Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #53307 in Books
• Published on: 2006-11-17
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 562 pages

The Guardian
'She remains refreshingly free of the tendency towards
hand-wringing sentimentality and self-help pyscho babble'

The Tablet
'genuinely exciting, even alarming, climax...Grafton always paints
a vivid picture of life, scenery and climate in small-town southern
California'

Barry Forshaw, The Independent
'Like her great predecessor Ross Macdonald, Grafton foregrounds characterisation at all times'

Customer Reviews

A good holiday book
Sue Grafton's 'Alphabet' series of books are great holiday reading. There's nothing particularly deep or original about them, but they provide a cracking good read with a fast-paced plot and plenty of twists and turns to keep you turning the pages.

Nicely woven story but poor ending
I love Grafton's books, and think this one was nicely constructed, weaving the flashbacks in with the current narrative to fill out the story. Her investigation is gripping, and as the story comes to the close, her narrow escape was harrowing.

But why? Why was Violet murdered by the culprit? Did the babysitter get her man? Did the sanctimonious housewife get her comeuppance?

A very unsatisfactory ending, abrupt and unfulfilling.

Good thriller, and no need to read all the previous books
With a long-running series like this one, it can be difficult for a newcomer to know whether you'll enjoy the most recent addition. If all the back story, regular characters and previous adventures play a prominent part in the new adventure then a first-time reader can feel a bit lost.
That's not the case with S is for Silence.
It's a great place to start if you haven't read any of the other books.

I have read all of Sue Grafton's alphabet series, and generally enjoy the adventures of private eye Kinsey Millhone. They tend to be medium-to-lightweight thrillers; almost like traditional whodunnits with a little spice of modern life. They aren't the sort which are packed full of sadistic psycho-murderers at every turn and a bodycount reaching into the dozens.
Instead, Kinsey normally has one or two crimes to resolve and while there is always a hint of personal danger (it would be dull if not!), the entertainment comes from following the clues and from the pleasant buzz of familiarity when Kinsey visits her regular haunts and meets familiar people.

Sue Grafton has changed her writing style for this book, and has veered away from the repetition of those familiar faces. So if you stopped reading the series because 'they all seemed the same' then this is a good one to pick up. The story revolves around the plot and the personalities involved in the crime -- it's much more of a whodunnit and a lot less of a soap-opera about Kinsey's personal life.

Overall, it has reinvigorated the series and leaves me much more likely to pick up T is for ??Trouble?? when it comes out.