In this 25th book in the 'Kinsey Milhone' series, the private investigator looks into the ramifications of a school cheating scandal. The book can be read as a standalone, but knowing the characters is beneficial.
*****
Private detective Kinsey Milhone is hired to deal with blackmail stemming from turmoil at Climping Academy - an expensive prep school in Santa Teresa, California.
Ten years ago, in 1979, a Climping freshman named Iris Lehmann stole a standardized test to help some upper class friends.
The theft had serious ramifications, and eventually led to the shooting death of Sloan Stevens - the girl accused of ratting out the miscreants.
Four juniors were implicated in Sloan's death: Bayard Montgomery, Troy Rademaker, Fritz McCabe, and ringleader Austin Brown.
When the cops identified the perpetrators, Austin fled town and disappeared; Bayard made a deal for his testimony; Troy went to jail for five years; and Fritz (the actual shooter) was incarcerated by the California Youth Authority (CYA) until he was 25-years-old.
Skip to 1989, and Fritz has just been released from the CYA.
He has a new problem however. In high school, Fritz and Troy made a sex tape showing them brutally assaulting 14-year-old Iris Lehman, who was drunk and incapacitated. Now a copy of the disturbing tape has been sent to Fritz's wealthy parents, with a demand for $25,000.....or the tape goes to the cops.
Fritz is terrified of going back to prison and his parents, Lauren and Hollis McCabe, know it's a mistake to open their wallets to a blackmailer. Thus, the McCabes hire Kinsey to find out who sent the tape, with an eye to halting the extortion. Lauren says that Sloan stole the tape from Fritz's room shortly before she was killed, and hid it somewhere. It's clear that someone's now found the tape, and plans to use it to make some money. This sets up the premise of the story.
The book alternates back and forth between two timelines: 1979 - where we see the events that led to Sloan's death; and 1989 - where Kinsey searches for the blackmailer. To suss out the extortionist, Kinsey interviews Sloan's friends and family, and the people who saw her on the day she died - including Bayard, Iris, Fritz, Troy, and others.
Each of the students tells essentially the same story, which gets repetitious and boring.
Meanwhile, Kinsey has an additional problem (which harks back to a previous book in the series). The PI is in the sights of a serial killer named Ned Lowe, who thinks Kinsey can lead him the 'souvenirs' he took from his teenage victims - evidence that could send him to prison for life.
Thus Kinsey has to watch her back every second, in case Ned launches an attack.
In addition to all this, a number of secondary characters make an appearance. Some are series regulars, including: Kinsey's landlord Henry Pitts - an 89-year-old retired baker who makes delicious treats;
Henry's older brother William - a confirmed hypochondriac;
William's wife Rosie - a restaurant owner who serves original (and odd) Hungarian recipes and cheap wine;
Kinsey's cousin Anna - who recently moved to town; Kinsey's cop friends Cheney Phillips and Jonah Robb; and more.
Many things happen in the course of the story: Kinsey enrolls in self-defense classes; Henry takes in two homeless people, Pearl and Lucky....and Lucky's gigantic dog Killer; Rosie has a big birthday party; Henry's cat Ed disappears; a pregnancy is revealed; there's drama between Jonah and his wife; etc. There's just TOO MUCH going on.
Moreover, the author describes each scene - including minor ones that don't move the story along - in extended, excruciating detail. Thus the book is at least one-third longer than necessary (IMO).
In addition, it seems like Grafton - instead of her usual straightforward storytelling - uses every plot device seen in recent thrillers. Thus, the book feels over-written and cluttered.
By the finale, all the story's issues are resolved, but with a sputter rather than a blast.....just not very exciting.
For me, this is one of the least successful Kinsey Milhone books.
If you're a Kinsey Milhone fan, you should probably read this book. If you're not familiar with the series, don't start here.....it might put you off the others.
Respectfully submitted: Barbara Saffer (LOL)
Rating: 3 stars
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