S is for Silence. I just finished it.

[raccoon]

It's better than Sue Grafton's last few books in the series.

It's a cold case, from 1954. Cold cases seem to be the vogue these days. I don't know if that's because of the TV series COLD CASE, or what.

It was pretty readable and interesting. Several things I have a problem with.

Character named "Winston Smith." Come on, Grafton, this isn't satire.

Kinsey is seeing a guy named "Cheney." He first appeared in an earlier book. "George" I could deal with. But Cheney....ugh. Every time I read the time I'm reminded...

Needed more info. after the perp is revealed. Too many loose ends hanging.

[BOSSHOG]

1. My wife has read the Grafton series

but I don't know if she's up to S yet. I've yet to catch on. I'm a steady but slow reader and I have to intersperse my choices with old Navy swasbuckling yarns. Aaarrrghh! However, one thing I've been leaning towards are mysteries which don't rely on DNA or forensic evidence or cell phones or global satellite GPA's and all of today's modern crime fighting tools. Give me the street cop and the nose to the grindstone detective trolling the streets for witnesses and perps. I like the series Cold Case for the characters (and Philly is my second favorite city in the world.) But I'd like to see a series of "Cold Cases" in real time.

[raccoon]

2. Can you recommend some Navy swashbuckling yarns that take

place in WWII? Real-life or fiction?

[BOSSHOG]

3. Here's a couple of true books about the Navy in WWII

When it comes to War, truth trumps fiction every time:

The Bravest Man - by William Tuohy
-- About a Sub Commanding Officer
Blind Man's Bluff - Sherry Sontag and Christopher Drew
-- True stories of the men of Submarines which includes eras before and after WWII
Fatal Voyage - Dan Kurzman
-- Story of the sinking of the USS Indianapolis. This one is pretty damned upsetting.
A Glimpse of Hell - Charles Thompson
-- A little more recent History. This is about the explosion on the USS Iowa in 89. Reads like a murder mystery.

Two of my favorite modern day Navy Fictional writers are David Poyer and Patrick Robinson.

I hope you have a swashbuckling good time with the list. Thanks for asking.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

6. Grafton's recent books take place in the 1980s

She started writing them in the 1970s, and she doesn't want Kinsey (in her early thirties at the beginning of the series) to age too fast, so she sets the novels in the recent past.

[Flaxbee]

7. and I think Grafton wants to avoid the computer age ---

much of Kinsey's charm/work comes from interviewing others, going about things in a low-tech kind of way (a way that I enjoy). So maybe it purely is keeping Kinsey young (Martha Grimes had a hard time doing that at first with her Richard Jury book - Richard started out in his mid-40s and would be 60+ by now if she hadn't halted time ;-) ) but I also like to think of Grafton keeping Kinsey in a slower world.

[flamingyouth]

4. I thought it was pretty good but agree about the loose ends.

It's been awhile since I read it, but I remember wanting more info about the crime after the perp was revealed too.

[wakemeupwhenitsover]

5. I remember thinking that the ending didn't make sense.

I ending up re-reading the book trying to understand why s/he (don't want to give anything away) would kill the victim & it still didn't add up. If someone could point out to me what his/her motive was, I would be eternally grateful.

I think Grafton is really slipping. The last few were no better than hack jobs IMO & then this one.

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