books | "u is for undertow"

by sue grafton. (hardcover, 2009)

How much do I love Sue Grafton's PI heroine Kinsey Millhone? Thorough and reliable, she can always be counted on to root out the action from seemingly mundane details or supposedly unrelated events. This alphabet series is winding to an end, and I'm torn between wanting to experience the conclusion and hoping "Z" doesn't come just yet.

Grafton takes her time with these books, adhering to that '80s timeline (though some language may be starting to slip. Were phrases like 'bio-dad' common parlance in the Reagan era?) and checking in on beloved background characters Henry and Rosie. Shaking up the format in recent installments has been a success, approaching the stories from multiple perspectives without abandoning Kinsey's familiar voice. "U" explores the case of a botched kidnapping when an eyewitness suddenly comes forward two decades after the fact.

It's always satisfying to watch the pieces slowly come together, and "U" is a fun trip back in time that further illuminates the history of the series' fictional Santa Teresa setting as well as Kinsey's once-murky family history. I can't help but wonder if these subplots are setting up a major climax for the series, or if Grafton will keep an even keel to the end.

Wikipedia suggests the series is scheduled to end in 2019. I've been reading these for just shy of ten years (though "A" debuted in 1982), and as much as I'm sure the end will be bittersweet, I can't stand to wait another entire decade for the finale.