by Sue Grafton
Part of Kinsey Millhone, book 23
First published 2013
Two dead men turn Kinsey Millhone's fall upside down. The first is a shady detective shot dead on Santa Teresa's beach. Six weeks later, the second body surfaces in the sand. This man appears homeless, carries no identification, but has one crucial item in his pocket: a scrap of paper with Kinsey's name and phone number. One death is murder, the other seems natural. Kinsey assumes the cases are unconnected. But as she digs into the mystery of the unknown man, dangerous connections emerge. What starts as separate tragedies becomes a web of betrayal and deadly financial fraud. Kinsey finds herself compromised through no fault of her own, pulled deeper into a case where trust is scarce and survival depends on uncovering the truth before the killers silence her permanently.
Genres: suspense, mystery, crime, thriller
Vibes: dark, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, compromised-protagonist
Setting: Santa Teresa
486 pages · Hardcover · Marian Wood Books/Putnam
Content warnings: murder, violence