REVIEW: “S IS FOR SILENCE” by SUE GRAFTON
The style of this book is a little different from Grafton’s other novels up to this point. It begins with a scene from July 4, 1953, told from the perspective of Liza, the 14-year-old babysitter for Mrs. Violet Sullivan’s daughter Daisy. As Violet is preparing to go out for the evening, Liza prepares Daisy’s bath and admires Violet’s pretty sundress and silver jewelry. That night, Violet Sullivan disappears from her hometown of Serena Station, leaving no trace.
In the next chapter, Kinsey Millhone receives a phone call from Tannie Ottweiler, the bartender at Sneaky Pete’s, who is a mutual friend of Lieutenant Dolan from the Santa Teresa Police Department. Tannie tells Kinsey that her friend Daisy Sullivan, the daughter of Violet Sullivan, is visiting and would like to talk with Kinsey about investigating her mother’s disappearance of thirty-four years ago. Kinsey agrees to meet them. She reluctantly discusses the matter with Daisy and argues she does not want to investigate Violet’s disappearance, because of the amount of time that has elapsed. Daisy insists that it’s important to her to learn what really happened to her mother, and pleads with Kinsey to help. Kinsey accepts the assignment, and though she offers no guarantees, she promises to do what she can.
From then on, the chapters switch points of view and timelines between Kinsey’s current investigation and multiple residents of Serena Station. As Kinsey conducts her customary, thorough interviews among residents of Serena Station and Santa Maria, gathering details, facts, and evidence, she notices that everyone in Serena Station has an opinion about what became of Violet Sullivan. Of the residents who lived in there in 1953, half of them believe she ran off with a lover; the others believe that she must have died, and her husband Foley is the most likely suspect. Kinsey discovers that Violet had bedded many men in the community, and believes there could be more longtime residents who know more than they are revealing.
When someone slashes the tires on her VW, Kinsey views this as an encouraging indicator that she’s getting close to the truth. Then, she makes a gruesome discovery, which now must involve the county sheriff and Santa Maria Police Department. Her investigation should end there, but, of course, it doesn’t, when Kinsey discovers more than she intended. … Pam Wilder …