Customer Reviews

Q Is for Quarry

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1 star:		(21)

 

 

Q Is For Quarry by Sue Grafton is different from the average Kinsey Millhone mystery, but I found myself enjoying this book more than I've enjoyed the last few novels in the series. First off,the book takes place mostly in a fictionalized version of the southeastern corner of California [south of Blythe and west of the Colorado River] rather than the usual fictionalized version of Santa Barbara, California. Second, Q Is For Quarry is the most police proceduralesque of the novels in the series. This isn't suprising since the novel takes off from a real cold murder case and involves two retired cops as main characters. Kinsey and the cops slowly unravel and reweave the evidence concerning the murdered girl found in the quarry until they tie up the loose ends and nail the killer. If you don't like lots of detail, you probably won't like this novel. Complaints concerning Kinsey's changing personality seem unfounded to me since the changes are consistent with the evolution of the character seen in the other novels. I think that Q Is For Quarry is a very good entry in the 'Alphabet' series and I hope Sue Grafton doesn't give up on Kinsey before she reaches Z.

It was eighteen years ago that officers Stacey Oliphant and Con Dolan, out on a morning hunting trip, found the decomposing body near the quarry. She was young, white, bound, and stabbed multiple times, and then her throat was slashed. She'd never been identified, her murderer never brought to justice, and the unsolved case has haunted Oliphant and Dolan all these many years. Now, old and sick, and at the end of their respective careers, they want one more shot at solving this Jane Doe homicide, and decide to enlist the help of Santa Teresa private detective, Kinsey Millhone. After hearing the whole story, and reading over the old murder book, Kinsey has to admit she's hooked, packs her duffle, and joins this "odd couple" on what turns out to be quite an intriguing and ultimately dangerous adventure in search of the truth..... Inspired by a still unsolved murder in Santa Barbara County over thirty years ago, Sue Grafton weaves a compelling and suspenseful story. Her well paced plot is filled with clever twists and turns, vivid, laugh-out-loud scenes, and witty and irreverent dialogue. But it's Ms Grafton's brilliant characterizations and delicious descriptions that really make this novel stand out and sparkle, and no one does it better. Q Is For Quarry is the seventeenth mystery in this marvelous alphabet series, and definitely one of the strongest entries. If you're new to Kinsey and company, begin at the beginning with A Is For Alibi and read them all. If you're already a fan, Q is a very satisfying and engaging read that should find itself at the top of your "must read" list.

This book is essential reading for all Kinsey Millhone fans!

Ms. Grafton has outdone her usual brilliance. She has taken a marvelous series and made it better by adding two new elements to her well-honed heroine and typical plot. The first new element is that you will learn a lot more about what was going on in Kinsey's family before, during and after she was born. This new information will provide the basis for many satisfying plot complications in future to expand your enjoyment. If you skip this book, the next books in the series probably won't work as well for you. The second new element is basing her mystery on an actual unsolved homicide in Santa Barbara County, California in August 1969. As a result, we can all speculate along with Ms. Grafton about what really happened. If the real case is ever solved, we can also see how close she and we came to the right answer. By including four forensic reconstructions of the real victim, readers can also potentially help identify the victim. It's one thing to make up one's own neat little mysteries. It's a much grander and exciting thing to take on the real thing. I hope that Ms. Grafton will create other reality-based mysteries in the future.

As the book opens, Kinsey is about to turn 37 in four weeks . . . and is in a little more reflective mood than usual. Soon some of that's dispelled when she takes on a new role as leg woman for Lieutenant Dolan and Stacey Oliphant, who originally investigated killing of the stabbed and dumped young female victim in 1969 at Grayson Quarry on Highway 1 in Lompoc. Stacey had retired from the Sheriff's Department eight years earlier, but is back working part time on cold cases. This one?s lack of closure has always bothered him. He's suffering from a bad case of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma from which the odds against recovery are long. Dolan and Oliphant have known each other for forty years, and Dolan wants to help his friend regain his zest for life. As you can imagine, Kinsey doesn't like direction from anyone and working for men of retirement age who are more than old enough to be her father is a challenge. Oliphant is 73 and Dolan is 63. To that, you can add the complications of illness and lack of physical vigor. It's a whole new set of challenges for Kinsey.

