Y is for Yesterday

Y is for Yesterday by Sue Grafton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

How can I not have read a Sue Grafton before, I kept asking myself? Honestly, I have no idea. I’m just glad it’s been rectified now. So just what can readers expect from Sue Grafton’s final novel?
As you might guess from the title, this is a book with a back story. Ten years previously a group of rich, unlikeable teenagers at an elite private school steal a test paper, make a porn video in which they brutally assault one of their own (which promptly goes missing), and shoot a fellow student (a nice one this time) to death, possibly by accident. Flash forward. When the one who was brandishing the gun is eventually released from prison (having been tried as a minor), a copy of the tape resurfaces, and he finds himself being blackmailed. Private Investigator Kinsey Millhone is hired by his parents to track down the blackmailer.
We, the readers, know who the blackmailer is, because Grafton adds the occasional third-person narrative to explain it. Since none of these characters is in the least bit sympathetic, thank god Kinsey’s world is richly populated with her wonderful acquaintances. And she needs their help, too, because a former nemesis is after her blood.
There’s an awful lot to like here, even with its few faults. The central “case” contains little or no mystery; it’s simply a chain of events presented piece by piece—but then maybe this is Grafton’s style? Then there’s the sales assistant who offers Kinsey advice on how to copy a video. He has no idea what he’s talking about. I’m not a great fan of delaying and delaying the climax to build suspense. At some point the technique starts to work against itself, and all it seems to build is annoyance. Sue Grafton clearly disagrees—and who am I to argue?

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