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Kinsey Millhone #19
S is for Silence
Just after Independence Day in July 1953 Violet Sullivan, a local good time girl living in Serena Station Southern California, drives off in her brand new Chevy and is never seen again. Left behind is her young daughter, Daisy, and Violet's impetuous husband, Foley, who had been persuaded to buy his errant wife the car only days before . . .
Now, thirty-five years later, Daisy wants closure.
Reluctant to open such an old cold case Kinsey Millhone agrees to spend five days investigating, believing at first that Violet simply moved on to pastures new. But very soon it becomes clear that a lot of people shared a past with Violet, a past that some are still desperate to keep hidden. And in a town as close-knit as Serena there aren't many places to hide when things turn vicious . . .
Now, thirty-five years later, Daisy wants closure.
Reluctant to open such an old cold case Kinsey Millhone agrees to spend five days investigating, believing at first that Violet simply moved on to pastures new. But very soon it becomes clear that a lot of people shared a past with Violet, a past that some are still desperate to keep hidden. And in a town as close-knit as Serena there aren't many places to hide when things turn vicious . . .
352 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
1,554 people are currently reading
11.1k people want to read
About the author
Sue Grafton
243Ìýbooks6,430ÌýfollowersSue Grafton was a #1 New York Times bestselling author. She is best known for her “alphabet seriesâ€� featuring private investigator Kinsey Millhone in the fictional city of Santa Teresa, California. Prior to success with this series, she wrote screenplays for television movies. Her earlier novels include Keziah Dane (1967) and The Lolly-Madonna War (1969), both out of print. In the book Kinsey and Me she gave us stories that revealed Kinsey's origins and Sue's past.
Grafton never wanted her novels to be turned into movies or TV shows. According to her family she would never allow a ghost writer to write in her name. Because of these things, and out of respect for Sue’s wishes, the family announced the alphabet now ends at �Y�
Grafton was named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America and received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Private Eye Writers of America, the Ross Macdonald Literary Award, three Shamus Awards, and many other honors and awards.
Grafton had three children from previous marriages and several grandchildren, including a granddaughter named Kinsey. She and her husband lived in Montecito, California, and Louisville, Kentucky.
Grafton never wanted her novels to be turned into movies or TV shows. According to her family she would never allow a ghost writer to write in her name. Because of these things, and out of respect for Sue’s wishes, the family announced the alphabet now ends at �Y�
Grafton was named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America and received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Private Eye Writers of America, the Ross Macdonald Literary Award, three Shamus Awards, and many other honors and awards.
Grafton had three children from previous marriages and several grandchildren, including a granddaughter named Kinsey. She and her husband lived in Montecito, California, and Louisville, Kentucky.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,521 reviews
September 13, 2017
Book Review
4 out of 5 stars to , the 19th book in the "Kinsey Millhone" mystery series, written in 2005 by . This is a top-notch installment in the series, proving why Grafton is so good at inventing characters who stick with you and never get boring. Kinsey takes on another case that she believes will be simple, against her better judgment. She hates delving into crimes that are over 30 years old, but she needs the money. And as she slowly weeds her way thru the drama, she finds the victim was indeed murdered, and there are quite a number of suspects. The mystery is strong. The ability to research history and find people who may know something is great. Relying on the mind of someone who wasn't very old at the time her mother disappeared makes this even harder, but also better. Grafton's style often seems effortless. Not quite as funny as Evanovich, not quite as hardcore as Paretsky, not as simple as other cozy mysteries, this is a balance of all the series with popular female lead / detective types. I'm almost caught up on reviews and looking forward to picking up V is for Vengeance this summer.
About Me
For those new to me or my reviews... here's the scoop: I read A LOT. I write A LOT. And now I blog A LOT. First the book review goes on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ, and then I send it on over to my WordPress blog at , where you'll also find TV & Film reviews, the revealing and introspective 365 Daily Challenge and lots of blogging about places I've visited all over the world. And you can find all my social media profiles to get the details on the who/what/when/where and my pictures. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Vote in the poll and ratings. Thanks for stopping by.
4 out of 5 stars to , the 19th book in the "Kinsey Millhone" mystery series, written in 2005 by . This is a top-notch installment in the series, proving why Grafton is so good at inventing characters who stick with you and never get boring. Kinsey takes on another case that she believes will be simple, against her better judgment. She hates delving into crimes that are over 30 years old, but she needs the money. And as she slowly weeds her way thru the drama, she finds the victim was indeed murdered, and there are quite a number of suspects. The mystery is strong. The ability to research history and find people who may know something is great. Relying on the mind of someone who wasn't very old at the time her mother disappeared makes this even harder, but also better. Grafton's style often seems effortless. Not quite as funny as Evanovich, not quite as hardcore as Paretsky, not as simple as other cozy mysteries, this is a balance of all the series with popular female lead / detective types. I'm almost caught up on reviews and looking forward to picking up V is for Vengeance this summer.
About Me
For those new to me or my reviews... here's the scoop: I read A LOT. I write A LOT. And now I blog A LOT. First the book review goes on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ, and then I send it on over to my WordPress blog at , where you'll also find TV & Film reviews, the revealing and introspective 365 Daily Challenge and lots of blogging about places I've visited all over the world. And you can find all my social media profiles to get the details on the who/what/when/where and my pictures. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Vote in the poll and ratings. Thanks for stopping by.
April 24, 2019
The best part of this book was that there was an alternate POV story going on in between Kinsey's relentless rambling. I was so happy for the break from her describing the crap out of everything she saw that I almost did a happy dance. But, then I remembered what happened the last time I did a happy dance and refrained.
It was the saddest dance ever...
In this one, Kinsey is trying to find a woman who has been missing for over 30 years. And, like many of these books, it turns out that the police just needed Kinsey to go around annoying people until someone tries to kill her. I'm surprised that police forces across the country aren't inviting her to "consult" with them just so they can catch the killers when they go after her. It's like she's one of those drug-sniffing dogs and you know who has the drugs because the person tries to kill the dog. Yes, Kinsey is the dog here. I'm being nice to her by saying that because, in all reality, she is more like an ugly cat that shoves it ass in your face until you want to kill it.
No matter what she is, everyone wants to kill it.
Some things just take a little extra effort to kill. Kinsey is obviously one of them. The main point is to never give up.
Kinsey is not likely to breed at least. She is so abrasive and tacky that I can't even believe she has a man. Of course, he's probably gay and using her as a beard because gayness wasn't as acceptable back then. But still, he could get a better beard. Why have a tacky, scraggly beard when you could have a nice trimmed one?
A good beard can make all of the difference... Kinsey is the gross one, if you didn't know..