There were several aspects of the story that especially appealed to me. First, Kinsey's disconnection from her family has seemed somewhat artificial to me over the prior books. How many people do you know who are so distant from most of their living relatives? By beginning to make some connections, Kinsey will become a more interesting character. For instance, what would Stephanie Plum's appeal be without her family? Second, some writers overdo family connections over time. The Amelia Peabody series seems to be bordering on that problem now. The books then become more about the family than about the story. Ms. Grafton has wisely avoided that. Third, Kinsey is working with people whom she normally would not have as colleagues. That also provides lots of new scope for her as a character and the chance to introduce interesting new characters. Both aspects of this book were successful. Fourth, part of the book also takes place in the Southern California desert, which is a rich counterpoint for the usual Santa Teresa surroundings in these novels. Having grown up near that area, I loved her treatment of desert life there. It's one of the best I have seen.

After you finish this story, think about some part of your family with whom you've never had much contact or have lost touch with. Give them a call and get together. Find out what you've been missing!

"Quarry" is loosely based on a 1969 Santa Barbara murder with a victim who remains unidentified to this day. Grafton became interested in this unsolved case and sponsored a forensic sculptor to do a likeness of the victim, which she included at the back of this book in hopes that someone will recognize the picture. This seems to be the year for big time mystery writers to take a hands-on interest in unsolved crimes what with Patricia Cornwell's six million dollar investment in the Jack the Ripper case.

Two retired detectives call in Kinsey Milhone to assist them in reopening the cold case of an unsolved murder of a Jane Doe victim. The trail leads the trio to small town Quorum CA. On the surface, Quorum is God-fearing and conservative, but appearances are deceiving, and soon Kinsey is up to her tumbled hairdo in suspects.

The book is a bit of a slow start to get everyone in place. I question the wisdom of having two cohorts that are both dying. Not only is it depressing, a lot of time is spent to and froing to emergency rooms and discussing diets and the horrors of smoking. I do not object at all to Grafton's love of placing senior citizens in her stories, I just wish she would be sure their health warranted the tasks she sets out for them. Like many other reviewers, I could do without the ongoing soap opera of Kinsey's rediscovered family. "Quarry" is back in the familiar groove after a really fine departure in "Peril" where Grafton extended her scope and vision. She does her usual fine job of characterization and descriptions that add so much to her novels. The plotting is excellent, and the ending is nicely surprising. I'm just hoping Kinsey can soon find a friend who is under 65.

Ms. Grafton heeded her fans. The final report is back in place, the whodunit is crystal clear with no ambiguity that might possibly make the reader think for a few minutes after closing the book, and the motives are straightforward with no complexities. This is the type Kinsey that pays the bills.
-sweetmolly-[Amazon.com] Reviewer

She was found on Sunday August 3rd, 1969, Grayson Quarry off California's Highway 1. The woman was young, her wrists were bound, she had multiple stab wounds and her killer had slashed her throat. After months of investigation, the case remains as stone-cold as it was on the day her body was found. The police didn't even find out her name.

It is 18 years later, and the two officers who found the body are now both ill and close to retirement. However, desiring one last crack at the case, if only just to give the poor woman a name, they turn to Kinsey Millhone for help. She is curious, and agrees to work with them. But what starts out as an investigation trying to find the identity of a dead woman, soon becomes a dangerous hunt for her killer.

Some fans who may have been disappointed by her last effort, "P is for Peril", will feel much warmer feelings towards this novel, which is one of the best books in the entire "alphabet" series. It's complex, intriguing, written in sharp, efficient prose, with a great cast of characters. Kinsey is on fine form once again, and there are some real treats in store for constant-readers of Grafton, in the shape of more insights into Kinsey's family and background. She's a likeable, resourceful hero, and I am incredibly impressed that Grafton is still able to develop her main character with each new book, whilst lesser writers tend to burn out at around the five book mark.

Grafton is adept at creating casts of likeable, essentially very normal, well-developed characters who keep her books moving and her plots flowing smoothly. The California she evokes is one of a mostly pleasant place full of people going about their usual business, but in all her books there is a subtle sense of darkness and evil lying beneath the genial façade, which often adds a good chill.

