Sue Grafton takes the mystery genre to new heights with this twisting, complex #1 New York Times bestseller that draws private investigator Kinsey Millhone into a case shrouded in the sins of the past.Looking solemn, Michael Sutton arrives in Kinsey Millhone’s office with a story to tell. When he was six, he says, he wandered into the woods and saw two men digging a hole. They claimed they were … They claimed they were pirates, looking for buried treasure. Now, all these years later, the long-forgotten events have come back to him—and he has pieced them together with news reports from the time, becoming convinced that he witnesses the burial of a kidnapped child.
Kinsey has nearly nothing to go on. Sutton doesn’t even know where he was that day—and, she soon discovers, he has a history of what might generously be called an active imagination. Despite her doubts, Kinsey sets out to track down the so-called burial site. And what’s found there pulls her into a hidden current of deceit stretching back more than twenty years…
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Too bad we’ll never get Z…
Really enjoy all Sue Grafton books.
Always love Kinsey. So sad we lost Ms Grafton and there will never be a ‘Z’
drivel, trite
I love ,love, reading all the books in this series, they are all well-researched and very informative. The heroine is smart and very entertaining.
I have read all of Sue Grafton’s novels – mind candy that is always diverting and entertaining!
I completed reading the novel. To be honest, Sue Grafton has done better. This one was a bit broken up and difficult to follow. She’s still a good writer, and I’d read her novels.
This is one of my favorite authors. I have most
Of herb books I Just can’t afford 9 or $10 for
Each. I always check for reduced price and always buy.
I wish there was no bad language in her books because it adds nothing to the story . But. I love story line. I am very fond of detective books
Sue Grafton is a wonderful as ever!!
Loved every book in this series and always looked forward to the next release.
Sue Grafton was a very talented author. U is for Undertow is no exception. From A to Y, her character, Kinsey Millhone, is likeable and realistic. Great series!
Even though it’s over and all has been revealed, I still find myself feeling confused by this book. The entire way through, it was as though I remained as bewildered as Kinsey how all the pieces fit together, which is worse since I was constantly functioning on considerably more information than she was. It’s a strange sensation to know the solution without the sense of satisfaction that should follow.
What I liked about “U is for Undertow”:
Henry – One of my favorite aspects of this entire series is the relationship Kinsey has with Henry. Their interactions provide little oases of comfort in the middle of what otherwise often feels “dark and gritty.”
More family background on Kinsey – I feel as though we operate in the dark when it comes to Kinsey’s personal history. Bits and pieces get parceled out at random intervals, but given Kinsey’s discomfort with the mere existence of her family, further detail is often held at arm’s length. Though it’s secondary at best throughout this book, so much insight was provided, it was nearly overwhelming.
‘Perspicacity’ – I love a word that I don’t know yet. It surprises me when it happens, given the amount of reading I’ve done on my life, and I mean that in a good way. While I can typically gather the meaning just by sentence context, I looked this one up for its exact definition, curious why Ms. Grafton chose this word and wondering if it was a good fit. (It was.)
What I didn’t care for:
Unsavory characters – This isn’t unexpected in this series (see: “dark and gritty”), but the bad guys in this one were a particular turnoff, maybe because they felt too possible to be real, and they were really very not-nice individuals.
The format – I just couldn’t get into the telling of the story through flashbacks and multiple narrators. I understand the purpose of this, but it came off more as choppy than a vehicle to convey as much critical information as was necessary.
I ended up rating this one 4 stars, but it could have been 3 based on how I felt about the book’s structure. In the end, I couldn’t penalize what was a mystery that ultimately reached a conclusion that I could live with (along with my points about what I liked in this book). Ultimately (and I can’t say that I’ve ever come across this before), a quote from this book sums it up better than I could have:
“I didn’t say I was giving up. I think the pieces are there. I just don’t understand how they fit.”– Kinsey Millhone
I couldn’t have come up with a better way to describe it. With only four books remaining in the series, I’m obviously not giving up on it now. I need to see where Kinsey will go before the final chapter closes on her.
Love this series
I was sorry the alphabet ran out of letters
I love everything in the Kinsey Milhone series–fantastic detective series. Still crying that we will never get to read the last one.
Grafton was a wonderful writer with characters you cared about
As with all of Grafton’s books, couldn’t wait to get through it.
You always win with a “Grafton” mystery
I’ve read all of Sue Grafton’s books. They’re so good. She’ll alway be one of the best.
3.499999 stars (rounded to 3 since that’s my only option due entirely to the laws of fractions and decimals) for the twenty-first book, U Is for Undertow, a mystery published in 2009 by author Sue Grafton.
When I first stumbled upon this series, I was super excited that there would be 26 books by the same author, all about the same character. But as I started reading the series, as much as I loved it, you could tell it gets a bit harder and harder to keep up with the creativity. Grafton does a good job at this, and I suspect since she knew there would be 26, it was planned out fairly well in advanced — at least enough to know it could sustain the plethora of content to come. Sometimes the antics remind me a bit of Scooby Doo.
U is for Undertow is nearing the end of the series, but it is still a good book. It starts off with quite an intro to the mystery. A man begs Kinsey to investigate… and she slowly realizes who he is, a bit famous for some things going on around a few years prior… and she has to investigate a rather interesting family. What’s great about this series is the character of Kinsey doesn’t age much throughout the books. Even though it’s about 30 years from start to finish for the author to draft the books, they all take place in the 1980s… so you often have to remember that you’re reading a book set 20 years prior, as the story doesn’t always tell you that. It’s clear in this one because there are flashbacks and actions to the 1960s…
A good entry in the series. Stick with the series if you start it. Kinsey’s a combination of Stephanie Plum from Janet Evanovich’s “One for the Money / Stephanie Plum) series and “VI Warshawski from Sara Paretsky’s PI series. All 3 are similar, but where Stephanie is new to detective work and VI is an ole’ pro, Kinsey’s in the middle. She’s had training. She’s savvy in many areas. But she gets hurt too much for reasons a real PI would probably know better.
Best part of these books… Kinsey’s relationship with Henry, her friend and landlord. They have a wonderful father / daughter connection and I enjoy those parts of the books just as much as the investigation parts. Whenever Henry’s in a scene, I know it will be a good one.