Waiting for "W"

A follow-up to yesterday's post concerning Kinsey and Me by Sue Grafton:

I bailed on the Me group of stories. I really didn't want to read about a young Ms. Grafton (under the guise of her character Kit Blue) watch her mother drink herself to death. I read two of the "stories" and then shut the book.

The Kinsey Millhone stories, though, that opened the book were fun to read and Kinsey's humor and good sense come through even in these shorter episodes. I will look forward to the next in Grafton's alphabet series.

Next up: W is for "who knows?".

Kinsey and Me by Sue Grafton

Sue Grafton
author of Kinsey and Me

One of my goals for 2013 is to read short stories. As luck would have it, Sue Grafton, author of the ABC mystery series starring Kinsey Millhone, recently published a book of short stories featuring her fearless detective.

I can report that the nine stories that make up the first part of Kinsey and Me (2012) are just as intriguing, well-written, and witty as Ms. Grafton's full-length mysteries.  

To come though, are the thirteen stories that make up the Me section of the book. These are stories featuring Kit Blue, a younger version of Sue Grafton, written in the ten years following her mother's death as, she writes, "my way of coming to terms with my grief for her."

Both of her parents were alcoholics, she reveals, and her childhood lacked supervision allowing her freedom to read and wander at will. But that freedom came with a cost.

As Ms. Grafton is from my hometown and lives here parttime (and also in Montecito, California), I am curious to read these last stories about her experiences growing up as seen through the eyes of her character, Kit Blue.

V is for Vengeance Complete

Sue Grafton never fails to amaze me. Her writing is clear, her characters are lively and quirky but not in a forced way, her dialogue is witty, and her solutions are clever and come together perfectly.

Oh yes, people get shot, thrown off of bridges, and even Kinsey herself suffers a bloody nose or two, but nothing too gratuitous or too descriptive.

V is for Vengeance does not disappoint. How Grafton weaves her characters' stories and back stories with Kinsey's narrative keeps me turning the pages. I even liked the 'bad' guy in this adventure.

I won't go into the plot because I don't want to spoil the fun. Besides, anyone can read a synopsis in many places on the web.

I love Grafton's way with description. Here is one from the book that sticks in my memory:

The storm clouds were gathered on the horizon like black trash bags against a fence.

Or something close to that. There are more but I in my absorption with the story, I failed to mark them.

I am fascinated with Kinsey's penchant for index cards and the way she records clues and information on them and then mixes them up to get a fresh perspective. I wonder if that is how Grafton keeps her story lines straight.

I have mentioned that Grafton lives part time in my hometown and in Santa Barbara, or Montecito to be exact. I too have lived in that area of California and it is fun for me to read about familiar cities, streets, and beaches. So those are two connections I have with the author.

I also love seeing how Grafton's hair styles change on the book jackets over the course of the years.

There was one little hiccup in the book, however. Kinsey has a conversation with someone and she makes a point of spelling her last name with two Ls. Millhone.  She says, "Most people miss the second L."

I am one of those people and I have since corrected the spelling of Ms. Millhone's name in two blog posts. The funny thing is though, the last chapter of the book is the wrap-up report by Kinsey. She signs off as 'Kinsey Milhone'.

Oops.

V is for Very, Very

Once again I am in thrall of the clever plotting and wicked dialogue as only Sue Grafton can mete out.

V is for Vengeance has me turning pages and trotting to keep up with Kinsey Millhone. At last count there have been at least two murders; who knows how many other bodies will turn up. I am only 150 pages in and breathless.

It has been the perfect Saturday for immersing myself in the shenanigans of Kinsey and her town of Santa Theresa - otherwise known, in the real world, as Santa Barbara. How comfortable to be back in the lives of Rosie and her tavern, Henry and his baking, and William with his hypochondria and penchant for attending funerals of those he doesn't even know.

Kinsey is still tooling around town in her Mustang, comforting herself with junk food, and running in the mornings to counteract the effects of such indulgences as Quarter Pounders and fries.

All's right with the world.