Product Description

She was a 'Jane Doe', an unidentified white female whose decomposed body was discovered near a quarry off California's Highway 1. The case fell to the Santa Teresa County Sheriff's Department, but the detectives had little to go on, and after months of investigation, the murder remained unsolved. That was eighteen years ago. Now the two men who found the body, both nearing the end of long careers in law enforcement, want one last shot at the case ...and they turn to Kinsey Millhone to help them find closure.But revisiting the past can be a dangerous business, and what begins with the pursuit of Jane Doe's real identity ends in a high-risk hunt for her killer. Based on an unsolved homicide that occured in 1969, "Q is for Quarry" and Grafton's interest in the case have renewed police efforts. The body has been exhumed, and a facial reconstruction made that appears in the last pages of the novel. It is hoped that the photograph will trigger memories that may lead to a positive identification.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #37716 in Books
• Published on: 2007-08-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 368 pages

Amazon.com Review
Private investigator Kinsey Millhone has served Sue Grafton well through 16 letters of the alphabet in a perennially popular series that occasionally breaks new ground but more often traverses familiar territory, as is the case here. Two old, ailing cops--one retired, the other disabled--try to breathe some life into an 18-year-old mystery that haunts them both for different reasons. They enlist Kinsey's help in identifying the victim, a young woman who was murdered and left for dead in the old quarry of the title. Neither they nor Kinsey expect that reopening an old case will incite the killer to strike again--not once, but twice. And while the real case of the still-unidentified victim that inspired this fictionalized scenario continues to languish in the cold case file in the Santa Barbara sheriff's office, Grafton's solution is as plausible as any. While the unlikely trio of Millhone and her cranky geezer sidekicks offers a few chuckles, the inner reaches of Kinsey's soul remain largely inaccessible to her as well as to the reader, which will probably not bother most of Kinsey's or Grafton's many admirers. --Jane Adams

From Publishers Weekly
While Kinsey Millhone is as energetic and tenacious as ever, and the plot hustles along at a gratifying pace, her 17th adventure is a little slow getting underway with all the initial accumulated biographical data. Two policemen out hunting discover a teenage girl's body near a quarry off California's Highway 1. Eighteen years later, the two recruit Millhone to help them try to identify the victim. Stacey Oliphant, now retired from the force, and Con Dolan, unwillingly sidelined by heart trouble, are as quarrelsome as an old married couple, but they both desperately want to find the killer in the quarry case. Their inquiries lead the trio from Santa Teresa to Quorum, a town in the desert near the Arizona border. At the time of the murder, a wrecked red convertible was found near the crime scene-stolen from an auto shop in Quorum. When Millhone and her cohorts talk to the grumpy shop owner, Ruel McPhee, and his charming son, Cornell, they get little information. Visits around town and probing conversations reveal various family secrets and covert liaisons, until the somewhat precipitous unmasking of the killer. Grafton briefly shoehorns in Millhone's interactions with her lost family, but that subject continues to feel as artificially imposed as it did in earlier books. A marvelously successful addition, however, is the twosome of Dolan and Oliphant. Their deftly rendered relationship is a delight; with any luck, the duo will appear in future Millhone mysteries. A main selection of the Literary Guild, Doubleday Book Club and Mystery Guild, and a BOMC featured selection.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Inspired by the actual unsolved murder of a young woman in Santa Barbara County, Grafton's latest (after P Is for Peril) has private investigator Kinsey Milhone on a quest for justice denied for 18 years. In the summer of 1969, the decomposed corpse of a young white female was discovered near a quarry off California's Highway 1. Her hands had been bound and her throat slashed. Despite months of investigation, "Jane Doe" remained unidentified and the case unsolved. Now years later, Con Donlan and Stacey Oliphant, the police officers who had found her body, want Kinsey to help them to identify the girl and find her killer before they retire. At the same time, having learned that the body was found on a ranch owned by her estranged grandmother, Kinsey journeys into the past to retrace her own family history. Once again, an intriguing plot, fully drawn characters, and wry humor prove why Grafton's series is one of the best. With nine letters to go, one hopes she can keep it up. For all mystery collections.
Wilda Williams, "Library Journal"
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

