Call number
MYST GRA
Collection
Genres
Series
Publication
Marian Wood Books/Putnam (2005), Edition: 1st, 307 pages
Description
Thirty-four years ago, Violet Sullivan put on her party finery and left for the annual Fourth of July fireworks display. She was never seen again. In the small California town of Serena Station, tongues wagged. Some said she'd run off with a lover. Some said she was murdered by her husband. But for the not-quite-seven-year-old daughter Daisy that she left behind, her absence has never been explained or forgotten. Now, thirty-four years later, she wants the solace of closure.
Subjects
User reviews
LibraryThing member rosalita
Sue Grafton chugs relentlessly toward the end of the alphabet. S turned out to be a perfectly serviceable entry in the series, which I experience a little differently than I do other series. For instance, I have devoured repeatedly all of the Nero Wolfe books by Rex Stout, and the characters are so
Anyway, the series went through kind of a "dark" period somewhere in the middle of the alphabet, when we learned a whole bunch about Kinsey's childhood and past history. The last few, though, have reverted back to a lighter feel, and S in particular has virtually no detours into Kinsey's personal life at all. It's not bad, necessarily (though I sorely missed visiting with her octogenarian landlord Henry).
Overall, I'd say if you've read and enjoyed the previous vowels and consonants in the series, you'll probably enjoy this one as well. I don't think this one will inspire many newcomers to start all over back at A, though.
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vividly drawn that I like to think of them as living outside of the books. Kinsey Millhone, on the other hand, seems like a very cool chick, and someone that I think I would enjoy hanging out with. But the connection isn't as intense; I don't seek out the latest Grafton as soon as it's published, but I'll make a point of eventually catching up at the library.Anyway, the series went through kind of a "dark" period somewhere in the middle of the alphabet, when we learned a whole bunch about Kinsey's childhood and past history. The last few, though, have reverted back to a lighter feel, and S in particular has virtually no detours into Kinsey's personal life at all. It's not bad, necessarily (though I sorely missed visiting with her octogenarian landlord Henry).
Overall, I'd say if you've read and enjoyed the previous vowels and consonants in the series, you'll probably enjoy this one as well. I don't think this one will inspire many newcomers to start all over back at A, though.
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LibraryThing member gibbon
Marked, like the other books in this series, by an acute awareness of the natural setting including the weather and the seasons. The tension is maintained throughout, and I didn't find the narrative device of switching between the date of the disappearance and of the investigation made the story
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difficult to follow. Maybe the characterization was a trifle perfunctory, but not many authors maintain such a consistently high standard over such a long period. Show Less
LibraryThing member Brandie
Fun, enjoyable. I love this series of books. Now of course, I can't wait for T ;-)
LibraryThing member JulieFauble
I enjoy Kinsey when she's working on long-unsolved cases, and this book takes us back to 1954, when a wild young wife and mother disappeared. Excellent writing, and I loved the addition of flashbacks to the days before the woman's disappearance. My only complaint is that the book seemed to end too
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abruptly. I wanted more of an epilogue, wanted to see how the resolution affected all the players in the novel. Show Less
LibraryThing member tripleblessings
Violet Sullivan disappeared in 1953, taking a new car with her, and leaving an abusive husband and a seven year old daughter Daisy. Daisy hires Kinsey Milhone to find out what really happened to her mother, and Kinsey interviews many of the local people. Their accounts are interspersed with
An excellent cold case mystery - well up to Grafton's usual standard, with a tense compelling plot and an exciting, satisfying ending. I like the whole series, which has grown more complex and nuanced in recent years. Recommended.
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flashbacks from Violet's last days in town, allowing the reader to discover who is telling the truth, and who is covering up a possible crime. An excellent cold case mystery - well up to Grafton's usual standard, with a tense compelling plot and an exciting, satisfying ending. I like the whole series, which has grown more complex and nuanced in recent years. Recommended.
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LibraryThing member reading_fox
Missing Person. Kinsey gets dragged somewhat reluctantly into her oldest case yet. She is asked to trace a daughters mother who went missing in the dead of night 34 yrs ago. Although many people have moved away, small town america retains its memories of past events and people confide secrets held
No random Subplots! On the downside the story is written with interleaving chapters from the past, telling the story from other characters points of view at the time. This reveals details that Kinsey never uncovers, makes the story very dissjointed and is over all just odd.
