X

Narrator Judy Kaye leads listeners down the convoluted path of an old murder case when private investigator Kinsey Millhone becomes curious about what a former partner was working on when he died. Kaye voices Millhone's frustration as she tries to piece together the fragments of a case gone cold. The astonishment in her voice as the killer comes into focus is palpable. In this latest "Alphabet" installment, Grafton includes a number of tangents that series fans may best appreciate. In one, Kaye perfectly renders Millhone's outrage when she discovers that an elderly couple is taking advantage of a kindhearted neighbor. Listeners may not want to join this alphabet freight train at its end but instead become more familiar with Kaye's many earlier renditions. M.S. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine

Starred review from June 29, 2015
An inventive plot and incisive character studies elevate MWA Grand Master Grafton’s 24th Kinsey Millhone novel (after 2013’s W Is for Wasted), which includes a variety of X’s (a divorced couple named Xanakis, a spot on a map, etc.). Wealthy Hallie Bettancourt hires the Santa Teresa, Calif., PI for a simple assignment—find Christian Satterfield, a bank robber recently released from prison who was the baby 15-year-old Hallie gave up for adoption years earlier. Meanwhile, Kinsey agrees to help her friend Ruthie Wolinsky settle some papers belonging to Ruthie’s late husband, Pete, a private detective who was shot the year before in a robbery gone wrong. The two investigations spiral into complicated personal tales. Hallie has myriad secrets, and Pete’s papers lead Kinsey to finish one of his old cases, putting her in the crosshairs of the hate-filled Ned Lowe, who may be a murderer. This superior outing will remind readers why this much-loved series will be missed as the end of the alphabet approaches. Agent: Molly Friedrich, Friedrich Literary Agency.