I mean, she tells us every single time she goes to the bathroom. I don't need to know! She tells us in every book about her underwear, whether or not they are clean. Again - don't want to know! She tells us how she pounds down an amount of food that would feed two teenage boys and then how she licks her fingers, or how she drags her fingers across the plate to lick the crumbs. Why? Why does she act like that in public? I mean, alone, in pjs, hair up, on the couch with nobody around and you want to binge eat like a pig and eat the chocolate that you dropped in your cleavage? That's fine. I mean, let's be real. But, she expressly tells us about how she drags her finger across her empty plate to lick up a drop of sauce while she is having dinner with clients or a date. That's a person who needs to take some etiquette lessons. She's just a giant hot mess. And, not the cute/quirky/funny type of hot-mess. The yucky type.
See? Simple etiquette makes the world a more comfortable place for everyone.
And the endless explanations? OMG, just fucking get to the bloody point already! If there is a tractor, we don't need to know the brand, year, how it operates, and a comparison analysis of other tractors like it. Just say "there was a tractor" period. That's all we need! But, hell no, we learn too much about tractors and everything else that could possibly be associated with them. There were pages and pages about the hole a tractor dug. Like, geometry. The degree of the angle of the hole, the way the tractor must have dug it, etc.... Was any of that important for the reader to know? No. Not at all. What did she think we were doing, diagramming out this hole on a piece of paper with a protractor and compass? Did she think we would write in letters if it turned out the tractor couldn't dig a hole at that angle? No matter how you deliver it, it's not interesting.
This is why people hate math in school. And those who loved math in school are far too intelligent to be reading this series. I can't see one lone nerd reading this book, then doing the math, and yelling, "hey! That angle isn't right for a hole that size! I'm shocked and dismayed that Sue Grafton let me down. I was counting on her calculations to build that bunker in the back yard so I can start prepping for the end of the world. I've already started peeing in a jar... to prepare... yeah... prepare..."
(okay, I admit that went to a weird place. I'm not sure what I was going for here, but it obviously took a turn. I guess there was no way I could make a normal person reading her book - even in my hypothetical situation. What does this say about me??.)
Well, that's my sign to wrap things up. I ain't getting any less weird here. I'll bottle it back up until next time.
It was the saddest dance ever...
In this one, Kinsey is trying to find a woman who has been missing for over 30 years. And, like many of these books, it turns out that the police just needed Kinsey to go around annoying people until someone tries to kill her. I'm surprised that police forces across the country aren't inviting her to "consult" with them just so they can catch the killers when they go after her. It's like she's one of those drug-sniffing dogs and you know who has the drugs because the person tries to kill the dog. Yes, Kinsey is the dog here. I'm being nice to her by saying that because, in all reality, she is more like an ugly cat that shoves it ass in your face until you want to kill it.
No matter what she is, everyone wants to kill it.
Some things just take a little extra effort to kill. Kinsey is obviously one of them. The main point is to never give up.
Kinsey is not likely to breed at least. She is so abrasive and tacky that I can't even believe she has a man. Of course, he's probably gay and using her as a beard because gayness wasn't as acceptable back then. But still, he could get a better beard. Why have a tacky, scraggly beard when you could have a nice trimmed one?
A good beard can make all of the difference... Kinsey is the gross one, if you didn't know..
I mean, she tells us every single time she goes to the bathroom. I don't need to know! She tells us in every book about her underwear, whether or not they are clean. Again - don't want to know! She tells us how she pounds down an amount of food that would feed two teenage boys and then how she licks her fingers, or how she drags her fingers across the plate to lick the crumbs. Why? Why does she act like that in public? I mean, alone, in pjs, hair up, on the couch with nobody around and you want to binge eat like a pig and eat the chocolate that you dropped in your cleavage? That's fine. I mean, let's be real. But, she expressly tells us about how she drags her finger across her empty plate to lick up a drop of sauce while she is having dinner with clients or a date. That's a person who needs to take some etiquette lessons. She's just a giant hot mess. And, not the cute/quirky/funny type of hot-mess. The yucky type.
See? Simple etiquette makes the world a more comfortable place for everyone.
And the endless explanations? OMG, just fucking get to the bloody point already! If there is a tractor, we don't need to know the brand, year, how it operates, and a comparison analysis of other tractors like it. Just say "there was a tractor" period. That's all we need! But, hell no, we learn too much about tractors and everything else that could possibly be associated with them. There were pages and pages about the hole a tractor dug. Like, geometry. The degree of the angle of the hole, the way the tractor must have dug it, etc.... Was any of that important for the reader to know? No. Not at all. What did she think we were doing, diagramming out this hole on a piece of paper with a protractor and compass? Did she think we would write in letters if it turned out the tractor couldn't dig a hole at that angle? No matter how you deliver it, it's not interesting.
This is why people hate math in school. And those who loved math in school are far too intelligent to be reading this series. I can't see one lone nerd reading this book, then doing the math, and yelling, "hey! That angle isn't right for a hole that size! I'm shocked and dismayed that Sue Grafton let me down. I was counting on her calculations to build that bunker in the back yard so I can start prepping for the end of the world. I've already started peeing in a jar... to prepare... yeah... prepare..."
(okay, I admit that went to a weird place. I'm not sure what I was going for here, but it obviously took a turn. I guess there was no way I could make a normal person reading her book - even in my hypothetical situation. What does this say about me??.)
Well, that's my sign to wrap things up. I ain't getting any less weird here. I'll bottle it back up until next time.
September 21, 2021
This is probably the book I have enjoyed the most in the series so far. I think it was due to a change in structure with alternating chapters between past and present. For once we did not see everything from Kinsey's point of view but observed actual incidents from the past as they took place. It definitely added interest to the narrative.
In Kinsey takes on a cold case from thirty five years prior when Violet Sullivan left her home and was never seen again. As the book progresses we see events taking place regarding all the different parties involved at the time and then we observe Kinsey's progress with solving the case.
I enjoyed the constant forward momentum of this story with more emphasis on events and less on the descriptive passages which this author loves so much! The ending is short and sharp with little explanation and it becomes apparent that the reader needs to be very aware of every little comment made by the main players. While the 'who' was clear the 'why' was not so obvious to me. I had to go back and reread one chapter before I fully understood.
Definitely one of Grafton's best and I admire that she did not always stick to the tried and trusted ways of presenting her stories but tried different methods from time to time. This one really worked well.
In Kinsey takes on a cold case from thirty five years prior when Violet Sullivan left her home and was never seen again. As the book progresses we see events taking place regarding all the different parties involved at the time and then we observe Kinsey's progress with solving the case.
I enjoyed the constant forward momentum of this story with more emphasis on events and less on the descriptive passages which this author loves so much! The ending is short and sharp with little explanation and it becomes apparent that the reader needs to be very aware of every little comment made by the main players. While the 'who' was clear the 'why' was not so obvious to me. I had to go back and reread one chapter before I fully understood.
Definitely one of Grafton's best and I admire that she did not always stick to the tried and trusted ways of presenting her stories but tried different methods from time to time. This one really worked well.
