W

All those years ago when Sue Grafton started her incomparable mystery series with A is for Alibi, it seemed that I would happily be reading her books indefinitely. The fault with that logic is that the alphabet has only 26 letters, and now that she's published W is for Wasted, THERE ARE ONLY THREE LETTERS LEFT!!!! On the other hand, Woo Hoo!  She still has three books to write!

When a homeless man is found dead on the Santa Teresa beach, the coroner is surprised to find Kinsey Millhone's name and number in his pocket.  She is asked to come in to I.D. the corpse but has no idea who he is.  Never one to leave a mystery unsolved, Kinsey soon finds herself kicking up a hornet's nest of unhappy relatives, shady private eyes and sweaty-palmed drug researchers.  But it is the homeless population of Santa Teresa who add the real depth and color to this story, and Sue Grafton gives them a voice and her respect.

Sue Grafton is a master craftsman of the mystery trade, and she proves it once again with W is for Wasted. This is definitely one of her best.  TBC