Y is for Yesterday

A Kinsey Millhone Mystery

Sue Grafton

ISBN: 9781447260233

Description:

The darkest and most disturbing case report from the files of Kinsey Millhone, Y is for Yesterday begins in 1979, when four teenage boys from an elite private school sexually assault a fourteen-year-old classmate—and film the attack. Not long after, the tape goes missing and the suspected thief, a fellow classmate, is murdered. In the investigation that follows, one boy turns state’s evidence and two of his peers are convicted. But the ringleader escapes without a trace.

Now, it’s 1989 and one of the perpetrators, Fritz McCabe, has been released from prison. Moody, unrepentant, and angry, he is a virtual prisoner of his ever-watchful parents—until a copy of the missing tape arrives with a ransom demand. That’s when the McCabes call Kinsey Millhone for help. As she is drawn into their family drama, she keeps a watchful eye on Fritz. But he’s not the only one being haunted by the past. A vicious sociopath with a grudge against Millhone may be leaving traces of himself for her to find…

My View:

This episode is the standout in the series- PI fiction doesn’t get much better than this. I wonder what Z will offer?

This episode in the Kinsey Millhone private investigator series is action packed, tension filled and takes us on a different journey with Kinsey – a journey where she is apprehensive (and rightly so we soon discover) and not in control of events surrounding her.

The narrative is told from a dual time frame perspective – and the events of the past are harrowing and cast a shadow that eventually reaches Kinsey in the current time, in her current job.

I thoroughly enjoyed this episode – the action is intense and the crimes of the past are horrific yet told with a subtleness that actually reinforces the darkness of the crime, the perpetrator vile in his manipulative behaviours – the perfect picture of a sociopath.  The revenge crimes in the present – are not so subtle, worrying and will keep you turning pages. A great read!

I can’t wait for Z – unless that means an end to the series?