Starred review from September 17, 2007
The 20th Kinsey Millhone crime novel (after 2005's S Is for Silence
), a gripping, if depressing, tale of identify theft and elder abuse, displays bestseller Grafton's storytelling gifts. By default, Millhone, “a private investigator in the small Southern California town of Santa Teresa,” assumes responsibility for the well-being of an old neighbor, Gus Vronsky, injured in a fall. After Vronsky's great-niece arranges to hire a home aide, Solana Rojas, Millhone begins to suspect that Rojas is not all that she seems. Since the reader knows from the start that an unscrupulous master manipulator has stolen the Rojas persona, the plot focuses not on whodunit but on the battle of wits Millhone wages with an unconventional and formidable adversary. Grafton's mastery of dialogue and her portrayal of the limits of good intentions make this one of the series' high points, even if two violent scenes near the end tidy up the pieces a little too neatly. Author tour.
Starred review from October 1, 2007
Grafton tackles identity theft and elder abuse in her 20th Kinsey Millhone mystery (after "S Is for Silence"). Gus Vronsky, Kinsey's elderly next-door neighbor, suffers a fall and needs in-home care. A health-care nurse named Solana Rojas is hired, and Kinsey even does the background check, finding nothing out of order. As Gus's condition deteriorates and Solana limits access to her patient, Kinsey and her landlord, Henry, suspect that something is a little off with Solanaand "little off" doesn't fully describe this identity thief and true sociopath. Digging around more carefully, Kinsey unearths horrifying details of Solana's past and must act quickly to save Gus. This is vintage Grafton, set in the 1980s but scarily current, carefully plotted, and fast paced. Kinsey even flirts with healthful eating (vegetables are consumed), but the reader soon sighs with relief when Kinsey returns to her old habits, frequenting the drive-thru at McDonald's and enjoying pal Rosie's hearty Hungarian fare. Recommended for all public libraries. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ" 8/07.]Andrea Y. Griffith, Loma Linda Univ. Libs., CA
Copyright 2007 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
September 15, 2007
Grafton focuses on the soul-wrenching trespasses of elder abuse and identity theft in her latest Kinsey Millhone mystery. Private eye Millhone has an elderly, nasty neighbor who falls victim to a sociopath. The narrative shuttles between Millhones first-person narration and the point of view of the sociopath, a woman who has stolen a nurses identity, has committed murder, and finds caring for the elderly a profitable way to clean up fast. This double-narrative device works especially well here: were both entertained by Millhones hard-earned cynicism and horrified by the sociopaths calm assessment of what people are vulnerable and how she can play them. Grafton turns in an unnerving account of the forms that elder abuse currently takes, from home care through institutional neglect. She also is utterly knowledgeable about identity theft. The book drags quite a bit, though, since its obvious from the start that Millhone will uncover the nurses wrongdoings.The writing also suffers from the unnecessary insertion of details about Millhone jogging, doing errands, and slogging through routine paperwork. As Grafton makes her way through the alphabet, not only is she using every letter, but, in this book at least, she seems to use every letter thousands of unnecessary times.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)
Starred review from December 24, 2007
Tony award–winner Judy Kaye has been the voice of private eye Kinsey Millhone since the beginning, and 19 titles later, she's still an inspired choice, capturing the character's unique combination of femininity and ruggedness, intelligence, street savvy and self-confidence with just a hint of uncertainty. Trespass
is possibly a series best. Both reader and sleuth are working at full tilt as Kinsey interacts with a large cast. Her foremost opponent is the devious and homicidal black widow who has spun a web around the detective's aged and infirmed next door neighbor. Grafton deviates from Kinsey's narration to delve into the killer's history and mind-set, underlining the seriousness of her threat. Kaye offers a crisp, chillingly cold aural portrait of a sociopath capable of anything. Kaye's spot-on interpretation of the two very different leading characters would be praiseworthy enough, but she's just as effective in capturing the elderly men and women, the screechy landladies, the drawling rednecks, the velvet-tongued smooth operators, the fast talking lawyers and all the inhabitants of Kinsey's world. Simultaneous release with the Putnam hardcover (Reviews, Sept. 17).