Grafton, Sue: V is for Vengeance

Kinsey Millhone, Sue Grafton’s PI, shops the sales as we all do. An innocent trip to Nordtrom’s for new undies fi nds her in the lingerie department, and that’s where all Kinsey’s trouble starts. When she witnesses an older woman put two pairs of silk pajamas and a silk teddy into her purse she alerts the sales clerk, Claudia, who she knows from her frequent visits to Rosie’s, the neighborhood hangout.

Claudia in turn contacts Mr. Koslo, Nordstrom’s loss prevention officer, and after talking to Kinsey, he pursues the older woman. Kinsey decides to track down the younger woman that she had seen with the shoplifter, and surprises her coming out of the women’s restroom. When Kinsey finds a number of snipped off price tags in one of the stalls, she pursues the woman to the parking garage where she nearly gets killed in a hit and run.

A few days later, Kinsey sees the older woman’s photo in the obituary column of the local newspaper. Then someone calls her and tells her the shoplifter, Audrey Vance, had committed suicide by jumping off a bridge. When she goes to Rosie’s for supper, William who is Rosie’s husband and brother of Kinsey’s landlord, Henry, sees her paper. William is a hypochondriac who loves to show up at local funeral homes and commiserate with strangers. He convinces Kinsey to accompany him to Audrey’s funeral the next day. William spends a lot of time at the funeral home chatting with Audrey’s fiancé and introduces him to Kinsey.

Very shortly, Kinsey has been hired by Audrey’s fiancé, Marvin Striker, to investigate her death. He doesn’t believe she was a shoplifter, he doesn’t believe she committed suicide, and he wants Kinsey to prove him right. Not only is Audrey a shoplifter, but she is a pro with special undergarments to load with her loot, and at least 5 arrests to her credit. Kinsey’s investigations lead her to the remote rental house Audrey had rented and that was used only occasionally to sort and re-package stolen goods. Audrey’s landlord innocently intercepts a package delivery and her curiosity gets the better of her and when she opens it, she finds bundles of cash. She calls Kinsey and they turn it over to the local sheriff’s office.

By this time, Kinsey has become suspicious that local police have some connection to this ring, and that it in turn is run by a local mob connection “Dante.” Dante’s brother Cappi is a hot head that Dante is trying to train to take over the “business.” Dante wants out.

By the time the tale is done, Dante has left the country with a toothbrush, a suitcase full of cash and his new girlfriend, the unhappy wife of a Hollywood entertainment lawyer. Cappi is dead, shot during a raid of the business by the bad cop who thinks he might retire and take over the “business.” Some time later, Kinsey has a visit by Dante’s secretary. She hands over a packet Dante has left for Kinsey, saying it is payment for pain and suffering. Along with a bundle of cash is a cassette tape recorded in Dante’s office with enough information on it to bring down the bad cop.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book as I have all of Grafton’s mysteries. It is sad that the end of the alphabet is near, but maybe the next batch will be numerical. Check it out.