Y is for Yesterday

Sue Grafton

Aug 2017 · A Kinsey Millhone Novel Book 25 · Sold by Penguin

About this ebook

THE FINAL INSTALLMENT IN SUE GRAFTON'S ALPHABET SERIES 
WINNER OF THE ANTHONY/BILL CRIDER AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL IN A SERIES  

Private investigator Kinsey Millhone confronts her darkest and most disturbing case in this #1 New York Times bestseller from Sue Grafton.

In 1979, four teenage boys from an elite private school sexually assault a fourteen-year-old classmate—and film the attack. Not long after, the tape goes missing and the suspected thief, a fellow classmate, is murdered. In the investigation that follows, one boy turns state’s evidence and two of his peers are convicted. But the ringleader escapes without a trace.
       
Now, it’s 1989 and one of the perpetrators, Fritz McCabe, has been released from prison. Moody, unrepentant, and angry, he is a virtual prisoner of his ever-watchful parents—until a copy of the missing tape arrives with a ransom demand. That’s when the McCabes call Kinsey Millhone for help. As she is drawn into their family drama, she keeps a watchful eye on Fritz. But he’s not the only one being haunted by the past. A vicious sociopath with a grudge against Millhone may be leaving traces of himself for her to find...

Ratings and reviews

BOTTOM-LINE: A good last book, not an awesome one . PLOT OR PREMISE: With Sue Grafton's death, there will be no Z book, so this is the last official Kinsey story. In it, she looks back at a cold case where four rich students filmed the rape of a young girl, someone stole the tape and was murdered, a court case sent two to jail, and the ringleader skipped town. Fast-forward, one of the jailed ones is out of prison, and he receives a copy of the missing tape with a blackmail demand. The parents want Kinsey's help to ensure they only pay once, or ideally, not at all. . WHAT I LIKED: As with previous cold cases, the story bops back and forth between the past and the present. Unlike the previous books, the jumps back don't seem as jarring, and the "kids" in the past seem realistic. Angst, jealousy, bravado, all of it. . WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: The story drags a bit in the present getting to the end, and the premise of all the kids in the present still being in contact together is really far-fetched. The explanation of what exactly happened in the past for the murdered girl was great right up until the murder. And the epilogue is extremely unsatisfying. . DISCLOSURE: I received no compensation, not even a free copy, in exchange for this review. I am not personal friends with the author, nor do I follow her on social media.

Flipping between 1979 & 1989, Kinsey I hired to find out who is blackmailing a recently released man. A privileged youth, the man, now 25, was the trigger man while just a sophomore in high school, 8 years before (1979). The victim was another privileged youth, a young lady named Sloan. Upon his release, a videotape of the man & his friends sexually assaulting a 14 year old girl. Kinsey delves into the past murder incident, the gang of private high school kids, and the videotape. Her nemesis and would-be murderer, Ned, returns to Kinsey's life while she's investigating the extortion. Complex & multiple incidents make this penultimate Kinsey novel another solid read, making me wish Ms. Grafton would re-start the alphabet or perhaps move on to numbers...both her mastery of the craft and her plots have made this series a Must Read for readers. I hope she intends to write more novels, with or without beloved PI Kinsey. Respectfully Submitted...

As always with Sue Grafton her book was great. I sincerely wish we could have gotten an ending to this amazing series and our hearts will be forever grieved by her death. God bless the family. This book was a great read, there were a lot of twists and turns. I was surprised a few times as well, by things I didn't see coming. I also found her humor refreshing and couldn't help but lol.

About the author

#1 New York Times bestselling author Sue Grafton first introduced Kinsey Millhone in the Alphabet Series in 1982. Soon after, both writer and heroine became icons and international bestsellers. Ms. Grafton was a writer who consistently broke the bonds of genre while never writing the same book twice. Named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America, her awards and honors included the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Private Eye Writers of America, the Ross Macdonald Literary Award, the Cartier Diamond Dagger Award from Britain's Crime Writers' Association, the Lifetime Achievement Award from Malice Domestic, a Lifetime Achievement Award from Bouchercon, three Shamus Awards, and three Anthony Awards—including the first two ever awarded. She passed away in December 2017.