March 15, 2023
S is for Silence is a unique addition to the Sue Grafton alphabet series starring Kinsey Millhone. This is #19, a missing person cold case, but that's not the unique part. Grafton has done cold cases before. Here, she breaks with the first-person mode of storytelling to flashback in third-person certain points of the novel. In essence, the flashbacks are providing context for what is transpiring in the present. Of course, the flashback is a story device that's supposed to provide context, but Grafton uses it here masterfully. This is not something that is in her typical bag of tricks, and to my mind completely refreshing. Daisy Sullivan has hired Kinsey to find her mother, Violet Sullivan, who used to be the town attention-hound, who disappeared over the July 4th weekend in 1953. It has been 35 years and Daisy needs to know what happened to her mother. Some people feel that she ran out on her family with some illicit lover, whereas others believe she may have been killed by someone tired of her trouble-making ways. Serena Station is a small Southern California town and as such, there is a close-knit community rife with secrets that shares gossip only within specific circles. Even though Violet Sullivan's daughter, Daisy is part of the community, her mother was not an example of civic pride, so there's not a huge rush to discover what really happened to Violet. As soon as Kinsey begins to make headway in the investigation, there's pushback, and if she persists on course things may turn violent.
October 17, 2019
This book takes on the style reminiscent of a TV show I enjoyed in the mid 2000's titled Cold Case where you were shown snippets from the past when the crime happened interwoven with the current day detectives revisiting the case. Sue Grafton captured that setting in book form very well with giving us different character POV's set back in 1953 and tying it to Kinsey's current investigation.
May 22, 2014
By far and away my least favourite of the Kinsey Millhone books. (All right, to be honest, I have only the vaguest of memories of all except the last. Still, I can't believe that I'd have read all those other books if they'd been like this one.) This had problems in several ways, and probably just one of them would have been enough to make me dislike the book, but combined it was pretty terrible. Digital audio loan from the library, thankfully, and at first I kept reading because I thought the problem was just with the flashbacks. Extensive, lengthy flashbacks, and that meant that we got little of Kinsey in her present (1987), and only one very brief scene with Henry. (Not enough Henry!)
The flashbacks concerned the missing woman, Violet, whose daughter Daisy hires Kinsey to look into her mother's disappearance in 1953. We got them from the point of view of Violet's babysitter, Liza (Lisa?), Liza's best friend Kathy, and then many (so very many) of the guys in the small town with whom Violet was involved in one way or another. Honestly, I know the 50s probably wasn't a great time for a lot of things - salesmen being a possible exception - but everyone was horrible. With the sole exception of Violet, the women were judgmental, snobbish and interfering, while the men were unfaithful and spent a lot of time comparing their sexually uninteresting wives to -- oh, Violet, of course. Even worse than this was the fact that Violet was the victim of domestic abuse (her husband Foley), everyone knew about it and the men despised Foley while the women typically blamed her for not trying to cover up the bruises. But - while I refuse to say that a victim of abuse "asked for it", the book almost seemed to be hellbent on pushing me in that direction, as Violet was a) selfish, b) played the victim card when it suited her, c) actually had plenty of money so she had a way TO GET OUT, about which she boasted all the time, to everyone, d) didn't care at all about leaving her daughter behind when she planned to leave, e) though she would never leave her dog, f) used sex as a means to get whatever she wanted, and, most awfully (I'll put this behind a spoiler because it is a bit, but seriously, I don't recommend any friends read this book)
There's a rather cheap bit of authorial withholding, which means that the eventual reveal of the killer is a surprise, but doesn't make much sense. Why make us listen to all those horrible people's doings in the past if only to trick us and that not very cleverly? Aside from that, Kinsey seems to lose *all* her smarts, although part of her characterization is that she's not great with the emotional stuff. Still and all, Liza, who was 14 at the time of Violet's disappearance, and her biggest fan, had a boyfriend, Ty, who'd been shipped out to stay with his aunt in this very small town, because he got a 13 year old girl pregnant back home. And he's not changed his ways, nor has he learned/figured out/decided he gives a crap about the fact that he doesn't bother to use some kind of protection and the girl gets pregnant, it's going to have a ton more consequences for the girl. He's - well, I put him in the category with all the other no-good males in the area - deliberately getting Liza drunk so he can overcome her resistance to his "going all the way", and putting a lot of pressure on her to just let him etc., etc. At one point she even thinks, muzzily because of the alcohol, that his pushing is kind of like Kathy's bullying, but hey, he says he loves her, so... This is only a mild, and really irrelevant spoiler, really, but if you don't want to get any, skip the rest of this paragraph. When Kinsey tracks him down, he's actually made a success of himself (!), and his wife has recently left him (!!), and he wonders how Liza's doing (!?), so Kinsey tells him that she's gorgeous (give me a break!), AND that he should get in contact with her, because Liza had called him "the love of her life", and gives him Liza's married name.
Finally, I'd just got a small bit of sympathy for the judgmental and self-centred Kathy in the flashback where it showed her feeling that she was losing Liza to both Ty and Violet and everyone was on her for needing to lose weight, and then there was back to the present time, where it proved conclusively that she was still a complete and utter wagon. In the middle of this was the nastiest little bit of fat-hatred, with a comparison between Liza who was "naturally slim" and Kathy, who'd worked like hell to lose the weight but had the body type that showed she was inevitably going to gain it back, no matter how hard she worked. Wow, and her hair frizzed in the humidity too, unlike Liza's, so how could she possibly be anything but nasty?
No, wait! The other thing I couldn't believe was that Kinsey was talking/thinking about the guy whose wife was dying of cancer, and said that as it was "female problems" (a second time she said it was uterine cancer) his sex life had probably been pretty lousy for a long time. Because yeah, if you're dying of cancer and it's NOT of your lady parts, well that should allow you to stay sexually (attr-)active enough to keep your husband from straying, but a "female" cancer...
It's obvious I'm pretty disgusted with this one, I'd say, but it did seem to come out of nowhere, so I'll read the next at some point. If there's anything like the rubbish in this one though, that's it.
