W is for
Wasted
By Sue Grafton
Published by G.P. Putnam's Sons
496 pages
$28.95 (hardcover)
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| Author Sue Grafton. Photo – Penquin Publishing. |
By Keith Waits
Entire contents copyright 2013 by Keith Waits, all rights reserved.
If one scans the history of detective literature, it is tricky business
to find a series following one character that has maintained as high a standard
of quality as the Kinsey Millhone alphabet series. Indeed, only a few can boast
as many titles in the first place. Robert Parker's Spenser novels (Kinsey's
preferred nighttime reading in this new offering) number more than 30, yet even
that most popular and venerable of series suffered a variance in quality noted
by critic and reader alike. On the eve of the publication of the twenty-third
entry, with only three more letters available, it is tempting to examine the
newest volume all the harder for signs of fatigue and repetitiveness.
Author Sue Grafton's strengths remain well in attendance, namely an
emphasis on characterization and resistance to violence and the action clichés
of the genre. Kinsey is a work-a-day private investigator, and tension is
developed in strained exchanges of dialogue more often than physical
intimidation. As a writer, Grafton indulges in the mundane details of our hero
making coffee, eating peanut butter and pickle sandwiches, and cleaning her
apartment. But when the occasional bit of action does occur, her descriptive prose
turns as lean and economical as the best of her peers.
If Ms. Grafton does grow weary following Kinsey's adventures, she seems
to have found a way to energize her writing by altering the linear narrative
structure and has, in the second half of the alphabet, grown fond of flashbacks
appearing in alternate chapters. In the past, she has jumped back as far as 30
years; in "W" she settles
for a point in time beginning four months before the primary narrative, and the
scenario involves another private eye, Pete Wolinsky. His scurrilous and
disreputable methods are a direct contrast to our heroine's scrupulous
integrity, and his connection to the events that occupy Kinsey's attention here
only become entirely clear in the final chapters of the book.
What we do know is that he is dead. This is no spoiler; the knowledge is
offered early on, before his first flashback appearance. He is one of two
corpses demanding Kinsey's attention, the other being a homeless man who was
carrying her address and phone number when his body is discovered. The why of
this is the lion's share of the story here and leads us once more into Kinsey's
fragmented family history, an evolving and absorbing map of dysfunctionality
that has proven, again, during the latter half of the series, to be one of the
most resonant ingredients in Grafton's writing. We may forget, over the course
of so many mysteries to be solved, the details of who did what to whom and when
among the bad guys. But we always remember Kinsey and the ad hoc surrogate
family she has accumulated: Henry, her doting and endearing landlord; Rosie,
the Hungarian proprietor of Kinsey's favorite hang-out and now married to
William, Henry's brother. Not to mention police detective and former lover
Cheney Phillips. Grafton even reintroduces Nevada P.I. Robert Dietz, one of the
more memorable of Kinsey's romantic entanglements and a character that one
suspects could stand at the center of his own series.
Kinsey's involvement with the homeless in Santa Theresa also highlights
Grafton's sly subtext in exploring the lives of characters who are down and out
in what was Ronald Reagan's America. Neither the author nor her alter ego are
given to overt political statements; and at least one minor character is
interjected to apparently dispense with the more obvious 30-second sound bite
social observations, an attempt to convince us there is no hidden agenda. Yet
this author's propensity for fleshing out characters with some depth and detail
cannot help but expand our concept of homelessness and explode our prejudices
against such folk. Substance abuse and recalcitrance are exemplified, but
attention is also given to compassion and forgiveness.
One of the curious quirks of the series is that it all takes place in a
span of a few years in the 1980s. While we have spent 30 years with Kinsey (A is for Alibi was published in 1983),
she has barely aged. It is a testament to Grafton's sense of place that these
stories easily occupy a world that is simultaneously specific and universal.
The location is the fictional southern California city of Santa Theresa (re:
Santa Barbera) and all exists within a shared imagination – built by the author
but given wider life by the devoted readers.
W is for Wasted doesn't quite rank as the very best of the series
(my own personal favorite remains C is
for Corpse). It takes too long to start tying its mystery plot together and
when it does, the details seem not quite important enough to fully register as
meaningful in Kinsey's life. But Grafton is clearly exploring some fresh
aspects of her creation's character and history that are important in other
ways, and it is exactly that sort of investment in the ongoing development of
our beloved heroine that keeps us coming back for more.
Sue Grafton will be at Carmichael's Bookstore September 12 at 5 p.m. to
sign copies of W is for Wasted.
Carmichael's Bookstore
2720 Frankfort Avenue
Louisville, Kentucky 40205
502-896-6950
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