“W is for Wasted” by Sue Grafton – Wasted Lives

W is for Wasted by Sue Grafton is a pretty standard (as far as the formula goes) detective novel, starring Kinsey Millhone in her twenty-third appearance on paper. This time around, the mystery is a double-edged one as Kinsey must crack two seemingly-unrelated cases. 

The first one is the murder of a local private investigator who was known to be the sleazy kind, gunned down at the beach. The second case is a bit more curious, as a few weeks after the PI’s death a vagrant John Doe was found dead on the same beach. 

To make matters more interesting, the vagrant had Kinsey’s number in his pocket, and turns out to be a relative of hers, leaving her with more than half a million dollars.

As one would expect from Sue Grafton and other novels of a similar nature, the two cases are indeed related, but it does take a considerable amount of time for our beloved protagonist to uncover the missing links. 

On that note, to get the bad things about the book out of the way, it has to be said that there aren’t really that many clever and unpredictable plot twists, not to mention that on numerous occasions Grafton seems to drag the story on before making any substantial revelations. The less patient of you will most certainly find that aspect of the book unappealing… with that being said though, do not mistake this for a bad or an incompetent book.

W is for Wasted by Sue Grafton (book cover)
As far as being a mystery goes, W is for Wasted is a very solid effort and his its fair share of qualities to keep the reader interested. For starters, the nature of the mystery itself is, let’s admit it, rather intriguing, especially with the whole aspect of the mysterious relative that never fails to capture your attention. 

Also, nearly every single one of the characters is multi-dimensional and very well-detailed, none of them being crafted according to stereotypes or anything of the sort. As a matter of fact, I found that watching the results of different personalities clashing against one another to be a very welcome entertainment factor, even sometimes bordering on comedy.

All in all, if you are longing to read a good old-style murder mystery starring one of the most likeable and interesting protagonists you are going to meet, then I definitely recommend you check this book out. It won’t blow your socks off, but it will give you a satisfying sense of fulfillment.

Sue Taylor Grafton (April 24, 1940 – December 28, 2017)

Sue Taylor Grafton
(April 24, 1940 – December 28, 2017)


Personal site

Sue Grafton has captured the minds of readers all over the world for many years now, penning the famous Kinsey Mallone Alphabet Mysteries and criminal novels which become internationally-acclaimed, such as “C” is for Corpse and V is for Vengeance.



Comments

  1. Marika from MysterysequelsSeptember 30, 2013 at 5:34 AM

    Have to catch up on the series, I am a few letters behind, so still some way to go until I get to W. Wondering how the author will go on once all the letters are done with.

    ReplyDelete

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