The flashbacks concerned the missing woman, Violet, whose daughter Daisy hires Kinsey to look into her mother's disappearance in 1953. We got them from the point of view of Violet's babysitter, Liza (Lisa?), Liza's best friend Kathy, and then many (so very many) of the guys in the small town with whom Violet was involved in one way or another. Honestly, I know the 50s probably wasn't a great time for a lot of things - salesmen being a possible exception - but everyone was horrible. With the sole exception of Violet, the women were judgmental, snobbish and interfering, while the men were unfaithful and spent a lot of time comparing their sexually uninteresting wives to -- oh, Violet, of course. Even worse than this was the fact that Violet was the victim of domestic abuse (her husband Foley), everyone knew about it and the men despised Foley while the women typically blamed her for not trying to cover up the bruises. But - while I refuse to say that a victim of abuse "asked for it", the book almost seemed to be hellbent on pushing me in that direction, as Violet was a) selfish, b) played the victim card when it suited her, c) actually had plenty of money so she had a way TO GET OUT, about which she boasted all the time, to everyone, d) didn't care at all about leaving her daughter behind when she planned to leave, e) though she would never leave her dog, f) used sex as a means to get whatever she wanted, and, most awfully (I'll put this behind a spoiler because it is a bit, but seriously, I don't recommend any friends read this book)
There's a rather cheap bit of authorial withholding, which means that the eventual reveal of the killer is a surprise, but doesn't make much sense. Why make us listen to all those horrible people's doings in the past if only to trick us and that not very cleverly? Aside from that, Kinsey seems to lose *all* her smarts, although part of her characterization is that she's not great with the emotional stuff. Still and all, Liza, who was 14 at the time of Violet's disappearance, and her biggest fan, had a boyfriend, Ty, who'd been shipped out to stay with his aunt in this very small town, because he got a 13 year old girl pregnant back home. And he's not changed his ways, nor has he learned/figured out/decided he gives a crap about the fact that he doesn't bother to use some kind of protection and the girl gets pregnant, it's going to have a ton more consequences for the girl. He's - well, I put him in the category with all the other no-good males in the area - deliberately getting Liza drunk so he can overcome her resistance to his "going all the way", and putting a lot of pressure on her to just let him etc., etc. At one point she even thinks, muzzily because of the alcohol, that his pushing is kind of like Kathy's bullying, but hey, he says he loves her, so... This is only a mild, and really irrelevant spoiler, really, but if you don't want to get any, skip the rest of this paragraph. When Kinsey tracks him down, he's actually made a success of himself (!), and his wife has recently left him (!!), and he wonders how Liza's doing (!?), so Kinsey tells him that she's gorgeous (give me a break!), AND that he should get in contact with her, because Liza had called him "the love of her life", and gives him Liza's married name.
Finally, I'd just got a small bit of sympathy for the judgmental and self-centred Kathy in the flashback where it showed her feeling that she was losing Liza to both Ty and Violet and everyone was on her for needing to lose weight, and then there was back to the present time, where it proved conclusively that she was still a complete and utter wagon. In the middle of this was the nastiest little bit of fat-hatred, with a comparison between Liza who was "naturally slim" and Kathy, who'd worked like hell to lose the weight but had the body type that showed she was inevitably going to gain it back, no matter how hard she worked. Wow, and her hair frizzed in the humidity too, unlike Liza's, so how could she possibly be anything but nasty?
No, wait! The other thing I couldn't believe was that Kinsey was talking/thinking about the guy whose wife was dying of cancer, and said that as it was "female problems" (a second time she said it was uterine cancer) his sex life had probably been pretty lousy for a long time. Because yeah, if you're dying of cancer and it's NOT of your lady parts, well that should allow you to stay sexually (attr-)active enough to keep your husband from straying, but a "female" cancer...
It's obvious I'm pretty disgusted with this one, I'd say, but it did seem to come out of nowhere, so I'll read the next at some point. If there's anything like the rubbish in this one though, that's it.
November 2, 2018
Kinsey works the case of a missing woman. The woman has been missing for over 30 years, and her daughter hires to Kinsey to finally discover what happened to her mother. It's been many years, but Kinsey finds many people to question about the missing woman and the night she disappeared.
The 19th book in the Kinsey Millhone series. A missing person case about a woman who had a reputation around town, and nobody was surprised when she disappeared. It was never solved if she went on her own, or if she was killed. Enter Kinsey and her investigative skills. An intriguing and quick read.
The 19th book in the Kinsey Millhone series. A missing person case about a woman who had a reputation around town, and nobody was surprised when she disappeared. It was never solved if she went on her own, or if she was killed. Enter Kinsey and her investigative skills. An intriguing and quick read.
September 11, 2018
I suspected everyone.
September 5, 2019
Private Investigator Kinsey Millhone is hired by Daisy Sullivan. Daisy wants Kinsey to find her mother, Violet Sullivan. Violet disappeared thirty-four years ago when Daisy was a child. Daisy wants to know why she left. Did she run away with a boyfriend, or did someone kill her? Kinsey knows it is a long shot to find Violet after all of these years. She starts questioning people who were in contact with Violet on the last days before her disappearance. Many of them have nothing nice to say about her. Kinsey doesn't believe she is getting anywhere, until someone slashes her tires. Now she knows she has hit a nerve. This just makes her dig deeper.
It's been a long time since I read this series. I had forgotten that these books take a little while for me to get into. But, once I'm into the meat of the story, these books are hard to put down. There were a handful of suspects I kept jumping between. I did not guess the villain correctly. One thing I didn't like about this story was the flashbacks to 1953 that were told from the suspect's point-of-views. It almost felt like cheating since Kinsey did not have this information available to her. Still, it was a very good mystery. My rating: 4 Stars.
It's been a long time since I read this series. I had forgotten that these books take a little while for me to get into. But, once I'm into the meat of the story, these books are hard to put down. There were a handful of suspects I kept jumping between. I did not guess the villain correctly. One thing I didn't like about this story was the flashbacks to 1953 that were told from the suspect's point-of-views. It almost felt like cheating since Kinsey did not have this information available to her. Still, it was a very good mystery. My rating: 4 Stars.
May 7, 2012
2.5 but I'll round up to three stars.
It's been a few years since I read one of Grafton's books. I read R is for Ricochet when it came out, then nothing till last week.
I liked all the flashbacks, even though it felt a bit like whiplash moving between POV characters. But once I got used to it, I decided it was nicely done. I think Grafton managed to capture a lot of interesting characters and keep them fairly well defined. My favorite was Kathy, who starts off as a rich, selfish meddling teen and seems to get worse as she ages, even though she's married to her big crush.
What I didn't much care for was the lack of explanation for some characters' behavior. For example, Kathy's crush who ends up marrying her though he seemed to have no reason. She was the boss's daughter, but in the flashback, we don't see that the boss forces the young man into anything that would make him feel obligated to marry Kathy.
I also felt let down when the killer's identity was revealed. We don't get that scene to wrap up the why. Nearly every character had a reason to kill Violet Sullivan and I was expecting a Murder on the Orient Express conclusion where they all did it, because she was such an awful person. Because the victim was loved by no one, or not much. I didn't much care for her, but I did like the little glimpses of how each character was in the past (30 years earlier) and how they turned out in the present.
So, as far as a satisfying mystery: this didn't do it for me. But as a fun character study and a step back in time, it worked well.
It's been a few years since I read one of Grafton's books. I read R is for Ricochet when it came out, then nothing till last week.
I liked all the flashbacks, even though it felt a bit like whiplash moving between POV characters. But once I got used to it, I decided it was nicely done. I think Grafton managed to capture a lot of interesting characters and keep them fairly well defined. My favorite was Kathy, who starts off as a rich, selfish meddling teen and seems to get worse as she ages, even though she's married to her big crush.
What I didn't much care for was the lack of explanation for some characters' behavior. For example, Kathy's crush who ends up marrying her though he seemed to have no reason. She was the boss's daughter, but in the flashback, we don't see that the boss forces the young man into anything that would make him feel obligated to marry Kathy.
I also felt let down when the killer's identity was revealed. We don't get that scene to wrap up the why. Nearly every character had a reason to kill Violet Sullivan and I was expecting a Murder on the Orient Express conclusion where they all did it, because she was such an awful person. Because the victim was loved by no one, or not much. I didn't much care for her, but I did like the little glimpses of how each character was in the past (30 years earlier) and how they turned out in the present.
