U is for Undertow by Sue Grafton

Sue Grafton never disappoints, she is a gifted writer of mystery. Although the publication of her books have spanned over 30 years, she has continued to keep her mysteries in an 80s setting without technical gadgets and phones that we have today.

From the cover:
It's April 1988, a month before Kinsey Milhone's thirty-eighth birthday and she's alone in her office catching up on paperwork when a young man arrived unannounced - Michael Sutton. More than two decades ago, a four-year-old girl disappeared and a recent newspaper story about her kidnapping has triggered a flood of memories. Sutton now believes he stumbled on her lonely burial and could identify the killers if he saw them again. He wants Kinsey's help in locating the grave and finding the men. Reluctantly Kinsey agrees to give him one day of her time . . .


Update:
Sadly, Sue Grafton passed away at the end of last year. Y for Yesterday is her last book in the Kinsey Milhone series. Although she had begun writing Z for Zero she has always been against using a ghost writer or having her series made for television so the series has come to an end. 

Kinsey and Me Stories by Sue Grafton

Kinsey and Me is a collection of short stories by Sue Grafton. If you have any doubt that Sue is an amazing writer, these Kinsey stories would blow those doubts away. Packing a mystery with twists and turns into just a few pages is delivered flawlessly. We also learn a little about Ms. Grafton through her writing. She states that Kinsey Millhone is the woman she might have been had she not married (a stripped down version of herself.) And there are many similarities between author and protagonist. While Kinsey's parents died when she was very young and was raised by an aunt with no maternal instincts, Sue Grafton's parents were both alcoholics. The second part of the book "Me" was written after her mother's death. The introduction gives us a glimpse into Sue Grafton's early life. Her father was absent most of the time and her mother spent her days on the sofa using the phone to call in supplies of alcohol and food for delivery.  Sue's sister stayed in her bedroom while Sue was more adventurous and as young as five was riding the bus and roaming the city.  She says, beginning in her teenage years, writing was her salvation. There are many surprises about the author in this book, one of these is that Ms. Grafton wrote for television before turning to mystery novel writing.

U is for Undertow by Sue Grafton

I've long been a fan of Sue Grafton's series which began in the early 80s. The books are in alphabetical order with the first being A is for Alibi. The sleuth is a private investigator, Kinsey Millhone who is a loner, lives in a garage apartment and barely makes ends meet. Unlike some series which tend to seem they are fulfilling a contract for a certain number of books, the Alphabet Series gets better with each mystery and U is for Undertow does not disappoint.  Sue Grafton grounds the reader in the time and place and gives vivid descriptions which mysteries often sadly lack. It's easy to picture both her surroundings and her characters. 
Another aspect of Ms. Grafton's writing that she covers with ease, is repeated characters. A book I recently read in a series gave me details of every story from a previous book each character had been in, what happened and practically their whole life story. In this series, she starts off with "My name is Kinsey Millhone. I'm a private detective, female, age thirty-seven . . ." Other characters are described just enough to give you an idea of who they are. If you haven't read any of Sue Grafton's books and like mysteries, then pick up a copy. They don't have to be read in order, but it gives you a better insight into her characters if you do.

Alphabet Series listed here.

From the cover:
It's April, 1988, a month before Kinsey Millhone's 38th birthday and she's alone in her office doing paperwork when a young man arrives unannounced. He has a preppy air about him and looks as if he'd be carded if he tried to buy booze, but Michael Sutton is 27, an unemployed college drop-out. Twenty-one years before, a four-year old girl disappeared. A recent reference to her kidnapping has triggered a flood of memories. Sutton now believes he stumbled on her lonely burial when he was six years old. He wants Kinsey's help in locating the child's remains and finding the men who killed her. It's a long shot but he's willing to pay cash up front and Kinsey agrees to give him one day. As her investigation unfolds, she finds out Michael Sutton has an uneasy relationship with the truth. In essence, he's the boy who cried wolf. Is his current story true or simply one more in a long line of fabrications?