I have read every book A-Y. To say this last, literally, book of Sue Grafton was so different and dark from the rest would be an accurate statement for me. I usually finish these books in a day, but I had to keep putting this one down and coming back to it because it was so difficult to read. I am glad this wasn't her first book I've read because I probably would not have come back to her series and missed the other interesting A-X books. Her series always worked because while murder is a difficult subject there was enough realism balanced with "no way" moments that the story lines worked and brought you back for the next "letter" in the series/alphabet. This subject was too real, too intense, and difficult to get through. That said, I applaud this series as I believe it set the course for many similar series to emerge and get traction and followers.

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I've had this book on my TBR shelf for so long...I've finally re-read the entire series in order and finished this one.
Took me a little while to get into it, for reasons unconnected with the book, but about mid-point I was absorbed. I figured out who was doing what in the blackmail case also about mid-point, and the Ned Lowe subplot was creepy. I didn't find Iris & Joey's POV sections to be as interesting as Kinsey's, but of course they weren't intended to be sympathetic characters.
Throughout the series I have often yelled at Kinsey not to be so clueless â and I think she often is â but I also think Grafton made her pretty consistent. And of course I'm on the outside knowing that I'm reading a mystery novel. But I gotta say if I were shooting at a pyschopath trying to kill me, I wouldn't stop until the gun was empty. And if I knew he was still out there after me, I wouldn't blithely lock my weapon away.
But, flaws aside, I liked this final entry. I would have liked more Henry. I liked the changes Kinsey has gone through. I guess we'll never know how Grafton intended to wrap up the series, but this is not a bad place to stop.

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I have read every book from this Author, but this one I could not get past 150 pages. I was so revolted by some of the content. I agree with the last reviewer and could only give it one star. I have read other reviewers stating that they don't believe this was written by her. I paid close attention to the writing style and believe the first 100 pages were probably written by her, but after that the quality of the writing changed . It became very repetitive, sometimes repeating whole paragraphs. The pages were filled with minute boring details to the point of absurdity. Sue Grafton was very good at describing scenes but this went way beyond anything I had read from her. There seemed to be absolutely NO editing, hence the almost 550 pages. All I can say is that it was a shame to end a relationship with one of my favorite authors on that sorry note. I realize this book was written while she was quite ill. The publishers should be ashamed this went to print as is. Rest in peace, dear Sue, I will miss you.

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