In I is for Innocent we once again revisit the world of Sue Grafton’s private detective, Kinsey Millhone. The story picks up about 6 weeks after the end of H is for Homicide, as we are heading into the Christmas Holiday, Kinsey has found new office space and gets embroiled in a six-year old murdery mystery, tracing down trails left by a previous private eye who had been investigating the murder for an upcoming wrongful death case.
I’m not sure if I’m hitting a wall with this series or if the author is but I felt that this one got a big bogged down. I found myself skimming chunks of narative, especially that which detailed her drive around town. Do I really need the intimate details of every turn and every road name in this fictional city? Couldn’t we do with a bit more action or dialogue and a little less exposition? I think so.
The story did finally pick up around the 70% mark and it kept me guessing but that’s a long way into the process to finally feel grabbed by the narrative. Of course, since they’re free through my library, I’ll give the next book in the series a go but if this continues, I don’t think I’m going to find out what Z stands for.