Sue Grafton is one of the most reliable authors working today. She can always be counted upon to produce an enjoyable, compelling mystery, which is exactly what she has done here. "Q is for Quarry" is a high-class book with a rock-solid plot, and almost certainly one of her very best.

This seventeenth installment in the Kinsey Milhone series is something of a departure both for Kinsey and for the author. The detective, while loyal to her few close friends, is essentially a loner, especially when she's working, but this time she's linked up with two retired cops in attempting to solve an eighteen-year-old murder. And Grafton has based her story on the true unsolved murder in 1969 of a teenage girl whose body turned up in a quarry near Lompoc, California. In fact, a picture of the victim's reconstructed face is included in hopes a reader will have information. The plot is well constructed, as usual in Grafton's work, with the story's progression revolving around the routine investigations that make up most real detective work. Kinsey seldom gets involved in a shoot-out. And right down to the last few pages, there are still several strong possibilities for the killer, so even if you think you know whodunnit, you won't be sure. Grafton is also very good at delineating the details of character development. But not everything in this book is perfect and, in fact, the author seems to be getting a bit sloppy as the series ages. As I have complained in my reviews of her previous books, Grafton habitually over-describes. Kinsey doesn't just make coffee, she takes the lid off the can, gets the measuring spoon out of the drawer, measures out the coffee, puts the lid back on, turns on the tap, fills a glass with water, pours the water into the resevoir of the coffee-maker, turns it on, . . etc. This book could have been 25% shorter -- and better -- without losing anything important if Grafton had a copyeditor willing to argue with a millionaire bestselling author.

Americans have had a long long love affair with Kinsey Millhone, private investigator. The Sue Grafton creation has graced bestseller lists since her A IS FOR ALIBI premiere 16 letters ago. While other detectives have moved on to cell phones and Internet searches, Kinsey's still hacking away on pay phones and typewriters, her life frozen in the 1980s. She's a 37-year-old PI who comes pretty close to hardboiled, if that's possible in Santa Teresa, California. She's proven remarkably durable through books that tend to blend together in a nonetheless satisfying mix.

If you haven't already heard, here's the lowdown on Kinsey. Orphaned at age 5, divorced twice by her mid-20s and happily on her own these days save for dinners with her feisty octogenarian landlord, Kinsey pretty much does as she pleases. In Q IS FOR QUARRY, she accepts an assignment from a pair of near-retired police officers, Lieutenant Con Dolan and Detective Stacey Oliphant, who want to reopen a Jane Doe case left languishing for the last 18 years. Quicker than you can say "the butler did it," Kinsey¹s enmeshed in another adventure. The trio's legwork eventually leads them to the tiny town of Blythe, where the auto-shop-owning McPhee family becomes the center of the inquiry. Once the body has been identified, Kinsey sets about cracking the case, with another fatality to deal with along the way.

What¹s grown familiar about Kinsey's tales --- well, aside from her frequent forays to McDonald¹s, refusal to accept her recently discovered extended family and general bull-headedness --- is the utter everydayness to them. Grafton doesn't have the gift for words of a Jonathan Franzen or a Sandra Cisneros, but she'll detail them to the death. We literally watch Kinsey's every move during the seven to 10 days it usually takes her to solve a case.

We're there when she brushes her teeth or brushes off suitors. We watch as she dresses for dinner or drools in her sleep. Unlike your garden-variety detective, Kinsey does laundry and "uses the facilities," as Grafton puts it. It's about as close to a slice-of-life as you can get.

The mystery element is always interesting in the Millhone books, which are clearly plot-driven. Many of the minute details Grafton includes as Kinsey observations turn out to be important; for example, the prison-standard tattoos on a lying inmate's arm. As Kinsey spends yet another few days in a strange town (she tends to frequent fleabag hotels in cities with 10 or so streets), she makes her share of friends and enemies. What helps keep this book amusing is the interaction between the introverted Kinsey and the two older detectives, both of them ill but still blustery. Their old-married-couple interaction has a true ring to it.

