U Is For Undertow

A Kinsey Millhone Novel

By: Sue Grafton

Narrated by: Judy Kaye

It’s April 1988, a month before Kinsey Millhone’s thirty-eighth birthday, and she’s alone in her office catching up on paperwork when a young man arrives unannounced. Michael Sutton is twenty-seven, an unemployed college dropout. More than two decades ago, a four-year-old girl disappeared, and a recent newspaper story about her kidnapping has triggered a flood of memories. Sutton now believes he stumbled on her lonely burial and could identify the killers if he saw them again. He wants Kinsey’s help in locating the grave and finding the men. It’s way more than a long shot, but he’s persistent and willing to pay cash up front. Reluctantly, Kinsey agrees to give him one day of her time.
But it isn’t long before she discovers Sutton has an uneasy relationship with the truth. In essence, he’s the boy who cried wolf. Is his story true, or simply one more in a long line of fabrications?

Moving effortlessly between the 1980s and the 1960s, and changing points of view as Kinsey pursues witnesses whose accounts often clash. Gradually, we come to see how everything connects in this twisting, complex, surprise-filled thriller. And as always, at the beating heart of her fiction is Kinsey Millhone, a sharp-tongued, observant loner who never forgets that under the thin veneer of civility is a roiling dark side to the soul.

Great

As always Sue Grafton pulls you in and keeps you reading. Good plot, great characters. And I love Judy Kaye as a reader. She makes Kinsey's character come alive!

Sue Grafton Always Delivers!

What made the experience of listening to U Is for Undertow the most enjoyable?

I was able to drive and leave the reading to Judy Kaye - great job.

What other book might you compare U Is for Undertow to and why?

Well, I could compare this to all of Sue Grafton's alphabet series books, but that might be too obvious.

Any additional comments?

I love all of Sue Grafton's books - her style of writing suits me. I enjoyed having the company of the audio book as I traveled by myself for a very long drive.

Another great story with Kinsey!

Captivating story, always a joy to read Sue Grafton. Wish the alphabet had more letters!

Fairly consistent - which is no thrill

Although it contains the usual researched details and depth of character development I did not like the timeline dives. Also the indication of the story line is that the main character is being given more depth by adding history. Yet, in "real time" not much changes, for instance the neighbor should be over 100 by now and I would have preferred the story reflect societal changes and those of her of aging process. On the presentation I did not like that all the young men sounded feminine on purpose. I still enjoyed the story but not as much as I would have liked. I enjoyed it more for old times sake (a familiar character) than the excitement of the new story.

Typical Sue Grafton

Fortunately Kinsey is an old friend. The most astounding part of this is revelations about Kinseys own family. Doesn’t matter much what the case is we enjoy listening to this series.