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for manay years when Kinsey questions them. Someone appears to have yet more secrets hidden, can Kinsey unearth the truth after all these years?No random Subplots! On the downside the story is written with interleaving chapters from the past, telling the story from other characters points of view at the time. This reveals details that Kinsey never uncovers, makes the story very dissjointed and is over all just odd.
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LibraryThing member patriciashrivernet
This one had a lot of interest and suspense for me. I was surprised by the ending. I'm a big fan of Sue Grafton and have read most of her mysteries. Powell's City of Books has been my main source for them.
LibraryThing member kd9
After the too broad adventures of "R is for Richochet", the calm working through of the details in this book is appreciated. My mother-in-law was disturbed by the chapters that were not in first person, Kinsey Millhone narration. But for me, all of these books are about specific detailed places and
The only discordant factor was the chase scene at the end. Although I'm sure private investigators sometimes turn up information that criminals would kill to keep buried, I don't think that every one of them would be threatened by every crook in the last pages of their stories. This trope is getting a bit thin.
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specific detailed people. Although I was only three in 1953, the chapters set then rang true. All the small town snobbery, desperate drinking, and unforgiving religiosity seemed accurate and real. The only discordant factor was the chase scene at the end. Although I'm sure private investigators sometimes turn up information that criminals would kill to keep buried, I don't think that every one of them would be threatened by every crook in the last pages of their stories. This trope is getting a bit thin.
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LibraryThing member mrtall
Finally! Sue Grafton is back on track with her long, long, loooooong-running Kinsey Millhone series. After a string of disappointing entries, in S is for Silence Grafton jettisons the now-over-developed backstory tropes that have been weighing her down (e.g. all the old people love affairs) and
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gets back down to the roots of an old missing persons case -- i.e. a small town's resident hussy -- that's full of filthy, gossipy detail. The flashbacks to the 1950s work very well. Recommended. Show Less
LibraryThing member shawnd
I thought this was below average for the Kinsey Millhone mystery series. I am a big fan and this is the only mystery series I read, so I'd call the series a crossover hit. The challenges with the book (for me) include the following. First, it's about a mystery that happened years ago. And while
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Grafton seeks to make it relevant, and does, there's no getting around my lack of interest in a semi 'period piece' and something that's ancient history. Second, almost half the book is written in the third person...it's not Kinsey talking. Third, it lacks a lot of the internal Kinsey activity that is so common, usually there's a good amount of action at home, with her landlord, her friends, etc. This has less of that than normal. However, redeeming factors are that it does have a lot of the stock - and exciting - qualities: old houses, searches, exciting clues already in the public record, interviews of people, driving chases. And this ending probably rates as one of the better ones. So if you like 'cold case files' types of things this is going to be good for you, and otherwise best for Grafton loyalists. Show Less
LibraryThing member sleahey
This series entry seems to be endless, with much more detail and repetition than is necessary or effective. There were more than enough red herrings and unappealing characters to go around, but I just wanted the author to get on with it and finish up already!
LibraryThing member Kathy89
Latest in Kinsey Millhone's alphabet series. A cold case going back to 1953. Current story takes place in 1987 before cellphones and computers.
LibraryThing member marient
THirty-four years ago, Violet Sullivan put on her party finery and left for the annual Fourth of July fireworks disply. She was never seen again.
For her six year old daughter Daisy she left behind, her absence has never been explained or forgotten. Now, thirty-four years later she wants the solace
For her six year old daughter Daisy she left behind, her absence has never been explained or forgotten. Now, thirty-four years later she wants the solace
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of closure and hires Kinsey Millhone. Show Less
LibraryThing member mmignano11
I enjoyed this audiobook. Having started the series with A and jumping to S I found the author much more adept at her craft. Her characters were much more well-developed. Each of them had a reason for being in the story, and helped to create a backdrop for the mystery of a long-ago murder in a
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small town. When a young woman asks Kinsey Milhone to look into the murder of her mother, a notorious town flirt, Kinsey uncovers much more than she bargained for. There are always more secrets contributing to events than there appears to be at first look. Every person Kinsey talks with, gives her another piece of the puzzle, and it is up to her to put them all together. Of course, as with any good mystery, the closer she gets, the closer the danger gets to her. If you think you'd like a mystery with a town full of suspects, get the book or listen to the audiobook. I will be looking forward to another Kinsey Milhone mystery. Show Less
LibraryThing member JenSay
One of the better Kinsey Millhone stories. I appreciated the actual mystery in this book. Often times I get frustrated with this series because it seems that every other page is Kinsey pulling on her sweats for a 3 mile run, and dinner at Rosie's. This had some actual detective work.