So, as far as a satisfying mystery: this didn't do it for me. But as a fun character study and a step back in time, it worked well.
June 13, 2007
As posted in [
Ever since *A is for Alibi*, I've been hooked to the Kinsey Millhone series. Therefore, Sue Grafton became one of my favorite authors. Throughout the series, some were great and some were not so great. Nonetheless, I was extremely excited to get the paperback edition of *S is for Silence*. I read this book every opportunity I could take advantage of.
It's 1987. Kinsey has been hired by Daisy Sullivan to find out whatever happened to her mother, Violet, who disappeared on 4th of July 1953.
4th of July 1953, Violet is getting herself ready for the festive night. In walks Liza Mellincamp, who has been hired to babysit Violet's 7 year old daughter, Daisy. Liza is in awe of Violet. Violet is ready and takes off with her new Pomeranian puppy, Baby, in her brand-new Bel Aire. She was never seen after this day.
34 years later, Daisy wants closure. She wants to know why if her mother left on her own volition. Kinsey returns to the little town where Violet lived before she disappeared. Just about 90% of the people who were there in '53 are still living there. Piece of cake, eh? Not quite so. However, Kinsey has been able to piece together the last days of Violet before she disappeared.
It was no secret that Violet was a flirt. Married men didn't stop her. It was also not a secret that she won a $50,000 lawsuit settlement. She wasn't afraid to brag about it.
The question is did she disappear on her own or was she killed? If she took off on her own, why? Was there a serious lover? If she was murdered, there are no shortage of suspects. Was it her abusive, now recovering alcoholic, husband? Was it the young salesman who sold her that car and was later fired? Was it one of the married men that she had an affair with and abruptly stopped the liasion? Was it one of the women, disgusted by Violet's absence of moral standards?
The book "toggles" between Kinsey's present time (1987), in one chapter, and the characters in 1953. *S* was an interesting change of routine. In the other series, she usually includes Henry, her landlord, Rosie, owner of a restaurant, and some lover. In *S*, they're barely mentioned. So, it was nice to see Kinsey interact more with her client and the people she interviewed.
Overall, a good book that I couldn't put down. Now, I'm just sad because I gotta wait forever before T comes out. Sue, hurry!
Ever since *A is for Alibi*, I've been hooked to the Kinsey Millhone series. Therefore, Sue Grafton became one of my favorite authors. Throughout the series, some were great and some were not so great. Nonetheless, I was extremely excited to get the paperback edition of *S is for Silence*. I read this book every opportunity I could take advantage of.
It's 1987. Kinsey has been hired by Daisy Sullivan to find out whatever happened to her mother, Violet, who disappeared on 4th of July 1953.
4th of July 1953, Violet is getting herself ready for the festive night. In walks Liza Mellincamp, who has been hired to babysit Violet's 7 year old daughter, Daisy. Liza is in awe of Violet. Violet is ready and takes off with her new Pomeranian puppy, Baby, in her brand-new Bel Aire. She was never seen after this day.
34 years later, Daisy wants closure. She wants to know why if her mother left on her own volition. Kinsey returns to the little town where Violet lived before she disappeared. Just about 90% of the people who were there in '53 are still living there. Piece of cake, eh? Not quite so. However, Kinsey has been able to piece together the last days of Violet before she disappeared.
It was no secret that Violet was a flirt. Married men didn't stop her. It was also not a secret that she won a $50,000 lawsuit settlement. She wasn't afraid to brag about it.
The question is did she disappear on her own or was she killed? If she took off on her own, why? Was there a serious lover? If she was murdered, there are no shortage of suspects. Was it her abusive, now recovering alcoholic, husband? Was it the young salesman who sold her that car and was later fired? Was it one of the married men that she had an affair with and abruptly stopped the liasion? Was it one of the women, disgusted by Violet's absence of moral standards?
The book "toggles" between Kinsey's present time (1987), in one chapter, and the characters in 1953. *S* was an interesting change of routine. In the other series, she usually includes Henry, her landlord, Rosie, owner of a restaurant, and some lover. In *S*, they're barely mentioned. So, it was nice to see Kinsey interact more with her client and the people she interviewed.
Overall, a good book that I couldn't put down. Now, I'm just sad because I gotta wait forever before T comes out. Sue, hurry!
September 29, 2015
In this the 19th in the Kinsey Millhone Alphabet Series by Sue Grafton, Kinsey is asked to investigate a cold case. What happened to Wife, Mother & town floozy Violet Sullivan, who disappeared 35 years ago? Most people still around from then, believe one of two scenarios. She left town with one of her many male “friends� or she was murdered by her abusive drunk husband Foley.
Not as much Kinsey in this book, as instead of being completely from her point of view, S jumps back & forth between Kinsey in the present & those involved with Violet in some way in the time leading up to her disappearance. So as the reader, you actually know a lot more about the victim & the suspects than Kinsey does for a change. I enjoyed the flashbacks (although there were a lot of characters & I did get them confused at times) but did miss what was happening in Kinsey’s life. Where was Henry? And what is going in with her & Cheney?
Overall, not one of my favourites in the series especially the ending which didn’t really give you the answers you wanted. We know the how & the who, but WHY?? But still an enjoyable read. I don’t think I can go wrong with Kinsey Millhone :)
Not as much Kinsey in this book, as instead of being completely from her point of view, S jumps back & forth between Kinsey in the present & those involved with Violet in some way in the time leading up to her disappearance. So as the reader, you actually know a lot more about the victim & the suspects than Kinsey does for a change. I enjoyed the flashbacks (although there were a lot of characters & I did get them confused at times) but did miss what was happening in Kinsey’s life. Where was Henry? And what is going in with her & Cheney?
Overall, not one of my favourites in the series especially the ending which didn’t really give you the answers you wanted. We know the how & the who, but WHY?? But still an enjoyable read. I don’t think I can go wrong with Kinsey Millhone :)
May 15, 2021
On July 4, 1953, Victoria Sullivan vanished without a trace and was never heard from again. Her abusive husband lived under the shadow of suspicion, and her then seven-year-old daughter, Daisy, has lived with the questions about what happened to her mother and why. And so, thirty-four years later, she hires PI Kinsey Millhone to try to finally solve this mystery. Kinsey is reluctant to take on the case. After all this time, what can she find? Yet, as she begins to poke around, she suspects that the people she is talking to know more than they’ve ever told the police or are telling her. Can she figure out what happened?
Cold cases can make excellent novels, and this is a perfect example. It is obvious early on that Kinsey is gaining new information, but how that is going to play out keeps us guessing until the end. I was certain I knew who it was, but I was wrong. Still, the ending did make sense to me. The characters are strong as always. Kinsey spends much of the book out of town, so we don’t see much of the regulars, which was disappointing, but a minor issue. While all the “modern� 1987 scenes are narrated from Kinsey’s first-person point of view, there are sections from other character’s point of view back in 1953. As good as some of those scenes are, sadly, there are some very graphic scenes in them. We could have easily done without them and it wouldn’t have impacted the story at all. I’m taking a star off for that. If you are a fan, be prepared to skim those scenes and you’ll still enjoy the book overall.
