Y is for Yesterday

BOTTOM-LINE: A good last book, not an awesome one . PLOT OR PREMISE: With Sue Grafton's death, there will be no Z book, so this is the last official Kinsey story. In it, she looks back at a cold case where four rich students filmed the rape of a young girl, someone stole the tape and was murdered, a court case sent two to jail, and the ringleader skipped town. Fast-forward, one of the jailed ones is out of prison, and he receives a copy of the missing tape with a blackmail demand. The parents want Kinsey's help to ensure they only pay once, or ideally, not at all. . WHAT I LIKED: As with previous cold cases, the story bops back and forth between the past and the present. Unlike the previous books, the jumps back don't seem as jarring, and the "kids" in the past seem realistic. Angst, jealousy, bravado, all of it. . WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: The story drags a bit in the present getting to the end, and the premise of all the kids in the present still being in contact together is really far-fetched. The explanation of what exactly happened in the past for the murdered girl was great right up until the murder. And the epilogue is extremely unsatisfying. . DISCLOSURE: I received no compensation, not even a free copy, in exchange for this review. I am not personal friends with the author, nor do I follow her on social media.

Flipping between 1979 & 1989, Kinsey I hired to find out who is blackmailing a recently released man. A privileged youth, the man, now 25, was the trigger man while just a sophomore in high school, 8 years before (1979). The victim was another privileged youth, a young lady named Sloan. Upon his release, a videotape of the man & his friends sexually assaulting a 14 year old girl. Kinsey delves into the past murder incident, the gang of private high school kids, and the videotape. Her nemesis and would-be murderer, Ned, returns to Kinsey's life while she's investigating the extortion. Complex & multiple incidents make this penultimate Kinsey novel another solid read, making me wish Ms. Grafton would re-start the alphabet or perhaps move on to numbers...both her mastery of the craft and her plots have made this series a Must Read for readers. I hope she intends to write more novels, with or without beloved PI Kinsey. Respectfully Submitted...

As always with Sue Grafton her book was great. I sincerely wish we could have gotten an ending to this amazing series and our hearts will be forever grieved by her death. God bless the family. This book was a great read, there were a lot of twists and turns. I was surprised a few times as well, by things I didn't see coming. I also found her humor refreshing and couldn't help but lol.