Kinsey Millhone is a private investigator who can’t keep her nose out of anything, even when shopping for underwear. But perhaps that is a good thing because Kinsey spotted a shoplifter amongst the stacks of teddies, camisoles, and assorted women’s lingerie in the upscale department store. Always a stickler for obeying the law (except when bending the law helps solve a case), she alerted the department store personnel that a couple of thieves were pilfering undergarments. Before long one shoplifter named Audrey was in handcuffs, and the other was trying to run-down Kinsey as she exited the store and strolled through the parking garage.

A few days later Kinsey finds out that, much to her horror, the shoplifter named Audrey had committed suicide by jumping off a cliff near Kinsey’s hometown of Santa Theresa, California. As much as Kinsey had wanted to see justice done, the death of this 60-year old woman who had swiped a few pairs of underwear left her horrified. This woman would have still be alive in Kinsey had not tattle-taled on her.  In the meantime Kinsey is trying to help a down-and-out guy friend named Pinky, who is always short of cash and is always on the run from someone, or something.

Kinsey is soon hired to investigate Audrey’s death by her mourning boyfriend. What Kinsey finds is that Audrey had a shady background and more than a few arrests for shoplifting. And Audrey also had an accomplice that had slipped away from the department store the day Audrey was arrested. Where would this all lead?  Before long Kinsey finds that a far-reaching criminal enterprise is operating in her area, and the people running the show have little patience in seeing a perky, pesky, street-wise private eye poking into their business and threatening to bring-down a multi-million dollar crime ring.

V is for Vengeance is the latest novel in the long-running ‘Kinsey Millhone’ series from Sue Grafton. While one could argue that the author has long since exhausted the ‘Kinsey’ storyline, this novel enlivens the series by shaking up the formula. Part of the story is told in first-person format by Kinsey, while the rest is a third-person viewpoint of a gangster named Dante and a socialite named Nora. The various story lines gradually intersect and the whole plot has a satisfactory grand finale. It took an experienced author to construct such a plot and I though Grafton did a very good job of making it all work.

If you are familiar with this series you won’t be disappointed in the sleuthing skills of Kinsey. She still had a knack for prying information out of sources and giving a cold shoulder to those who stand in her way. Also, the long-running subplot in this series about her aging landlord is on the periphery in V is for Vengeance.

I thought this book was a very good addition to the series and worth reading, even if it did get a bit bogged-down in unnecessary details at times. I don’t know if the author will ever finish the series with W, X, Y, and Z, since it took her two full years to write this one. But fans of the series should be satisfied enough with V is for Vengeance to wait-out for the next installment, whenever that will appear.

Recommended: Yes