Read my full review at .
Cold cases can make excellent novels, and this is a perfect example. It is obvious early on that Kinsey is gaining new information, but how that is going to play out keeps us guessing until the end. I was certain I knew who it was, but I was wrong. Still, the ending did make sense to me. The characters are strong as always. Kinsey spends much of the book out of town, so we don’t see much of the regulars, which was disappointing, but a minor issue. While all the “modern� 1987 scenes are narrated from Kinsey’s first-person point of view, there are sections from other character’s point of view back in 1953. As good as some of those scenes are, sadly, there are some very graphic scenes in them. We could have easily done without them and it wouldn’t have impacted the story at all. I’m taking a star off for that. If you are a fan, be prepared to skim those scenes and you’ll still enjoy the book overall.
Read my full review at .
March 2, 2016
This book is different. Grafton employs a couple of strategies that are often used in mysteries today, the concept of the protagonist taking on a "cold case" (which Kinsey has done before) and the use of flashbacks...and the type of flashback that has a new chapter simply taking place in the past, making the cold case characters come alive as Kinsey investigates the in "the future". Grafton's future, the timeframe where she sets Kinsey, is 1987, and the disappearance she is tracking occurred in 1953.
Violet Sullivan is a bad girl. Red haired and extremely attractive, Violet disappears in her new car from Serena Station, a small California backwater town. She's been a victim of domestic abuse, but she leaves her small daughter, Daisy, behind, and takes her new Pomeranian with her. After many dysfunctional years of trying to forget, Daisy hires Kinsey, who comes to her attention through a friend. The case has Kinsey leaving her native Santa Teresa and sometime lover Cheney Phillips behind. Typical Kinsey haunts and friends are mentioned only fleetingly in this book. It's hard to know who wants Kinsey involved less....her own conscience, which says she'll probably not find anything, or folks in the little town, who seem to feel she's stirring up trouble.
Kinsey pries up a rock or two, and actually stumbles across the fate of Violet Sullivan, after learning about most (but not all) of Violet's affairs. The reader actually gets to see the way Violet meanders through the town's men, but in uncovering the person who did her harm, there are a lot of dead ends, and I confess that I didn't know the identity of who and what. That's what kept me reading. And although, true to form, when Grafton reveals, she shuts down the novel with very little afterplay, well, this book still gave life to what was a dying series. Kudos to Grafton for reviving her heroine and giving us a great read!
Violet Sullivan is a bad girl. Red haired and extremely attractive, Violet disappears in her new car from Serena Station, a small California backwater town. She's been a victim of domestic abuse, but she leaves her small daughter, Daisy, behind, and takes her new Pomeranian with her. After many dysfunctional years of trying to forget, Daisy hires Kinsey, who comes to her attention through a friend. The case has Kinsey leaving her native Santa Teresa and sometime lover Cheney Phillips behind. Typical Kinsey haunts and friends are mentioned only fleetingly in this book. It's hard to know who wants Kinsey involved less....her own conscience, which says she'll probably not find anything, or folks in the little town, who seem to feel she's stirring up trouble.
Kinsey pries up a rock or two, and actually stumbles across the fate of Violet Sullivan, after learning about most (but not all) of Violet's affairs. The reader actually gets to see the way Violet meanders through the town's men, but in uncovering the person who did her harm, there are a lot of dead ends, and I confess that I didn't know the identity of who and what. That's what kept me reading. And although, true to form, when Grafton reveals, she shuts down the novel with very little afterplay, well, this book still gave life to what was a dying series. Kudos to Grafton for reviving her heroine and giving us a great read!
August 1, 2024
It is 1987 in ‘S is for Silence�, #19 in this mystery series, and PI Kinsey Millhone arrives in Serena Station prepared to uncover old secrets and to disturb honest citizens. Her new client, Daisy Sullivan, has decided the disappearance of her mother, the neighborhood sexpot, in 1953, has become an unbearable taint on her life that she has been unable to move past. Daisy has the lingering suspicion that her father, Foley, an alcoholic, had something to do with her mother’s disappearance.
Violet Sullivan had her way with every important businessman in the little town. She had a husband who beat her up and a little girl, but none of that slowed her down. During the days leading up to when she vanished, she had connived, tricked and argued until she had a brand new car, a Bel Air Coupe. One of the whoppers everyone remembers her telling that week too was how she had $50,000, but since Foley had been paying off the car for years after Violet was gone, stamped lie to that claim. Or is that why she left?
If she left.
It was the fourth of July, and most everyone had gone to watch fireworks. Well, not everyone. By the time everyone was back home later that night, Violet and her new car had vanished!
I was a little bit unsatisfied by this Kinsey Millhone mystery, but never mind. It is a perfectly respectable mystery and a good, if a tad bit pro forma, beach read. The characters were a touch too flat, and I definitely missed Kinsey's usual friends and neighbors. However, the distinct whiff of the repressed environment of the 1950's, shown in flashbacks alternating with Kinsey's present time of 1987, put me off a bit on reading this novel. I hated the 1950's decade.
Violet Sullivan had her way with every important businessman in the little town. She had a husband who beat her up and a little girl, but none of that slowed her down. During the days leading up to when she vanished, she had connived, tricked and argued until she had a brand new car, a Bel Air Coupe. One of the whoppers everyone remembers her telling that week too was how she had $50,000, but since Foley had been paying off the car for years after Violet was gone, stamped lie to that claim. Or is that why she left?
If she left.
It was the fourth of July, and most everyone had gone to watch fireworks. Well, not everyone. By the time everyone was back home later that night, Violet and her new car had vanished!
I was a little bit unsatisfied by this Kinsey Millhone mystery, but never mind. It is a perfectly respectable mystery and a good, if a tad bit pro forma, beach read. The characters were a touch too flat, and I definitely missed Kinsey's usual friends and neighbors. However, the distinct whiff of the repressed environment of the 1950's, shown in flashbacks alternating with Kinsey's present time of 1987, put me off a bit on reading this novel. I hated the 1950's decade.
February 20, 2022
Excellent read. Whether you read the series 'in order' or kind of jump around, it's one of Ms. Grafton's best. (Her books are good overall, but this one is superb.)
Kinsey Millhone, single and female, PI, southern California, is asked to look into the disappearance of a woman from over thirty years ago. (This book is set in 1987, so the disappearance is set in 1953.) Her daughter wants to know, finally, whether her mother did walk out on her (and the daughter's father) or if something else happened to her.
This book is very straightforward, loaded with details about Kinsey's methods, which actually add up to a lot of talking. To those who knew the women; those who fooled around with her; those who were her neighbors, friends, critics and otherwise. And, like many a mystery story - or in real life - there are those who hedge, avoid, lie, exaggerate and just plain don't know too much. The book also takes place over two time periods: 1953 and thirty years later, but neither part give away too much about the other. (Does this make sense? Yeah, sort of.)
