He called himself Alvin Limardo, and according to him, he had a simple job for Kinsey: locate some fifteen-year-old who’d done him a favor once and pass on a check for $25,000. But then the $400 check for his retainer bounced. And that’s when Kinsey discovered his name was actually John Daggett; ex-con, iInveterate liar, chronic drunk, and before Kinsey can find him and either get her retainer or (more her preference) give the check back and wash her hands of the whole business, dead. The cops called it an accidental death by drowning; Kinsey wasn’t so sure.
Because Kinsey has realized that Daggett had an awful lot of enemies. The daughter with the hard-as-nails exterior in response to growing up with a cheating drunk for a father. The wife who’s become a religious fanatic in response to an intolerable marriage, not to be confused with the second Mrs. Daggett, the battered wife who is surprised to learn that there’s a legal Mrs. Daggett #1. Or the drug dealers out $25,000. (Gee, I wonder where that money went to?) But most of all, there are the families of the five people John Daggett killed in one horrible incident of drunk driving. The D.A. called it vehicular manslaughter and put him away for two years. The families called it murder and had very good reasons to want John Daggett dead.
But then again, Kinsey would argue murder is not a socially acceptable solution.
Some debts of the human soul are so enormous only life itself is sufficient forfeit. Perhaps in this case, all of the accounts are now paid in full…except mine.
To be honest, out of the four Kinsey books I’ve read so far, this was probably my least favorite. Maybe because Kinsey was behind the 8-ball the entire book, maybe because the entire time I was reading I felt like I should throw myself into a shower because everything just felt so sordid and dirty. Or maybe because or the fact that Kinsey spent the majority of the novel driving back and forth between the same five places; or the short-tempered depression that Kinsey was in throughout, because when she wasn’t reminiscing over her past or wondering why she was getting out of bed, she was hell-bent on antagonizing almost everyone she interacted with.
Other than Kinsey and maybe six other people there wasn’t one likable character in the book out of a cast of over a dozen. Barbara, the daughter, has maybe two things going for her: a very unique heterochromia, and a hard-shelled yet brittle exterior. Her mother is to be honest, everything wrong with people that let religion become an almost orgasmic obsession in their lives.
(What shopping for a Prom dress probably was for Barbara with her mother.)
And the murderer? We have hit the third (possibly fourth) book in the Alphabet series where the murderer probably has more screws loose than an odds and ends drawer. Also, the identity of said murderer I did not guess whatsoever, which I think is the mark of a good mystery. All in all, I think this is one client and one case that Kinsey will long regret ever agreeing to. But then if she had let it go after Daggett died, she wouldn’t be Kinsey; Kinsey Millhone is apparently a woman who hates leaving mysteries unsolved. (But loves alcohol and sex.)
I don’t regret reading this book whatsoever, because even a not-so good Sue Grafton book is still an interesting read. And it hasn’t pushed me into not reading the series. I’m just hoping that the next book will go back to a 5-star instead of merely a 4.
