W is for Worth the Read: Try the new Sue Grafton

I am going to date myself here and let you know I have been reading Sue Grafton’s alphabet mysteries since A is for Alibi, as soon as they come out.  W is for Wasted lives up to the reputation.  One of my favorite 1980s gum shoes, Kinsey Millhone, faces some detective work close to home as she investigates the deaths of two men:  Pete Wolinksy and R.T. Dace.   While their deaths seem unrelated to the untrained sleuth, there is a connection.  Pete Wolinsky, an area private eye with a sketchy reputation,  has been investigating the alleged affair of the wife of a doctor involved in clinical research trials.  He seems to be running a scam with this investigation, and part of that involves hiring Robert Dietz, Kinsey’s old (and brief) love interest.  Pete never pays Dietz, so he turns up looking for compensation, only to find Pete has been shot.  And, there is R.T. Dace, a homeless man who dies with Kinsey’s contact information on his person.  Shortly before his death, he changed his will to leave everything he had (turns out that is $500,000) to Millhone.  As executor, Kinsey sets out to straighten out Dace’s affairs, inform his estranged children of his passing, and figure out why she has been given this role and inheritance. Clues direct her in a page turning way to the connection between the two men, and the truth behind their deaths.

Well done Sue Grafton.

The Falmouth Memorial Library has 2 copies of W is for Wasted.