We see Violet, the soon-to-be-missing person living her life with an abusive husband, a few friends, her daughter (who's seven at the time) and her daughter's babysitter. Everyone has an angle; everyone wants something, but few ever get what they really want.
Then we juxtapose to Kinsey as she talks to people and doggedly tracks down old bills, old directories, wills and deeds trying to figure who had most to gain if Violet simply went off the tracks. (Or, who might have had a reason to help her disappear?) It's a complex story and I only got confused a little as there are several 'older' male characters - each of whom was tres importante! - and I tended to mix them up. Writing down a few facts about each might have helped...
Regardless, intriguing story, one which I read straight through in two days.
Five stars.
Kinsey Millhone, single and female, PI, southern California, is asked to look into the disappearance of a woman from over thirty years ago. (This book is set in 1987, so the disappearance is set in 1953.) Her daughter wants to know, finally, whether her mother did walk out on her (and the daughter's father) or if something else happened to her.
This book is very straightforward, loaded with details about Kinsey's methods, which actually add up to a lot of talking. To those who knew the women; those who fooled around with her; those who were her neighbors, friends, critics and otherwise. And, like many a mystery story - or in real life - there are those who hedge, avoid, lie, exaggerate and just plain don't know too much. The book also takes place over two time periods: 1953 and thirty years later, but neither part give away too much about the other. (Does this make sense? Yeah, sort of.)
We see Violet, the soon-to-be-missing person living her life with an abusive husband, a few friends, her daughter (who's seven at the time) and her daughter's babysitter. Everyone has an angle; everyone wants something, but few ever get what they really want.
Then we juxtapose to Kinsey as she talks to people and doggedly tracks down old bills, old directories, wills and deeds trying to figure who had most to gain if Violet simply went off the tracks. (Or, who might have had a reason to help her disappear?) It's a complex story and I only got confused a little as there are several 'older' male characters - each of whom was tres importante! - and I tended to mix them up. Writing down a few facts about each might have helped...
Regardless, intriguing story, one which I read straight through in two days.
Five stars.
April 3, 2021
5 Kinsey Stars
* * * * * Quick Only $1.99!!!
A 2013 Listing Of My Books When I Joined Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ.
I was obsessed with these books when I read mystery and thrillers. I cannot remember when I first discovered her, but what I loved wholeheartedly was the way Kinsey was so independent and tough, yet had heart. There was this special relationship she had with a fellow investigator or cop I think, and that caught me too.
Ms. Grafton refused to sell the film and television rights and never had a ghostwriter. She passed in 2017 and this means for the Grafton family and fans, the Alphabet series ends in Y.
S is for Silence (Kinsey Millhone, #19)
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For more Reviews, Free E-books and Giveaways
* * * * * Quick Only $1.99!!!
A 2013 Listing Of My Books When I Joined Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ.
I was obsessed with these books when I read mystery and thrillers. I cannot remember when I first discovered her, but what I loved wholeheartedly was the way Kinsey was so independent and tough, yet had heart. There was this special relationship she had with a fellow investigator or cop I think, and that caught me too.
Ms. Grafton refused to sell the film and television rights and never had a ghostwriter. She passed in 2017 and this means for the Grafton family and fans, the Alphabet series ends in Y.
S is for Silence (Kinsey Millhone, #19)
/review/show...
For more Reviews, Free E-books and Giveaways
February 17, 2025
One of the things I like about the series is the consistency of the books, it's like mastering a recipe and being able to reproduce a perfect dish over and over again.
While the last book had minimal development on the character of Kinsey, this one is surprisingly clear of anything but the investigation at hand, which was sad, because the presence of the other troupe of fixed characters around kinsey were always a fun part of the book.
MiM
While the last book had minimal development on the character of Kinsey, this one is surprisingly clear of anything but the investigation at hand, which was sad, because the presence of the other troupe of fixed characters around kinsey were always a fun part of the book.
MiM
June 23, 2019
One of the better Kinsey Millhone mysteries - a cold case from 34 years earlier. I found the ending a little unsatisfactory, so only four stars.
July 7, 2018
I both liked and didn’t like this story. I like the cold case aspect and I really liked watching how the disappearance of Violet affected each character over time. Sue Grafton did an excellent job of telling the past through the eyes of so many characters that it gave the reader a great deal of suspects who each had their own reasons for being glad Violet disappeared. What I didn’t like was that Violet was not a likable person and I found myself wondering why her daughter cared so much. Also this was a repeat of other cases where a small town warns Kinsey off the case and then someone does something to try to deter her. It seemed almost like I had read the story before. Kinsey also seems to be getting closer to the people involved in the case to point of it almost impairing her judgement on certain items.
July 29, 2016
This was exactly what I was in the mood for! I have always enjoyed this series and it's so great that Grafton is still keeping me so entertained. This one really checked all my boxes. I loved all the flashbacks and that the mystery involved the town tramp. It was also great that I thought for sure I had it figured out and then I was wrong. What!?! HeeHee! I just loved this one and after 19 books, that's really saying something.
June 4, 2010
If Grafton had been on the next letter, she could have called it T is for Trashy. I wanted a lighter, familiar read, what I got was a trashy, predictable read. You'd think by this point in the alphabet Grafton would have gotten the hang of character development. Not one character shows growth or redemption. Around page 200 I was ready to quit, I should have.
May 12, 2022
I've read this entire series, but sometimes I go back and re-listen to a random letter of the alphabet when my memory has faded enough to make the story feel just fresh enough. I read the blurb for S and was like, "I don't remember this one" and it took all of the first chapter and the description of Violet's kimono to start jogging my memory. It still took me some time to recall the baddie though.
I had forgotten how good this one was - mainly because as much as I do like the recurring secondary characters, Grafton had this habit of them taking up too much oxygen in the story. Kinsey is on the road here, so there's no Rosie or William (thank the Lord) and just a brief bit of Henry. Kinsey's investigation and POV is broken up with flashback chapters featuring the various players in the mystery and most of these were fine - but all of these folks are fairly odious and/or annoying so I was always relieved to get back to Kinsey chapters.
A stronger book in the series.
I had forgotten how good this one was - mainly because as much as I do like the recurring secondary characters, Grafton had this habit of them taking up too much oxygen in the story. Kinsey is on the road here, so there's no Rosie or William (thank the Lord) and just a brief bit of Henry. Kinsey's investigation and POV is broken up with flashback chapters featuring the various players in the mystery and most of these were fine - but all of these folks are fairly odious and/or annoying so I was always relieved to get back to Kinsey chapters.
A stronger book in the series.
August 29, 2021
I didn't have a problem with the book's POV shifts between the 50s & 80s as many other reviewers did; I actually enjoyed the break from Kinsey's POV. Unfortunately, the ending was no real ending. The reader is left hanging because you got no explanation at all about the killer. We got one flashback from Tom and he seemingly found a way to get the money he needed (from his wife's dead husband's money) so what exactly was the motive to kill Violet? Was he just extra greedy and wanted to steal from her too and bury her alive? We get zero explanation for the "resolution" of the story.
