Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Having given five stars in past to almost all the previous books in the series, I could not imagine one that would rate this low with two stars. I have devoured the previous Kinsey Milhone books and when they concluded, felt it was not only a good read but a good use of my time--and I always felt that Grafton had delivered. This time? Not so much. I can't imagine Sue Grafton letting anyone else write in this series (even parts or the entire book) as some reviewers have speculated here, but something is definitely off with this book as compared with those that preceded it. In the past, I've never ever felt bored or found a book lacking tension or its equivalent. I had to force myself to keep reading, believing, wrongly, that the plot really would develop and take on momentum. Maybe this is a style of writing today as I've now read (but did not finish, the first time ever) two other "mysteries" where literally NOTHING happened for close to 300 pages of a 450-page book. Seriously. I finished this book and as it came towards the "end" I thought I might have a book with missing pages. I'm not kidding. I could not believe we were at the end and with such an ending. This time around, a whole mess of, to me, trivial subplots (the California drought, the issue with Henry's neighbors, which I won't reveal in case someone reading this wants to read the book or is not finished, the angry and vindictive ex-wife who put one over on Kinsey) and almost no character development or character interaction beyond really minor stuff left me wondering: What is going on here? Or, more appropriately, what is NOT going on. Disappointed is to put it mildly. But hey, one book out of 24 not up to par...but I'm surprised that Grafton's editors let this one go into print as is. They do a disservice to the author, to whom I will still pledge that I will read the remaining two books in the series. This is a one-note story and it's not a compelling one. (I'm referring to the reference to a character from Kinsey's past, not the seeming main story buried in all the clutter.) And the ending...more than a little hard to believe given what we're told about one character. If this had ended as a cliff-hangar, it would have been frustrating but actually more credible. As it is, we're left to wonder: Well, does Sue Grafton have a plan that goes way beyond what is actually on these pages...is this a very very LONG runup to something better and more engaging? One can only hope. One also hopes that the last two Milhone books in the series do not follow the path/style of X. X for leaving one hanging out to dry in deep disappointment.