"W" Is for Wasted

"W" Is for Wasted

First edition cover
Author	Sue Grafton
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	Alphabet Mysteries
Genre	Mystery fiction
Published	2013 (G.P. Putnam's Sons)
Media type	Print (Hardcover)
Pages	469 first edition
ISBN	978-0-399-15898-8
Preceded by	"V" Is for Vengeance
Followed by	"X"

"W" Is for Wasted is the twenty-third novel in the "Alphabet" series of mystery novels by Sue Grafton. It features Kinsey Millhone, a private detective based in Santa Teresa, California, a fictional version of Santa Barbara, California.^[1]

The novel finds Kinsey investigating the deaths of a local private investigator and an unidentified homeless man. The novel was published in September 2013 by G.P. Putnam's Sons.^[2]

Plot summary[]

The narrative is set in Santa Teresa, a small fictional town near the California coast where Kinsey lives and spends time with her elderly landlord. The story, however, takes place in the very real town of Bakersfield. There is also a fair amount of speculation around the novel’s time period. Why the ’80s? Especially since Kinsey Millhone is not your typical ’80s girl. She is a woman out of time, but while the period doesn’t exactly fit the character, it does avoid the fast-paced twenty-first-century culture that very easily could have choked the life out of the book.

When the novel begins, Kinsey is thirty-eight and not particularly fond of homeless people. She has a low tolerance for shiftlessness and able-bodied people who cannot (or choose not) to take care of themselves. She says, “I could understand the needs of the infirm and the mentally ill. The able-bodied? Not so much.” It stands to reason then that Grafton throws her headfirst into a series of crimes that involve the very people she disdains.

The first is a former colleague who has been shot to death. The other is R. T. Dace, who is found dead on a beach. And it is here that Grafton tosses the first of many curveballs at the reader. Kinsey discovers a slip of paper with her name on it in the dead man’s pocket. She is further surprised to learn that Dace was sitting on a pretty hefty sum of money, about $600,000.

Kinsey travels to Bakersfield to notify family members, who, much to her surprise, do not take the news very well. This may have more to do with the fact that they had been cut out of their deceased relative's estate more than any feeling of genuine sorrow at the news. Returning home, Kinsey connects with two of Dace’s former friends. They cajole her into joining them on a trip to the homeless camp where Dace lived in order to scavenge some of his stuff. As it turns out, what he left behind provides valuable clues about both murders.

As a PI, Kinsey is more than accustomed to connecting with people close to the victims. It’s part of her job, a facet she has become particularly skilled at. However, Dace’s demise hits particularly close to home when she discovers a connection between the homeless man and her father. She is further shocked to discover that Dace has left the entire inheritance in her name. Grafton’s use of this common plot device is even more significant in Dace’s case, given the estrangement between him and his immediate family. In fact, from Kinsey’s perspective, the homeless people Dace had been consorting with seem to be of a particular breed. As one writer puts it, his homeless compadres “seem more like balanced libertarians,” drawing a surprisingly stark contrast between the shiftless riff-raff of Dace’s later life and the family he has shunned even in death.

The narrative’s compelling questions center not only on the murderer’s motive and identity, but also on Kinsey’s stake in the whole sordid mess. To help sort through it all, Grafton pulls in a few characters from Kinsey’s past, as well as fellow PI Pete Wolinsky. Pete is a less than reputable fellow and not very devoted to justice for all mankind. It’s fitting that Grafton includes him in a novel already inundated with more than a few shady characters.

But perhaps the most compelling aspect of the narrative is the insight the reader gains about Kinsey’s relatives and her interaction with them. There is also the connection with Dace to consider, and the fact that all that money is just sitting there, waiting for Kinsey to figure out what to do with it.

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Characters[]

• Kinsey Millhone: Private investigator

Title[]

Of the 5,700 fans who participated in a "guess the title" contest on Grafton's website, fewer than 50 guessed that "W" stood for "Wasted" for the 23rd installment in the "Alphabet" series. The title was revealed on May 1, 2013, in an interview with USA Today. Grafton explained that several meanings of "Wasted" apply to the novel, including "out of it on drugs" and "the notion of all the waste in crime".^[2]

Reviews[]

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References[]

External links[]

• Sue Grafton Alphabet Series official site