Detective agency Kinsey Millhone is normally back, sassy and self-reliant as ever. Going to a small city in the Sierras, Kinsey aids a recently available widow, Selma Newquist, who feels that her detective husband did not expire of a coronary attack, as reported, but from bad play. Kinsey sifts through the paper trail Tom Newquist left behind, trying to discover what he was investigating before he died. Kinsey is about to call it quits when she is significantly beaten in her motel area. Spurred to probe further she soon unearths clues relating to a long-unsolved murder that may or may not implicate the colleagues of Tom Newquist. Wry and smart, Kinsey Millhone solves the situation — and Sue Grafton delivers the goods.

“Kinsey Millhone is the epitome of the challenging, independent, sensible, feisty PI …. amusing and engaging.” (Booklist)