LibraryThing member dbhutch
#19 in the alphabet mysteries or case files of Kinsey Millhorne. No back history as in the past couple books, but very well done. grafton applies a new technique here, taking a chapter and flashing back 30-40 years in time to reveal part of what went on in each of the characters/suspects lives.
Ms. Grafton demonstrates her usual incredibly creative crime talent here, the main key piece of evidence being a 1956 Bel Air, that ended up buried on the property of a old manor type house that someone is restoring. And her expert character weaving is present as well, taking a small town from the 50's and typing a large group of lives together in this inter-related case of a missing woman.
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Very well done, and added a lot of depth and insight into the story.Ms. Grafton demonstrates her usual incredibly creative crime talent here, the main key piece of evidence being a 1956 Bel Air, that ended up buried on the property of a old manor type house that someone is restoring. And her expert character weaving is present as well, taking a small town from the 50's and typing a large group of lives together in this inter-related case of a missing woman.
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LibraryThing member jepeters333
Kinsey Millhone investigates the 30-yr-old disappearance of a young woman
LibraryThing member ffortsa
This story is of a disappearance that took place in 1953 - July 4th, to be exact, which Kinsey is asked to investigate. Lots of history in it, mainly the common history of small towns in California at that time. It was a little confusing, as some of the chapters were set in 1953, from the angle of
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the characters in their 1953 skins, while others talked of the same characters in the 1980s when Grafton sets her stories. Happily, I picked up the right clues so I wasn't surprised so much as gratified at the end. Show Less
LibraryThing member SamSattler
The lifeblood of any small company is the new business brought in by referrals from friends and former customers. Kinsey Millhone runs a one-woman detective agency and, although she is doing well enough with it, she is always hesitant to reject any potential clients that come her way. Still, after
That Violet Sullivan was Serena Station's town slut is no secret. The stunningly beautiful redhead may have been married, with a seven-year-old daughter, but she still moved steadily from one affair to the next despite the grief it caused her husband. Men found Violet hard to resist; their wives despised her. And then one evening, she blew her daughter a kiss, waved goodbye to the babysitter, and disappeared in the flashiest car in Serena Station, a brand new 1953 Chevrolet Bel Air. She would never be seen again.
Kinsey does not expect her investigation to get far but, when one morning she finds all four tires on her VW Beetle slashed, she knows that she is making someone very nervous. Violet's disappearance is complicated by the rumor that she left town with $50,000 in cash, and the fact that every man Kinsey interviews seems to have had a reason to want her dead. Kinsey will find that having an abundance of suspects is not a good thing.
"S Is for Silence" focuses almost entirely on the cold case Kinsey Millhone has been hired to investigate, even to the point that the book's lack of attention to Kinsey's personal life might disappoint some longtime fans of the series. Grafton alternates chapters flashing back to 1953 with chapters showing Kinsey stirring up things with the same characters in present day 1987, giving readers the opportunity to observe both eras in real time (in typical "cold case" fashion).
Despite being atypical of Grafton's alphabet series, "S Is for Silence" is cleverly constructed up to the moment its disappointingly farfetched ending is exposed. The book's climactic scene is so dependent on coincidence that much of its tension is lost because the reader is unlikely to be able to take the scene completely seriously. This, added to the way that so many of the investigation's turning points are entirely dependent on Kinsey's sudden intuition, and not on what she actually discovers about Violet's disappearance, results in a less than satisfying mystery.
As usual, reader Judy Kaye does a magnificent job in presenting the words of Sue Grafton in the audio version of the book. Hers is the perfect Kinsey Millhone voice.