Grafton spends just enough time cracking Jane Doe's identity, not drawing it out too long. Once we know who the girl was, the suspect list narrows, but not by much. One problem I've always had with these books is that there sometimes aren't enough clues to turn you on to the killer --- "clues" that become clear only in retrospect or were never given to the reader in the first place. It¹s not really unsatisfying, but it is mildly annoying. Kinsey always ends up getting her man (or woman) in a bloody, life-endangering climax. Grafton cleans up the details in the books' epilogues.

What's unique about this book is that an actual corpse, an unsolved Santa Barbara homicide from 1969, inspired it. Though Grafton explains in the author's note that the characters are completely fiction, much of the material evidence is not. It's the first time Grafton's worked such a nonfiction angle in her book, and the story turns out intriguingly enough.

Will Kinsey Millhone ever join the cannon of great literary detectives like Sherlock Holmes, Inspector Javert, even Spenser? Nah. But that doesn't make her any less entertaining. Q IS FOR QUARRY satisfies all the Kinsey necessities, with a neatly wrapped finish and sass in between. Here¹s hoping that R is for "Real Soon."

--- Reviewed by Toni Fitzgerald

Sue Grafton gives us her 17th Kinsey Millhone story in Q IS FOR QUARRY. I've read the entire series, and have enjoyed each and every book. It's not necessary to read every book in this series to understand the story, but if you like good mysteries, start with the first book and read them all. I guarantee you'll have lots of entertaining reading if you do.

This time Kinsey works with two retired police detectives who hire her to help them investigate an old mystery that they were never able to solve. In the previous eighteen years, a young Jane Doe was stabbed to death. The mysterious woman was never identified and her body never claimed. The detectives want one more chance to find the killer and perhaps identify the woman.

As usual, the author takes us into the life of private detective Kinsey Millhone, who at age 36 is set in her ways, and quite a character. She loves fast food, has a rather odd assortment of friends and lives an unglamorous, but nevertheless interesting life. Kinsey has her own kind of tomboy charm and she's still trying to figure out her life and her past.

This story is loosely based on a true murder case.

Several years ago a colleague introduced me to the "Alphabet Murders" while we were both trapped at a Faculty Retreat. It proved to be the most long-lasting element of THAT Retreat -I confess to having read all the Sue Grafton I can find since then. In spite of my enthusiasm, I had begun to fear that Kinsey Milhone wasn't going to age well. In the last few books Grafton seemed to spend too much time with peripheral characters &/or Kinsey's difficult family & not enough on the actual mystery. I found myself getting very tired of the Adorable Henry, Henry's Brothers, the Mad Cook, etc. Wisely Grafton chose to ship all of the above off on a cruise for this novel and brought in two new & highly appealing characters in the form of aging & disgruntled police detectives intent on solving an old case that has bothered them professionally for twenty years. In a brand new spin, we find that Milhone/Grafton is actually investigating a REAL unsolved crime that had occurred near Santa Barbara years previously. It is possible that the "reality" of the case is what makes the first half of the book go rather slowly (reality sometimes DOES go slowly) but I didn't really mind, Grafton had given me some interesting new folks to get to know, and Kinsey was grappling more effectively with her past than it seemed she could do in earlier episodes. The second half of the book picks up the pace, perhaps a bit too much. I found the ending a bit forced (no, I WON'T tell you WhoDunnit!) and a bit too tidy, but overall I am back looking forward to R rather than wondering if I can be bothered to make it through the alphabet. A nice read for a cold snowy afternoon or a long car ride!

Perhaps it was the research that Sue Grafton did on an actual Jane Doe case, but this book is her most compelling. One of Grafton's greatest gifts is her ability to draw characters that are both eccentric and real and this book is full of those. Her descriptions of the area, the sky, the weather, and the feelings of the era are superb. She is a wonderful writer. She's the best of the mystery writers today.

My wife reads aloud by the fire as we pass the cold late fall evenings in Coastal Maine. So often, the popular mystery writers disappoint in their effort to pump out book after book. Sue Graften and her character Kinsey are always a pleasure, but this book was especially welcome. We were sad to see it end. It's Grafton at her best and she is getting better and better.

Sue Grafton's closing description of the real case and what went into her research for this book was fascinating. It added so much reality to the story we had just finished.

Thank you, Sue Grafton, for all of these wonderful Kinsey books. We are grateful. Your characters are real, funny and wonderful and you hit the jackpot with this one.