Also, as I read in another reviewer's notes, most of these men were in their late 30s to 40s when Violet disappeared so 35 years later and they're in their late 60s/early 70s yet none act their age. Tom is secretly running around slashing tires & no one hears or sees him. Kinsey couldn't get away from a 70 year old man? Tom & his partner in the bar beating the hell out of patrons (Foley should sue the heck out of them/Tom's estate for the unnecessary brutality); the book just ignores the age of the elderly men in the story at times that makes the scenarios ridiculous.
Just a town of unlikable people who never seemed to get any better over time. Throw in an ending that answered no questions and it make for an unlikable book as well
Also, as I read in another reviewer's notes, most of these men were in their late 30s to 40s when Violet disappeared so 35 years later and they're in their late 60s/early 70s yet none act their age. Tom is secretly running around slashing tires & no one hears or sees him. Kinsey couldn't get away from a 70 year old man? Tom & his partner in the bar beating the hell out of patrons (Foley should sue the heck out of them/Tom's estate for the unnecessary brutality); the book just ignores the age of the elderly men in the story at times that makes the scenarios ridiculous.
Just a town of unlikable people who never seemed to get any better over time. Throw in an ending that answered no questions and it make for an unlikable book as well
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 13, 2013
Fans of Sue Grafton will say that she never writes the same book twice and I agree with this but in S is Silence she definitely harkens back to a couple of her previous stories. The story immediately reminded me of Q is for Quarry and N is for Noose. That is not to say that I didn’t enjoy the book. I did. But for the first time I felt she was recycling ideas.
Kinsey is hired to find out what happened to Violet Sullivan 30-some years ago. She disappeared without a trace leaving a 7 year old daughter who, as an adult, needs to know what happened to her.
All the major players are still in the area and it’s a matter of getting them all to talk. All the old feelings come bubbling to the surface as Kinsey investigates and she stirs up some secrets that some people don’t want stirred up.
The thing that is quite different about this book is the technique Sue Grafton uses to write it. It flashes back and forth between the year of the murder and the present day. I think it works well for the story. I’ve read other authors who tried this and didn’t do it nearly as well. It’s an effective technique when done well and this is. While the story may be reminiscent of some earlier books, it’s still a very enjoyable read.
Kinsey is hired to find out what happened to Violet Sullivan 30-some years ago. She disappeared without a trace leaving a 7 year old daughter who, as an adult, needs to know what happened to her.
All the major players are still in the area and it’s a matter of getting them all to talk. All the old feelings come bubbling to the surface as Kinsey investigates and she stirs up some secrets that some people don’t want stirred up.
The thing that is quite different about this book is the technique Sue Grafton uses to write it. It flashes back and forth between the year of the murder and the present day. I think it works well for the story. I’ve read other authors who tried this and didn’t do it nearly as well. It’s an effective technique when done well and this is. While the story may be reminiscent of some earlier books, it’s still a very enjoyable read.
October 1, 2007
I love Sue Grafton! I bought this book a few weeks ago and have been saving it as my plane read for my trip to Scotland. Grafton never disappoints. The style of this book was different from her typical writing in that Grafton uses flashback techniques to tell her story. While many writers might reveal too much or give us clues to enable the reader to figure out "who did it," Grafton keeps us hanging with just enough information. I was in suspense until the very last chapter.
I will say that I missed my usual dose of Kinsey Millhone. While the flashbacks were intriguing, the didn't allow for much character development of Kinsey, which is one of my favorite elements of a Grafton mystery.
I will say that I missed my usual dose of Kinsey Millhone. While the flashbacks were intriguing, the didn't allow for much character development of Kinsey, which is one of my favorite elements of a Grafton mystery.
April 18, 2020
Kinsey Millhone mystery No. 19: In which Kinsey investigates another cold case. This time most of the people involved in this reopened case 30+ years ago are still around! A good mystery thriller, almost Agatha Christie-esque with a broad range of suspects all with possible motives. 5 out of 12.
August 12, 2017
The """sex""" scene between 17 year old Ty and 14 year old Liza was absolutely rape. I'm disgusted that it wasn't portrayed as such and that there was talk of them getting back in touch.
Good book other than that, but 1 star due to this.
Good book other than that, but 1 star due to this.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 1, 2021
I really enjoyed this one except for one thing, to me Sue Grafton rushed the ending and Kinsey always have great endings and everything is usually tied up in a pretty bow, this one not so much!
February 22, 2021
I have to say that this one was a bit weird. It takes place in the past, present, and then we jump forward a few months and we find out things in the next book about what occurred to Kinsey. We get hints about things, but nothing firm which I thought was an odd choice. I have so many Grafton books on my shelve, and I was so happy to buy this one back in 2005. It's still in good shape, and it was fun to take out this weekend and finish it off. One thing you can always say about Sue Grafton's books, they tend to fly by.
"S is for Silence" follows Kinsey as she is asked to look into the case of Violet Sullivan. Violet went missing back in 1953, and now in 1987, Daisy (Violet's daughter) hopes that Kinsey could track down what happened to her mother. When Kinsey reluctantly agrees to take on the case, she starts to find out more about Violet and those around her that loved and hated her.
Kinsey for once seems like a bit player in this story. And that's because Grafton changes up how she writes this one.
This was one of the first books that Grafton did past/present scenes with which also had other characters taking over the story from Kinsey. I didn't think it worked out entirely, but it was a good first effort, and when Grafton changes up the narration in the future to follow this model, it works out much more smoothly in my opinion.
We follow other characters like Liza (Violet's babysitter) and Liza's best friend Kathy. And some of the men who were involved with or hoped to be involved with Violet. One thing Grafton did well was showing the snakes under rocks in small towns.
The ending I thought was really great and I have to say that I get why Kinsey ended up being annoyed with Daisy. But there seems to be a semblance of some "hope" or something springing from this case.
"S is for Silence" follows Kinsey as she is asked to look into the case of Violet Sullivan. Violet went missing back in 1953, and now in 1987, Daisy (Violet's daughter) hopes that Kinsey could track down what happened to her mother. When Kinsey reluctantly agrees to take on the case, she starts to find out more about Violet and those around her that loved and hated her.
Kinsey for once seems like a bit player in this story. And that's because Grafton changes up how she writes this one.
This was one of the first books that Grafton did past/present scenes with which also had other characters taking over the story from Kinsey. I didn't think it worked out entirely, but it was a good first effort, and when Grafton changes up the narration in the future to follow this model, it works out much more smoothly in my opinion.
We follow other characters like Liza (Violet's babysitter) and Liza's best friend Kathy. And some of the men who were involved with or hoped to be involved with Violet. One thing Grafton did well was showing the snakes under rocks in small towns.
The ending I thought was really great and I have to say that I get why Kinsey ended up being annoyed with Daisy. But there seems to be a semblance of some "hope" or something springing from this case.
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