REVIEW: "L IS FOR LAWLESS" by SUE GRAFTON
Of the 26 books of Sue Grafton’s alphabet series that I’ve reviewed on Goodreads, this is my least favorite. Though Grafton’s superb writing is filled with abundant descriptions of unpalatable characters and quickly-changing environments, it’s a roundabout, agonizing, futile trip across country with grifters. Nonetheless, an underlying theme I can identify here in this vaudevillian ramble is that of family quarrels, disagreements, lies, abandonments and reconciliations. Perhaps, Grafton is trying to explain that all families have issues, histories, and secrets.
The story:
Kinsey Millhone’s landlord Henry Pitts is preparing a banquet of delicacies for the Thanksgiving Day wedding of his older brother William to Rosie, who owns the local tavern. Henry asks Kinsey to do him a personal favor and help a neighbor find information on his grandfather Johnny Lee, who has just died. Johnny’s grandson Bucky wants to file a claim with the Veterans Administration to collect money for burial expenses, but he can’t locate a service record or military ID of any kind, even though Johnny bragged about his years of serving in World War II. Kinsey reviews the documents Bucky shows her and researches some of the info, then basically tells him what actions he should take. And that should be the end of it. But no-o-o-o-o …..
Bucky and his father Chester find a safe behind a secret panel in the closet of Johnny’s apartment. A locksmith is called, who finesses the lock and opens it. Inside, a large key is attached to the liner with tape. Kinsey’s instincts tell her something is all wrong with the situation. (Yes, Kinsey, run!!)
Kinsey’s Cousin Tasha calls her and invites her to visit for Thanksgiving with the family in Lompoc. Kinsey replies with an adamant “no,” because Kinsey is to be a bridesmaid at William and Rosie’s wedding. Anyway, she’s not interested in getting to know family members who had no contact with her for her entire life until now.
One evening, Kinsey is on her way to the store to pick up oven cleaner for Henry’s sister, when she drives by the Lee property, and in the shadows she sees the silhouette of man in a Stetson hat sneaking out of the empty apartment with a duffle bag. She follows him to a motel several miles away, where he picks up a pregnant woman. She follows them to the airport and calls Chester, who tells her that Ray Rawson, the man interested in renting Johnny Lee’s empty apartment, has been badly beaten on the property. Chester hires her to follow the couple and authorizes purchase of an airline ticket. She buys it with her credit card and joins the queue for the same flight to Dallas as the pregnant woman, who boards the flight alone with the duffle bag.
The pregnant woman is supposed to transfer planes in Dallas, but she gets off the plane and takes a shuttle to a hotel. Kinsey follows her and checks into the same hotel. Using her investigative sleuthing (snooping), she has learned the woman’s name is Laura. She steals a hotel maid’s uniform from an employee closet, and dresses up to enter Laura’s room a couple of times, so she can search for the duffle bag, which she assumes contains money.
Ray Rawson, with his black and blue, puffy face, shows up at the hotel in Dallas and invites her to breakfast, where he tells her he’s looking for the money his friend Johnny Lee had stashed somewhere, adding that his ruthless former cohort Gilbert (in the Stetson) is now tailing him, because he wants the money, too. Kinsey and Ray go to Laura’s hotel room to talk with her about Gilbert. Laura admits that she’s afraid of him. Ray and Laura begin a discussion, which becomes an argument, and suddenly Kinsey realizes that Laura is Ray’s daughter. (So now, the story is a soap opera.)
The three of them become targets of Gilbert’s psychotic brutality as the chase continues across country. Calamities and danger grow in intensity and unbelievability. And then, we’re introduced to Gramma Helen for comic relief. … Pam Wilder …