Rated at: 3.0
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a friend asks her to meet with Daisy, a young woman whose mother disappeared 34 years earlier (in 1953), Kinsey only reluctantly agrees to take on a case gone so cold that it is unlikely ever to be solved. That Violet Sullivan was Serena Station's town slut is no secret. The stunningly beautiful redhead may have been married, with a seven-year-old daughter, but she still moved steadily from one affair to the next despite the grief it caused her husband. Men found Violet hard to resist; their wives despised her. And then one evening, she blew her daughter a kiss, waved goodbye to the babysitter, and disappeared in the flashiest car in Serena Station, a brand new 1953 Chevrolet Bel Air. She would never be seen again.
Kinsey does not expect her investigation to get far but, when one morning she finds all four tires on her VW Beetle slashed, she knows that she is making someone very nervous. Violet's disappearance is complicated by the rumor that she left town with $50,000 in cash, and the fact that every man Kinsey interviews seems to have had a reason to want her dead. Kinsey will find that having an abundance of suspects is not a good thing.
"S Is for Silence" focuses almost entirely on the cold case Kinsey Millhone has been hired to investigate, even to the point that the book's lack of attention to Kinsey's personal life might disappoint some longtime fans of the series. Grafton alternates chapters flashing back to 1953 with chapters showing Kinsey stirring up things with the same characters in present day 1987, giving readers the opportunity to observe both eras in real time (in typical "cold case" fashion).
Despite being atypical of Grafton's alphabet series, "S Is for Silence" is cleverly constructed up to the moment its disappointingly farfetched ending is exposed. The book's climactic scene is so dependent on coincidence that much of its tension is lost because the reader is unlikely to be able to take the scene completely seriously. This, added to the way that so many of the investigation's turning points are entirely dependent on Kinsey's sudden intuition, and not on what she actually discovers about Violet's disappearance, results in a less than satisfying mystery.
As usual, reader Judy Kaye does a magnificent job in presenting the words of Sue Grafton in the audio version of the book. Hers is the perfect Kinsey Millhone voice.
Rated at: 3.0
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LibraryThing member cathyskye
First Line: When Liza Mellincamp thinks about the last time she ever saw Violet Sullivan, what comes most vividly to mind is the color of Violet's Japanese silk kimono, a shade of blue that Liza later learned was called "cerulean," a word that wasn't even in her vocabulary when she was fourteen
On Saturday, July 4, 1953, most people in Serena Station, California, planned to spend at least part of their evening watching the fireworks display. Violet Sullivan was not one of them. She made arrangements for her usual babysitter, got dressed up, loaded her three-month-old Pomeranian puppy into her purse, and drove off in a cloud of dust in her brand-new Bel Air. She never came back.
Although they did search for her, most people assumed that the vivacious Violet had run off with the latest man who'd caught her fancy. Trouble is, she left a young daughter behind who grew up with a lot of problems due to her mother's disappearance. Reluctantly, Kinsey Millhone agrees to work for Daisy, even though she privately thinks she's not going to get anywhere with the 34-year-old cold case.
Of course we know that once Kinsey starts investigating, she's going to get somewhere. Grafton veers away from Kinsey's usual first person narrative to intersperse flashbacks from the various people in town who knew the missing woman. As the story progresses, the reader begins to understand that all these people have their own reasons for wanting Violet dead.
Hopefully I won't be tarred and feathered by the legions of Millhone fans when I say that previously the only book in the series I'd read was A is for Alibi. For some reason that I can't remember, Kinsey and I didn't really hit it off, but I'm happy to say that I appreciate her a lot more now that I've read S is for Silence. Did I feel as though I was missing a lot of detail, not having read B through R? No. I fell right in step with her as she began digging away at the facts in this case.
The flashbacks populated the town for me and gave me a real sense of the way Violet interacted with everyone. Without those glimpses into 1953, the story would have been skeletal indeed. As it was, I became quite caught up in the book and its characters. I was able to narrow down the field of those who wished Violet ill, but never got around to choosing my chief suspect.
Many times in reading crime fiction, it's not just about whodunit. Sometimes the how and the why are even more important, and once in a while the characters make a reader forget everything else. Where S is for Silence is concerned, the who led to the how and then to the why, and then I just concentrated on a private investigator who doesn't know how to quit... and the daughter, abandoned so long ago, who deserved truth and justice.