Q Is For [There Will Be A] Quiz
Q Is For Quarry by Sue Grafton is different from the average Kinsey Millhone mystery, but I found myself enjoying this book more than I've enjoyed the last few novels in the series. First off,the book takes place mostly in a fictionalized version of the southeastern corner of California [south of Blythe and west of the Colorado River] rather than the usual fictionalized version of Santa Barbara, California. Second, Q Is For Quarry is the most police proceduralesque of the novels in the series. This isn't suprising since the novel takes off from a real cold murder case and involves two retired cops as main characters. Kinsey and the cops slowly unravel and reweave the evidence concerning the murdered girl found in the quarry until they tie up the loose ends and nail the killer. If you don't like lots of detail, you probably won't like this novel. Complaints concerning Kinsey's changing personality seem unfounded to me since the changes are consistent with the evolution of the character seen in the other novels. I think that Q Is For Quarry is a very good entry in the 'Alphabet' series and I hope Sue Grafton doesn't give up on Kinsey before she reaches Z.

Q is a Winner.....
It was eighteen years ago that officers Stacey Oliphant and Con Dolan, out on a morning hunting trip, found the decomposing body near the quarry. She was young, white, bound, and stabbed multiple times, and then her throat was slashed. She'd never been identified, her murderer never brought to justice, and the unsolved case has haunted Oliphant and Dolan all these many years. Now, old and sick, and at the end of their respective careers, they want one more shot at solving this Jane Doe homicide, and decide to enlist the help of Santa Teresa private detective, Kinsey Millhone. After hearing the whole story, and reading over the old murder book, Kinsey has to admit she's hooked, packs her duffle, and joins this "odd couple" on what turns out to be quite an intriguing and ultimately dangerous adventure in search of the truth..... Inspired by a still unsolved murder in Santa Barbara County over thirty years ago, Sue Grafton weaves a compelling and suspenseful story. Her well paced plot is filled with clever twists and turns, vivid, laugh-out-loud scenes, and witty and irreverent dialogue. But it's Ms Grafton's brilliant characterizations and delicious descriptions that really make this novel stand out and sparkle, and no one does it better. Q Is For Quarry is the seventeenth mystery in this marvelous alphabet series, and definitely one of the strongest entries. If you're new to Kinsey and company, begin at the beginning with A Is For Alibi and read them all. If you're already a fan, Q is a very satisfying and engaging read that should find itself at the top of your "must read" list.

One of the best in the series
She was found on Sunday August 3rd, 1969, Grayson Quarry off California's Highway 1. The woman was young, her wrists were bound, she had multiple stab wounds and her killer had slashed her throat. After months of investigation, the case remains as stone-cold as it was on the day her body was found. The police didn't even find out her name.

It is 18 years later, and the two officers who found the body are now both ill and close to retirement. However, desiring one last crack at the case, if only just to give the poor woman a name, they turn to Kinsey Millhone for help. She is curious, and agrees to work with them. But what starts out as an investigation trying to find the identity of a dead woman, soon becomes a dangerous hunt for her killer.

Some fans who may have been disappointed by her last effort, "P is for Peril", will feel much warmer feelings towards this novel, which is one of the best books in the entire "alphabet" series. It's complex, intriguing, written in sharp, efficient prose, with a great cast of characters. Kinsey is on fine form once again, and there are some real treats in store for constant-readers of Grafton, in the shape of more insights into Kinsey's family and background. She's a likeable, resourceful hero, and I am incredibly impressed that Grafton is still able to develop her main character with each new book, whilst lesser writers tend to burn out at around the five book mark.

Grafton is adept at creating casts of likeable, essentially very normal, well-developed characters who keep her books moving and her plots flowing smoothly. The California she evokes is one of a mostly pleasant place full of people going about their usual business, but in all her books there is a subtle sense of darkness and evil lying beneath the genial façade, which often adds a good chill.

Sue Grafton is one of the most reliable authors working today. She can always be counted upon to produce an enjoyable, compelling mystery, which is exactly what she has done here. "Q is for Quarry" is a high-class book with a rock-solid plot, and almost certainly one of her very best.