"Y is for Yesterday", by Sue Grafton, and the murder mystery genre

 “Y is for Yesterday” by Sue Grafton:  A commentary on

the problems of the murder mystery genre

My hold at the local library on this book arrived on the day I read that Sue Grafton had died at age 77 after struggling with cancer for two years.  One obituary described her as a “beloved” favorite.  So it is with reluctance and apology I write this mixed review of her novel, and use it as a model for the problem of the pop murder mystery genre.  

Mystery novels are not just a cottage industry, they proliferate well beyond the number of cottages in England and the U.S. combined. Perhaps it’s better terms a trailer park industry.  Our library recently had a Murder Mystery Trivia Night, hosted by about ten local crime novel writers.  I’ve now read two different authors with novels set in the wine country. I know a true-crime historian specialist, who appears on true crime TV shows.  I also personally know three people who’ve written and published them, with quite a bit of success.  And, I’m pleased to say, I’ve had many enjoyable reads. Maybe its just that I’m such a curmudgeon I enjoy nit-picking.  But if I see problems, and they can’t?  What’s that say? What problems, you say?

I stumble plenty:  plot logic, character inconsistencies and over-development,  an inclusion of descriptions which detract from the narrative.  No back story or too much, repetitive narratives, tedious exposition,  On the other hand, back story and authorial voice are quite fascinating, informed and funny.

Maybe because this is a movie town?  Write a novel, sell the screen rights.  In what I take to be an in joke included by Grafton, one of the characters in “Y is for Yesterday” is attempting to do just that.  Kinsey tries to befriend the sometimes antagonistic local newspaper reported with a suggestion to serialize this case for “Vanity Fair”.  

TV legal and cop series have polished me with pseudo-knowledge about legal and police procedure and jargon, the criminal mentality, and honed my already beady eye for plot mistakes and inconsistencies.

UCLA has run an extension course for aspiring mystery writers, and perhaps that has nurtured the genre, alone with the e-book and self-publishing industry.  How good can they all be?  

The stakes faced by these writers is quite high with all this and the excellence of murder classics hanging over them.  But the fascination of the “reveal” in a plot structure is a powerful motive to keep reading even a flawed book.

That said, Sue Grafton’s series is quite good, better than most and still worth reading.  What’s strong about “Y” is that after 24 books, there is no decay or exclusion of backstory and character  with Kinsey and her world, as has occurred in Michael Connelly and Lee Child’s novels.  And it’s set in 1989.  No high tech facilitates the criminal or law enforcement, though there is a fax machine.  

“Yesterday” concerns the murder of a teenage girl at prep school when her murderer gets out of jail eight years later.

Kinsey is hired by his rich parents after a blackmail demand is received. 

All those involved are still living in Santa Teresa, except Austin, the leader of the pack, who disappeared and is said to be living abroad, supported by wealthy parents.  Kinsey interviews everyone, but somehow Austin’s parents are conveniently absent, and no one has ever gone looking for them or him.  

The narrative shifts back and forth from present day to past, and from character to character.  This results in some repeated exposition without always revealing more plot structure.  Characters speak openly to Kinsey as she interviews them, instead of refusing outright, wising up, or lawyering up.  

That said, the characters’ psychologies and motives are very well developed, honed and clear, very human and sympathetic.  Some are funny, and Grafton’s dog and cat characters are integral parts of this book, although “Killer”, the dog in this story, would have had me calling Animal Control instead of befriending it as Kinsey is able to do.

 What’s strong and appealing about Kinsey is that she seems to be only the adult in room, and that’s a position to be envied.  She  handles people patiently and wisely, feels unentitled and earns her way, sustains her effort, and remains dominant.

A parallel event begun in past novels continues in Y,  as Ned Lowe continues in pursuit of Kinsey, intent on murdering her.  I’d like to think that the police would have provided more protection and vigilance than they do, since Kinsey has policemen buddies for whom she has provided many crime solutions.

So, yes, do read “Y is for Yesterday”, and enjoy the leisurely unfolding of the complex plot and, go easier on this book and its imaginative and clever author than I did.