"D" Is for Deadbeat

Last updated
"D" Is for Deadbeat
DIsForDeadbeat.jpg
First edition cover
Author Sue Grafton
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
SeriesAlphabet Mysteries
Genre Mystery fiction
Published1987 (Henry Holt and Company)
Pages229 first edition
ISBN 978-0-8050-0248-5
OCLC 14413876
813/.54 19
LC Class PS3557.R13 D2 1987
Preceded by "C" Is for Corpse  
Followed by "E" Is for Evidence  

"D" Is for Deadbeat is the fourth novel in Sue Grafton's "Alphabet" series of mystery novels [1] and features Kinsey Millhone, a private eye based in Santa Teresa, California. [2] [3] The novel follows the development of Kinsey's relationship with Jonah Robb, the police officer she met in B is for Burglar.

Contents

Plot summary

Kinsey Millhone receives a contract from ex-con Alvin Limardo to deliver a cashier's check for $25,000 to a 15-year-old boy named Tony Gahan. According to Limardo, Tony helped him through a difficult time in his life, leaving Limardo indebted. When Limardo's retainer check bounces, Kinsey attempts to track him down and get her money back. She learns that Alvin Limardo's real name is John Daggett, and that he is a bigamist. His first wife, Essie, refused to divorce him due to her fanatical religious views, but Daggett still remarried on his release from prison.

Kinsey discovers that Daggett was found dead on the beach only a few days after hiring her. Through Daggett's daughter Barbara, Kinsey learns that Tony Gahan was the sole survivor of a car accident caused by Daggett, for which he was convicted of vehicular manslaughter. Also killed in the accident was a friend of Tony's younger sister and a boy called Doug Polokowski. Gahan now lives with his aunt and uncle, Ramona and Ferrin Westfall. Kinsey interviews Gahan and discovers him to be a troubled teenager with a hidden sensitive side.

Kinsey tracks down an ex-con friend of Daggett's, Billy Polo, who is revealed as Doug Polokowski's brother. Billy, who lives in a trailer park with his sister Coral, introduced Daggett to Daggett's second wife, Lovella. Kinsey suspects that Billy Polo is not giving her the full truth about his involvement with Daggett.

Kinsey discovers that shortly before his death, Daggett was staggering about drunk at the marina in the company of a blonde woman in a green outfit. Kinsey sets out to discover which of the numerous blonde women in the case might be the killer. While visiting the marina, Kinsey's gun is stolen from her car.

Coral confesses to Kinsey that her brother Billy is blackmailing someone whom he suspects of Daggett's killing. Coral also admits to scheming with Billy and Lovella to rob Daggett of money he had come by illicitly in prison. Kinsey realizes this is the money Daggett had given her to pass on to Tony.

Billy Polo is murdered at the beach, shot with Kinsey's gun. The police investigating Billy's murder discover that the gun was wrapped in a towel to silence the shot. Kinsey immediately recognizes the towel as coming from the Westfall household, and begins to suspect Ramona. This means confronting Tony, who has given Ramona an alibi. In pursuing Tony, Kinsey realizes Tony himself, dressed as a woman in his aunt's wig, was actually the killer. He also stole her gun and killed Billy Polo, who had recognized Tony at Daggett's funeral. Killing the man who killed his family has done nothing to ease Tony's torment and he commits suicide by throwing himself off a building in front of Kinsey, despite her best effort to talk him down.

Reviews

The novel received a positive review from Kirkus Reviews, which praised its plot, pace, poignancy, and realism. [4]

Publishers Weekly gave a more mixed review, saying that it was an enjoyable read but finding flaws in its plot. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sue Grafton</span> American writer

Sue Taylor Grafton was an American author of detective novels. She is best known as the author of the "alphabet series" featuring private investigator Kinsey Millhone in the fictional city of Santa Teresa, California. The daughter of detective novelist C. W. Grafton, she said the strongest influence on her crime novels was author Ross Macdonald. Before her success with this series, she wrote screenplays for television movies.

<i>"A" Is for Alibi</i> 1982 novel by Sue Grafton

"A" Is for Alibi is the first mystery novel in Sue Grafton's "Alphabet" series, and was published by Holt, Rinehart and Winston in 1982. Featuring sleuth Kinsey Millhone, it is set in the southern California city of Santa Teresa, the nom de plume for Santa Barbara. She wrote the book during a divorce and admits about her husband that she "would lie in bed at night thinking of ways to kill him". The New York Times gave the book a lukewarm review.

<i>"G" Is for Gumshoe</i>

"G" Is for Gumshoe (1990) is the seventh novel in Sue Grafton's "Alphabet" series of mystery novels and features Kinsey Millhone, a private eye based in Santa Teresa, California.

<i>"H" Is for Homicide</i> Novel by Sue Grafton

"H" Is for Homicide is the eighth novel in Sue Grafton's "Alphabet" series of mystery novels and features Kinsey Millhone, a private eye based in Santa Teresa, California. In this novel, Kinsey Millhone goes under cover to help break up an insurance fraud ring in Los Angeles led by Raymond Maldonado. She infiltrates the ring by befriending Maldonado's former girlfriend Bibianna Diaz. In the process she meets up with a former school mate and ex cop, Jimmy Tate.

