R Is perfect for Ricochet is another thrilling installment in Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone series.

Reba Lafferty was a little girl of privilege, the only child of an adoring father. Over time, he quietly resolved her many scrapes with the law, but he wasn’t there for her when she was convicted of embezzlement and sent to the California Institute for females. Right now, at 32, she actually is about to be paroled, having served 22 months of a four-year sentence. Nord Lafferty really wants to be certain she stays direct, about R is for Ricochet stays at home and away from the medications, the booze, the gamblers.

It seems an easy assignment for Kinsey: babysit Reba until she settles in, make certain she follows all of the guidelines of her parole. Probably all of a week’s work. Nothing untoward-the female seems remorseful and friendly. And the money is good. But life is usually never that simple, and Reba is out of prison less than 24 hours when one of her old group comes circling around.

Readers have come to expect the unexpected from Sue Grafton, and R Is for Ricochet is usually no exclusion. In it, a complicated and clever money-laundering scheme is just a cover for the novel that’s all about like: like gone wrong, like betrayed, like denied. And appreciate avenged. For Reba Lafferty, its moral is usually clear: Sometimes what you give away in life comes back to bite you in the ass. Occasionally the good men win, even when they lose.