S is for Silence (Kinsey Millhone Mysteries) by Sue Grafton
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Book Reviews of S is for Silence (Kinsey Millhone Mysteries)
Book Review: Disappointed
Summary: 3 Stars
Not enough said about the landlord and the goings on at Rosies. That was all part of the charm of the previious books in the series. It didn't seem like the same Kinsey. Too many characters to keep up with. Not sure if interested in buying T.Book Review: Nice, Fun. Mindless Escapism. Agood book to read by the pool
Summary: 3 Stars
Not Grafton's greatest book ever, S is for Silence is still an entertaining read. I enjoyed it, even if I didn't love it and would tell a friend to go ahead and pay th 7 dollars for the paperbackBook Review: A tired effort from a burned-out author
Summary: 2 Stars
When I pick up a Sue Grafton "Alphabet" novel, it's with the anticipation of being entertained and enlightened. I love Kinsey Millhone's "give 'em hell" attitude, her ability to skate just on the right side of the law as she solves her cases and her great deductive reasoning -- without use of the Internet. Sadly, most of that was missing in Sue Grafton's most recent effort, "S is for Silence."
In this one, Kinsey is reluctantly pulled in to solve the mystery of why a woman, Violet, disappeared 34 years before. Kinsey was asked by the woman's neurotic daughter, Daisy, for help. I'm still trying to figure out why.
For one thing, daughter Daisy is a bizarre, two-dimensional cardboard character. On the one hand, she hates her mother so much for "leaving" her that she can't get her issues resolved through therapy. Apparently therapists fire her (hmmm).
On the other hand, Daisy needs "closure" on her mother's disappearance, but why? Portrayed through third-person flashbacks, mother Violet elicits no sympathy, as she is depicted as a scheming nymphomaniac who sleeps with practically everyone, from the used-car salesman to the grieving man of a very ill woman. I wondered why the daughter even bothered putting a private detective on the case when it was clear the victim was such an awful, unlikeable person.
But the real disappointment was Kinsey. She's so devoid of personality in this book, I wondered if she'd just come out of a coma. I missed her lively thought processes as she chewed over information. I missed her entertaining encounters with and reaction to different types of people. In this one, Kinsey was little more than an information-gathering clerk. She seemed bored during the process. I don't blame her. I was bored, too, reading about it.
And what happened to the secondary characters that makes Grafton's other novels so much fun? I missed Con Dolan, the feisty lieutenant of the Santa Teresa police department. Kinsey's landlord, Henry, was all but non-existent. And what's up with Cheney Phillips? In Grafton's previous "R is for Ricochet," Grafton paired those two off, leaving readers to believe that Kinsey might have finally found, if not a soul mate, at least a romantic interest that was her age and shared her interests. But suddenly Cheney is a non-entity, written off with a couple of lines. Amazing.
My suspicion is that, with 19 of these novels now out there, Grafton might be tiring of her heroine. Though Grafton did try something new in this one by moving between Kinsey's first-person musings and the third-person viewpoint on the day of the murder, the technique did nothing for this book. It was nothing more than a tired effort on the part of a clearly burned out author.
Book Review: So character-driven, the plot suffers
Summary: 2 Stars
I've been a faithful reader of every Sue Grafton Kinsey Millhone mystery, and haven't been very happy with the quality of the series recently. It's not that her past few books have been outright bad, as much as just not as entertaining as those at the beginning (I can imagine that devising fresh plots can be difficult, even for the best of writers). "S is for Silence" is one of Sue Grafton's weakest mysteries, especially from a plot/climax perspective. I think I read it about six months ago and the memory of it is still bugging me.
Grafton spends a lot of energy telling the story of a murder in retrospect - characters are meticulously described, and mood is almost laboriously created. It's almost as if there wasn't enough plot to carry the story, so character and milieu development are used as the filler. But it's not real character "development," but rather character "rehash." Halfway through the book you want to say, "Enough already! I get that the victim is a skank!"
Ironically, the only character Grafton doesn't seem to care writing about is her protagonist, Kinsey Millhone. Kinsey seems oddly distant, lacking her usual charm and wit. This was a huge downer - Kinsey is what makes Grafton's alphabet mysteries tick in the first place, and she's practically the only thing that's kept me interested in the series. When her character is practically MIA, there is nothing else to recommend the action, and what little life "S is for Silence" might have had just fizzles.
As a result, the very thin plot moves slowly...at least, until the almost last-chapter climax, when suddenly everything feels thrown together and terribly formulaic (heroine in sudden mortal peril at the hands of sinister and unstoppable bad guy). Even worse, the motive for and the details of the crime are never fully fleshed out, so all those hours you invested in the lackluster pacing of the story totally go unrewarded. I think I said something like "What the crud kind of ending is that?" and then chucked the book on the couch, while my slightly amused husband looked on.
In a nutshell, the story's not that entertaining, the normally funny Miss Millhone is anything but, most of the other characters are more pathetic than sympathetic and don't do enough to drive the plot, the plot's not really worth driving anyway, and the denouement is slapdash and disappointing. I hope Grafton's next book results in Kinsey Millhone hunting down the winning sense of humor she lost in "S is for Silence."
Book Review: S is really for Small town, Secrets and Sex!
Summary: 2 Stars
I have to admit that this was my first Sue Grafton novel. I am not so moved by her writing style or the main character to jump on the bandwagon, go to the bookstore and buy them all, nor will I rule that out that as a possibility in the future (Hey, I could just run out of things to read and pick another up). It wasn't that the story was terrible (trust me I have read worse....a la Laurell Hamilton, not that this is anything like her stuff, but I have read worse), I just felt something was missing. I am not sure if it was the attempt at confusing the reader with red herrings about who the killer was, or was it simply a little dry. And maybe in the back of my mind, I was secretly comparing it to Edna Buchanan and her series which has a female reporter on the trail of killers in every book. Her novel seemed to have what this one didn't and what that exactly is, I am not sure.
Anyway, what merited the 2 star rating? In general, I liked the concept....A middle aged woman (Daisy) seeks closure about the disappearance of her mother (Violet Sullivan), 34 years later by hiring a private eye, Kinsey Millhone. The entire novel, done through a series of flashbacks (1953 and the present, late 1980s) attempts to let you see small town living through the eyes of a promiscuous woman and it's residents. Kinsey has a week and $2500 to determined what ever happened to Violet (who was last seen on the 4th of July), her pet Pomeranian or her brand new car.
There are a series of characters who all seem to have a piece of the puzzle. They range from an abusive/alcoholic husband (Foley), who now lives in the bottom of a church; the owner of the "Blue Moon" (who seems to know who Violet has been with); Liza (Daisy's baby-sitter); Daisy's best friend (Tanny); and several ex-lovers (car salesman, flim flam artist, etc).
While other novels will weave a wonderful tale and not throw in too many useless clues, this one did. At the end, once the killer was revealed, it still wasn't clear why he/she (don't want to give it away) Violet? I was extremely disappointed, I really wanted a conversation about why...the big reveal....the real story.....but it never happened. So, I wouldn't necessarily say that I would recommend it, but if you want something to read, and you are willing to overlook the deadends, you may want to read it.