<i>"B" Is for Burglar</i> 1985 novel by Sue Grafton

"B" Is for Burglar is a mystery novel by American writer Sue Grafton. It was published in 1985 by Henry Holt and Company as the second novel in her "Alphabet" series of mystery novels.

<i>"C" Is for Corpse</i> 1986 book by Sue Grafton

"C" Is for Corpse is the third novel in Sue Grafton's "Alphabet" series of mystery novels and features Kinsey Millhone, a private eye based in Santa Teresa, California.

<i>"E" Is for Evidence</i> Novel

"E" Is for Evidence is the fifth novel in Sue Grafton's "Alphabet" series of mystery novels and features Kinsey Millhone, a private eye based in Santa Teresa, California. The premise of the book elaborates on Kinsey's personal history since it involves her second ex-husband, jazz musician and drug addict Daniel Wade, who was only briefly addressed in C is for Corpse.

<i>"F" Is for Fugitive</i>

"F" Is for Fugitive is the sixth novel in Sue Grafton's "Alphabet" series of mystery novels and features Kinsey Millhone, a private eye based in Santa Teresa, California.

<i>"I" Is for Innocent</i> Novel by Sue Grafton

"I" Is for Innocent is the ninth novel in Sue Grafton's "Alphabet" series of mystery novels and features Kinsey Millhone, a private eye based in Santa Teresa, California.

<i>"K" Is for Killer</i>

"K" Is for Killer is the 11th novel in Sue Grafton's "Alphabet" series of mystery novels and features Kinsey Millhone, a private eye based in Santa Teresa, California. The book had an initial printing of reportedly 600,000 copies and was a New York Times bestseller.

<i>"L" Is for Lawless</i>

"L" Is for Lawless is the 12th novel in Sue Grafton's "Alphabet" series of mystery novels and features Kinsey Millhone, a private eye based in Santa Teresa, California.

<i>"O" Is for Outlaw</i>

"O" Is for Outlaw is the 15th novel in Sue Grafton's "Alphabet" series of mystery novels and features Kinsey Millhone, a private eye based in Santa Teresa, California.

<i>"P" Is for Peril</i> Novel by Sue Grafton

"P" Is for Peril is the 16th novel in the "Alphabet" series of mystery novels by Sue Grafton. The novel focuses on the disappearance of Dr. Dowan Purcell, a nursing home administrator and doctor at Pacific Meadows Nursing Home, and features Kinsey Millhone, a private eye based in Santa Teresa, California. The novel is set in 1986.

<i>"R" Is for Ricochet</i>

"R" Is for Ricochet is the 18th novel in Sue Grafton's "Alphabet" series of mystery novels and features Kinsey Millhone, a private eye based in Santa Teresa, California.

<i>"S" Is for Silence</i>

"S" Is for Silence is the 19th novel in Sue Grafton's "Alphabet" series of mystery novels and features Kinsey Millhone, a private eye based in Santa Teresa, California.

<i>"T" Is for Trespass</i>

"T" Is for Trespass is the 20th novel in Sue Grafton's "Alphabet" series of mystery novels and features Kinsey Millhone, a private eye based in the fictional Santa Teresa, California.

<i>"U" Is for Undertow</i> 2009 novel by Sue Grafton

"U" Is for Undertow is the 21st novel in the "Alphabet" series of mystery novels by Sue Grafton. It features Kinsey Millhone, a private eye based in Santa Teresa, California.

<i>"V" Is for Vengeance</i> 2011 novel by Sue Grafton

"V" Is for Vengeance is the 22nd novel in Sue Grafton's "Alphabet" series of mystery novels and features Kinsey Millhone, a private eye based in Santa Teresa, California, a fictional version of Santa Barbara, California.

<i>"W" Is for Wasted</i> 2013 novel by Sue Grafton

"W" Is for Wasted is the twenty-third novel in the "Alphabet" series of mystery novels by Sue Grafton. It features Kinsey Millhone, a private detective based in Santa Teresa, California, a fictional version of Santa Barbara, California.

<i>X</i> (Grafton novel) 2015 novel by Sue Grafton

"X" is the twenty-fourth novel in the "Alphabet" series of mystery novels by Sue Grafton. It features Kinsey Millhone, a private detective based in Santa Teresa, California, a fictional version of Santa Barbara, California.

References

  1. ↑ Morris, Anne (1994-05-13). "Mystery author working her way through the alphabet". The Austin American-Statesman. p. D1.
  2. ↑ Stassel, Stephanie (2000-04-03). "Southern California's Intrepid Alphabet Sleuth; Sue Grafton's bestselling mysteries--each titled with a different letter--feature her smart-alecky but down-to-earth alter ego, Kinsey Millhone". Los Angeles Times. p. E1.
  3. ↑ "Women of Mystery; How two U of L alumnae became top 'whodunits'". U of L Magazine. Spring 2002.
  4. ↑ 'D' IS FOR DEADBEAT by Sue Grafton | Kirkus Reviews.
  5. ↑ "D Is for Deadbeat". Publishers Weekly. May 12, 1987.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.