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years old.On Saturday, July 4, 1953, most people in Serena Station, California, planned to spend at least part of their evening watching the fireworks display. Violet Sullivan was not one of them. She made arrangements for her usual babysitter, got dressed up, loaded her three-month-old Pomeranian puppy into her purse, and drove off in a cloud of dust in her brand-new Bel Air. She never came back.
Although they did search for her, most people assumed that the vivacious Violet had run off with the latest man who'd caught her fancy. Trouble is, she left a young daughter behind who grew up with a lot of problems due to her mother's disappearance. Reluctantly, Kinsey Millhone agrees to work for Daisy, even though she privately thinks she's not going to get anywhere with the 34-year-old cold case.
Of course we know that once Kinsey starts investigating, she's going to get somewhere. Grafton veers away from Kinsey's usual first person narrative to intersperse flashbacks from the various people in town who knew the missing woman. As the story progresses, the reader begins to understand that all these people have their own reasons for wanting Violet dead.
Hopefully I won't be tarred and feathered by the legions of Millhone fans when I say that previously the only book in the series I'd read was A is for Alibi. For some reason that I can't remember, Kinsey and I didn't really hit it off, but I'm happy to say that I appreciate her a lot more now that I've read S is for Silence. Did I feel as though I was missing a lot of detail, not having read B through R? No. I fell right in step with her as she began digging away at the facts in this case.
The flashbacks populated the town for me and gave me a real sense of the way Violet interacted with everyone. Without those glimpses into 1953, the story would have been skeletal indeed. As it was, I became quite caught up in the book and its characters. I was able to narrow down the field of those who wished Violet ill, but never got around to choosing my chief suspect.
Many times in reading crime fiction, it's not just about whodunit. Sometimes the how and the why are even more important, and once in a while the characters make a reader forget everything else. Where S is for Silence is concerned, the who led to the how and then to the why, and then I just concentrated on a private investigator who doesn't know how to quit... and the daughter, abandoned so long ago, who deserved truth and justice.
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LibraryThing member kaulsu
At last! Grafton returns to writing a book that holds the reader!
In this case, she had to figure out a way to keep the reader in the loop of what it was like in small town California in the 1950s (when investing in television seemed like a waste of money). I doubt that it will work a second time,
The ending was a bit hard to quite believe, but after such a fun book, I was willing to suspend my normal skepticism.
In this case, she had to figure out a way to keep the reader in the loop of what it was like in small town California in the 1950s (when investing in television seemed like a waste of money). I doubt that it will work a second time,
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but it was interesting this time around.The ending was a bit hard to quite believe, but after such a fun book, I was willing to suspend my normal skepticism.
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LibraryThing member bkladyatl
A good entry in the series. I really enjoyed the book, although I think I would have liked more information on why the killer did it --- I felt there were some loose ends.
LibraryThing member tloeffler
Kinsey Milhone is asked to look into the disappearance of a woman 34 years ago by her daughter who was 7 at the time. In an unusual twist for these books, it is not all told from Kinsey's perspective, but includes flashbacks. A compelling read, as always, with a mildly disappointing ending.
LibraryThing member seasidereader
Silence is reminiscent of Grafton's roots in A-F of the series. She went through a dark period mid-alphabet, but I've enjoyed recent books, especially Q and S, with its format of interviews interspersed with Kinsey's investigative notes. I especially like that we aren't certain of everything at the
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end, since some characters' memories, or what they choose to share with Kinsey, don't exactly match each other. Show Less
LibraryThing member bookworm12
A woman named Violet goes missing in the '50s and is never found. Thirty years later Violet's daughter hires Kinsey to try to discover what happened. This was the first time Grafton used a rotating POV. We usually only see the case through Kinsey's eyes, but this time we flash back into the past
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and see the case from a few different characters. We still see it through Kinsey's eyes in the present day, but I liked getting inside the head of all the suspects and other players. Plus, Kinsey hits it off with the daughter and it's nice to see her gain another friend. Definitely a fun addition to the series. Show Less
Pages
307
ISBN
0399152970 / 9780399152979
UPC
048228026952