Meanwhile, a former detective, who is an acquaintance of Kinsey, is shot and killed. The deaths seem unrelated. Kinsey attempts to contact the homeless man's relatives, and is rebuked by them; naturally, believe that they should have inherited all or part of the estate. Gradually it becomes clear that the death of the homeless man and the death of Wolinsky are tied into the test of a dangerous alcohol abuse drug.There is relatively little of the sort of Milhone back story that has been such a large part of Grafton's most recent books. As a result, much more the book is taken up with the detection. The mystery is accordingly both more intricate and more interesting than her last few efforts. And of course the auxiliary interests raised in the book -- will Kinsey actually manage to keep the money? What will she do with it? retains the reader's interest almost to the end.Naturally there is some personal Kinsey material as well. Her old boyfriend reappears briefly and provides some light romantic interest. But there is a good deal less of the "Rosie and her goulash" and "Henry and his health" stuff which (in my opinion, at least) has received too much attention in Grafton's other efforts. Yes, there is cat named Ed and brother William clutters matters up a bit, but mercifully only a bit.One of the things I admire about Grafton (as opposed to other mystery writers) is that she can write about important social issues (here, homelessness and science fraud) without being "preachy." She skillfully weaves these issues into her narrative, and does so unobtrusively. To the extent that she comments on the issues, she is objective, observing that the homeless are both ignored and unlikely to be helped by existing programs, but acknowledging as will that many of the homeless are to a considerable extent responsible for their own conditions. This even-handed approach lends a good deal more credibility to her portrayal of the homelessness problem than more drum-beating efforts (think Sarah Paretsky).All in all, a worthy effort, as well as a good indication that Grafton is not losing her grip as the series approaches its conclusion (unless we are to be treated to "AA is for Aardvark").

First a disclaimer. I am a big fan of Sue Grafton and have have been reading all of this series in order. I read one novel every two months or so. In that context I enjoyed this novel a good deal. However this is just an average story within the series. It is lengthy and combines multiple story lines. There are times that it ambles along fairly slowly. I suspect, if one has never read a Sue Grafton novel, one might not enjoy this story as much as someone such as myself.The series has a number of ongoing characters. As they appear in various novels, including this novel, one enjoys their appearance much as one enjoys seeing a friend. That is what made me enjoy this novel. It was not a page turner for me. I am read a chapter a day or so and read other material, including other novels along the way. If I had not read the other Sue Grafton novels, I doubt that this novel would have commanded my attention much of the time.As is often the case I both read and listened to this novel on audiobook simultaneously. The audiobook is very faithful to the written text. Much of the book is written clearly enough that one could listen to this book while walking or commuting and manage to follow the story.In summary, I really like this novel as a continuation of the series. However I would rank this novel in the second half of the series. Thank You for taking the time to read this review.

Interesting scenario for the conspiracy theories and a plot catalyst, with the typical theme of money as an underlying part of the typical narrative

It takes only several dozen pages to catch up with 30-something PI Kinsey Milhone, whom we last hung out with nearly two years ago in  V is for Vengeance . Veteran storyteller Sue Grafton is aware of our possible forgetfulness and eases us back into Kinsey's Santa Teresa life by giving us subtle clues without making us feel like dolts: checking in at her studio apartment and with her generous landlord Henry Pitts and his hypochondriac brother William; driving around so that we can pass Rosie's Tavern and visit Kinsey's office and get to the beach, which she jogs along every morning; even looking in her closet and seeing the all-purpose black dress. Ah, yes. We remember this place and these people. In the meantime, a new set of mysteries has already surfaced.Two deaths have come into Kinsey's life. One is the murder of Pete Wolinsky, a PI who had his own shabby little practice in Santa Teresa. He was neither a friend nor a real competitor for Kinsey's business; but their paths crossed enough that she can feel some sorrow for his loss. Given the kinds of people he associated with and the site of his murder, we shouldn't be surprised that he got caught up in something bad. Author Grafton craftily uses back story and change of point-of-view in four separate chapters to help us learn the details of his demise.The other body belongs to a homeless man who died in his sleeping bag on the beach. The only information left with his body was Kinsey's business name and phone number. Who was he? Why did he carry her number around with him? And why doesn't Kinsey recognize him when she's called to the morgue? Kinsey at least helps out the coroner in learning the identity of the man, which leads her to interview three of his homeless friends. Without really meaning to do so, our favorite PI gets even more caught up in what was the life of this man named Terrence. Almost before she can turn around, she's up to her shaggy brunette hairline in legalities. And her name is at the top of the paperwork. Will this scenario indeed turn out to be her highest-paid case to date -- and one that she wasn't even hired to investigate?And of course, all this action takes place during the autumn of 1988: well before the days of computerized everything and ubiquitous handheld devices and the ability to look up answers via the Internet. Kinsey and the authorities she deals with are relegated to searching for answers the old-fashioned way: by telephone, travel, personal interview, and looking through primary source documents and reference books. It's actually a breath of fresh air to go back in time with her. It wasn't so long ago, really, but it represents a step back from how such an investigation would be conducted today.Once again, stories that at first seem to be separate, eventually converge. Once again we are able to fill in some of the blanks in Kinsey's personal history -- whether she's willing to learn them or not. Once again, some surprises from the past pop up. And once again, some brand new entities enter the picture. (Can you say "cat"???) And we willingly tag along for the ride, page after page. I won't reveal any more salient details.We avid mystery readers demand regular product and consistent quality from our favorite serialists. Sue Grafton continues to deliver on both counts. "W is for Wasted" is a worthwhile and gratifying read, whether it takes you a full day and night, or the savory course of a week to finish. Fans will not be disappointed.

Recibido a tiempo y en perfecto estado

I love this series and it's been some time since I read V as I've been waiting for a pricedrop !! I was so disheartened to read that Sue has died and that, though we have X and Y instalments, we will never get the Z. Such a shame. I read that she wanted no ghost-writing process occurring but after so many readers have invested so many years in Kinsey, it seems a real pity to leave her unfinished...It was so nice to get back into her life for a few days. I'd quite missed her and the dear Henry. I liked the new trio of friends she makes in this story. I also loved the bird-feeding image she created and the fact she squeezed in a good old British swear word in a sentence !!I was a tad baffled by Pete's flight machinations and how he cancelled and re-purchased flights in order to skim money off a client. I just couldn't get my head around what he was trying to achieve.There seemed to be too many formatting errors in this story and I am pretty sure I've referred to this in the past with her books in the digital format. I just checked and yes, I have made prior mention of the hyphenating issues especially in past reviews. Once more we had Mill-hone/Pen-sky/Bakers-field/Mar-fan's and Lin-ton. It's time someone paid better attention in the editing process for her books. Each time she wrote kidnapped it was spelled kidnaped which is a surprising mistake and there were apostrophe errors again, too.The eulogy at the end that William read/compiled was wonderful, though it did make my eyes wet......The homeless are not lesser mortals.......well said. I really enjoyed these past few days catching up with old friends and I'll now need to eke out the final 2 books......

sue grafton is still on top. the stories are interesting and allow the reader to remain engaged throughout the book.

Sue Graftons books are always a great read from beginning to end and this one was no exception. Cant wait for the next one.

I have read all the books in this series by Sue Grafton; this one has a little melancholy in it - the series is ending, but hopefully not the stories by Grafton.