In S is for Silence, Kinsey Milhone is hot on the trail again, but this time it's a cold case. After nineteen novels, if you've read one or more you probably feel that you know Kinsey, so most things about her are familiar. If not, plan on going back in the series and reading more.

The story telling is a departure from the usual, because we have lots of flash backs to the missing woman named Violet Sullivan who disappeared on Independence Day in 1953. Violet's daughter Daisy was only seven when her mother disappeared. Now she wants to know if she's dead or alive. Did she abandon Daisy or did something happen to her. And what happened to a brand new car and $50,000 Violet claimed to have received from an accident settlementand squirreled away ?

Kinsey has no trouble learning that Violet was a free spirit who didn't have the greatest reputation around town, but was a real dreamgirl to many guys who shouldn't have been dreaming. She drove off in a new car she managed to wrangle between threatening to leave her abusive, no-good husband and charming the car dealer to make a great deal and turn his head the other way when it came to hubby's bad credit. Unfortunately for the car dealer, he imagined Violet as more than a customer.

Sue Grafton, in her great style, leads the reader on a twisted path until the case is solved. If you want to find out what happens, I suggest you settle into a cozy chair, get a cup of tea or your favorite beverage, and jump into the story feet first. She'll keep your mind hopping while you try to figure out whodunit and what actually happened!

MORGAN ST. JAMES
Silver Sisters Mysteries
www.silversistersmysteries.com
A CORPSE IN THE SOUP
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Let's go back to 1953. A small town, an "Easy" married woman whose looked down upon & her new Chevy. One Fourth of July weekend she disappears never to be seen or heard from again. 34 years later her disappearance is revisited by her daughter & a PI. Did the woman, Violet Sullivan, meet with an untimely end or did she take her secret stash of cash & move on in life? Did she leave to escape her abusive alcoholic husband, leaving her 7 year old daughter behind? We don't know.
A cast of characters unfolds, in which most any of them could be suspect of Violet's disappearance; if in fact Violet met an untimely end. What actually happened with her needs to be discovered.
Ms. Grafton eventually takes the reader & each character back to 1953 in a devoted chapter. These chapters help build the reader's suspense.
The mystery is nicely played out & I found the book well written. I found it a little long in it's descriptions at times, but by no means boring.
I did find the culmination at the end came off a bit too quickly to fit the story. The climax in the last couple of pages became anti-climatic. If not for the ending, I believe I would have gone with 5 stars. If you like a whodunit, this is a very good read

I'm a huge fan of Sue Grafton, but I was less than pleased with her approach to writing this one. True, I still give it four stars because, gosh darn it, it's such a great mystery, but when someone has developed a character as strong as Kinsey you tend to miss that character when the story is interrupted by flashbacks.

Fortunately, the characters domineering the flashbacks are strong, complex, and interesting,and Kinsey continues to hold her own in the modern world. I suppose it is all necessary for keeping the story moving with the many scenarios.

Why do I always get heartburn when I read Sue Grafton's mysteries? Answer: her PI, Kinsey Millhone's diet of spicy foods followed by beer or a few cocktails that's why. I love how Kinsey is as spicy as her food choices and at times, haphazard as one can be after a few when in chasing down the bad guys. And there's plenty of bad guys in S is for Silence. Grafton's characters are bad, good and ugly, but never, every dull and ordinary. Every time I was sure I figured out "who done it" Grafton pulled rug out from under my guess. I'm going all the way to Z with her.

I LOVED THIS BOOK. THEN AGAIN I LOVE ALL OF SUE GRAFTON BOOKS. ESPECIALLY HER KINSEY MILLHONE MYSTERIES. I CANT WAIT TILL SHE WRITES A NEW ONE. I GOT HOOKED FROM THE VERY BEGINING. AFTER I READ THEM I PASS THEM ON AND I ALWAYS GET A HEY THAT BOOK WAS AWSOME!!!!!!!!!