"W" Is for Wasted

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"W" Is for Wasted
Sue Grafton - W Is For Wasted.jpg
First edition cover
Author Sue Grafton
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
SeriesAlphabet Mysteries
Genre Mystery fiction
Published2013 (G.P. Putnam's Sons)
Media typePrint (Hardcover)
Pages469 first edition
ISBN 978-0-399-15898-8
Preceded by "V" Is for Vengeance  
Followed by "X"  

"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. [1]

Contents

The novel finds Kinsey investigating the deaths of a local private investigator and an unidentified homeless man. The novel was published in September 2013 by G.P. Putnam's Sons. [2]

Plot summary

Kinsey Millhone's colleague Aaron Blumberg informs her that a homeless man has been found dead on the beach with her contact information in his pocket. Kinsey tracks down the dead man's friends, three other homeless people named Felix, Dandy, and Pearl. With some difficulty, Kinsey persuades them to tell her the man's name: R. T. Dace. At the bank, she finds a safe deposit box in Dace's name containing $600,000 and a will leaving it all to her.

Kinsey, who never knew Dace in life, travels to Bakersfield to notify Dace's surviving family members: his son Ethan and daughters Ellen and Anna. All three have been estranged from their father for many years and are unmoved by the news of his death, even more so when they discover they have been disinherited in favor of a stranger. Returning home, Kinsey travels to the homeless camp where Dace lived in order to scavenge some of his stuff. As it turns out, what he left behind provides valuable clues about not only Dace's murder, but the death of another private investigator some months before.

Characters

Title

Of the 5,700 fans who participated in a "guess the title" contest on Grafton's website, fewer than 50 guessed that "W" stood for "Wasted" for the 23rd installment in the "Alphabet" series. The title was revealed on May 1, 2013, in an interview with USA Today . Grafton explained that several meanings of "Wasted" apply to the novel, including "out of it on drugs" and "the notion of all the waste in crime". [2]

Reviews

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>"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>"D" Is for Deadbeat</i>

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

<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>"J" Is for Judgment</i>

"J" Is for Judgment is the tenth novel in Sue Grafton's "Alphabet" series of mystery novels and features Kinsey Millhone, a private eye based in Santa Teresa, California. The novel is set in 1984 and features a significant development in Kinsey's personal back-story, as she discovers that she has extensive family living in the Lompoc area.

<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>"M" Is for Malice</i>

"M" Is for Malice is the 13th novel in Sue Grafton's "Alphabet" series of mystery novels and features Kinsey Millhone, a private eye based in Santa Teresa, California. The novel is set in 1986.

<i>"N" Is for Noose</i>

"N" Is for Noose is the 14th novel in Sue Grafton's "Alphabet" series of mystery novels and features Kinsey Millhone, a private eye based in Santa Teresa, California, although much of this novel's action takes place elsewhere in 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>"Q" Is for Quarry</i>

"Q" Is for Quarry is the 17th 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>"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>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.

<i>"Y" Is for Yesterday</i> 2017 mystery novel by Sue Grafton

"Y" Is for Yesterday is the twenty-fifth and final novel in the "Alphabet" series of mystery novels by Sue Grafton. Grafton intended to write a Z novel, but she died before she was able to do so. It features Kinsey Millhone, a private detective based in the fictional city of Santa Teresa, California.

References

  1. ↑ "About Sue Grafton and W Is for Wasted". Penguin Random House. Retrieved January 11, 2018.
  2. 1 2 Memmott, Carol (May 1, 2013). "Sue Grafton spreads the 'W' word". USA Today . Gannett Company . Retrieved June 7, 2013.
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