Sue Grafton - U is for Undertow

Review by Ro Guru Bennett on show 16th Sept 2010
This is the latest of the Sue Grafton novels about Kinsey Millhone who is the twice divorced owner and sole employee of her own PI firm, who for some bizarre reason lives in a garage. These books started with A is for Alibi and Sue Grafton’s introduction to the very first book made me chuckle. She wrote: ‘For months I lay in bed and plotted how to kill my ex-husband. But I knew I’d bungle it and get caught, so I wrote it in a book instead.’ This book is the twenty first in the series so she has obviously carried a serious grudge against her ex for some years!

I have read and enjoyed all the books - although one reviewer referred to the first book as mindless trash - in each you learn a little bit more about the main characters and Kinsey’s background, upbringing and relationships and her writing style have evolved over the years. I think they are more sophisticated now, but I’m not sure I like them more for that. The first ones were shorter with less content, but still a feel-good read.
This is the blurb from the back of the book:

‘When I was a little kid I was playing in the woods and I came across 2 guys digging a hole, I remember seeing a bundle on the ground a few feet away... now I believe it was Marie Claire’s body and they were burying her...’

In 1960s Santa Teresa, California, a child is kidnapped and never returned.

20 years later Michael Sutton contacts private detective Kinsey Malone for help. He claims to have recalled a strange and disturbing memory which just might provide the key to the mystery. He believes he stumbled across the kidnappers burying MC Fitzhugh’s body.
Michael’s account is indistinct - he was only 6 years old at the time of the kidnapping - and even members of his family try to discredit his evidence. But Kinsey is certain that there is something vital within Michael’s recollections. And while stepping back into the past, Kinsey discovers more about her own history too....

U is Grafton’s most structurally complex psychologically potent book to date.
A clever story cunningly unravelled.
Sue Grafton has become one of the most popular female writers, both in the UK and in the US. Born in Kentucky in 1940, she began her career as a TV scriptwriter before Kinsey Millhone and the 'alphabet' series took off. She plans to take Kinsey all the way through the alphabet to Z. Sue lives and writes in Montecito, California and Louisville, Kentucky.
The reviews are mixed for U is for Undertow, some reckon the latest books are past their best but others still rave about it. It’s not my favourite - I found it a bit convoluted, but I still enjoyed it.

review by Guru Bennet