Customer Reviews (1)

An Authentic Period Piece from the 60s and 80s
Much of the charm of many detective series relates to the refreshing references to times past. Walter Moseley's work is a good example. Dashiell Hammett is another example In these cases, the most successful books also teach you something about the people and the time that you did not know before. Sue Grafton has reached into this genre by letting Kinsey's time pass more slowly than our own. As a result, the patina of age is becoming more significant and charming . . . especially in this book. Perhaps the high point here is in expressing sexual and personal mores of earlier times, in ways that resonated for me. I also found that Sue Grafton has gotten better at adding sub-plots, many of which served as good red herrings for what was going on. My biggest disappointment was that it was very easy to figure out who the murderer was, because the plot design meant that few would have the motive and access to execute this exact murder. In fact, I think this book was the easiest one to figure out in the series. My suggestion is that she go back before the second printing and change the murder to make it much more cloudy who the murderer is. I, too, was charmed by some of the new characters and hope that she will write more about her best designed characters in the future whoever they turn out to be in each book. If Sue Grafton was less talented, I would not bother to make these suggestions, but she is capable of lifting us to sublime new heights of ecstasy in future books. We should all encourage and applaud her when she moves in that direction. I also hope that the future books will continue to add that beautiful patina of the periods she illuminates. ... Read more

Product Description
The line-up: three New York Times bestselling authors, four Edgar Award winners, and other critically acclaimed past presidents of the Private Eye Writers of America.

THE DETECTIVES: the authors' most famous P.I.s.
THE STORIES: the authors' personal favorites.
PLUS: a special behind-the-crime-scene introduction to each author's creative process. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Old and new stories
List of stories: Wrong Place, Wrong Time/Bill Pronzini; The Merciful Angel of Death/Lawrence Block; Eighty Million Dead/Michael Collins; Deadly Beloved/William Campbell Gault; Second Story Sunlight/John Lutz; A Poison That Leaves No Trace/Sue Grafton; Aftermath/Jeremiah Healy; The Pig Man/Les Roberts; Faking It/Parnell Hall; Laying Down To Die/Robert J Randisi; The Maltese Cat/Sara Paretsky; Natural Death,Inc./Max Allan Collins.

I gave this book 4 stars instead of 5 because of the 12 stories only 4 are new.The rest are reprints.Of the reprints, there were 2 that I'd never read before; EIGHTY MILLION DEAD and DEADLY BELOVED.All the stories are excellent and the writing topnotch ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

sue grafton's Q
started this about three years ago. i finall git ti finish it. good book.all her books are great ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Tales of Santa Barbara
As a former California resident and visitor to Santa Barbara, a place I loved, it's really interesting and fun reading this book.
This is a good book for anyone interested in the Santa Barbara area. ... Read more