Private investigator Kinsey Millhone has served Sue Grafton well through 16 letters of the alphabet in a perennially popular series that occasionally breaks new ground but more often traverses familiar territory, as is the case here. Two old, ailing cops--one retired, the other disabled--try to breathe some life into an 18-year-old mystery that haunts them both for different reasons. They enlist Kinsey's help in identifying the victim, a young woman who was murdered and left for dead in the old quarry of the title. Neither they nor Kinsey expect that reopening an old case will incite the killer to strike again--not once, but twice. And while the real case of the still-unidentified victim that inspired this fictionalized scenario continues to languish in the cold case file in the Santa Barbara sheriff's office, Grafton's solution is as plausible as any. While the unlikely trio of Millhone and her cranky geezer sidekicks offers a few chuckles, the inner reaches of Kinsey's soul remain largely inaccessible to her as well as to the reader, which will probably not bother most of Kinsey's or Grafton's many admirers. --Jane Adams

From Publishers Weekly
While Kinsey Millhone is as energetic and tenacious as ever, and the plot hustles along at a gratifying pace, her 17th adventure is a little slow getting underway with all the initial accumulated biographical data. Two policemen out hunting discover a teenage girl's body near a quarry off California's Highway 1. Eighteen years later, the two recruit Millhone to help them try to identify the victim. Stacey Oliphant, now retired from the force, and Con Dolan, unwillingly sidelined by heart trouble, are as quarrelsome as an old married couple, but they both desperately want to find the killer in the quarry case. Their inquiries lead the trio from Santa Teresa to Quorum, a town in the desert near the Arizona border. At the time of the murder, a wrecked red convertible was found near the crime scene-stolen from an auto shop in Quorum. When Millhone and her cohorts talk to the grumpy shop owner, Ruel McPhee, and his charming son, Cornell, they get little information. Visits around town and probing conversations reveal various family secrets and covert liaisons, until the somewhat precipitous unmasking of the killer. Grafton briefly shoehorns in Millhone's interactions with her lost family, but that subject continues to feel as artificially imposed as it did in earlier books. A marvelously successful addition, however, is the twosome of Dolan and Oliphant. Their deftly rendered relationship is a delight; with any luck, the duo will appear in future Millhone mysteries. A main selection of the Literary Guild, Doubleday Book Club and Mystery Guild, and a BOMC featured selection.Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Inspired by the actual unsolved murder of a young woman in Santa Barbara County, Grafton's latest (after P Is for Peril) has private investigator Kinsey Milhone on a quest for justice denied for 18 years. In the summer of 1969, the decomposed corpse of a young white female was discovered near a quarry off California's Highway 1. Her hands had been bound and her throat slashed. Despite months of investigation, "Jane Doe" remained unidentified and the case unsolved. Now years later, Con Donlan and Stacey Oliphant, the police officers who had found her body, want Kinsey to help them to identify the girl and find her killer before they retire. At the same time, having learned that the body was found on a ranch owned by her estranged grandmother, Kinsey journeys into the past to retrace her own family history. Once again, an intriguing plot, fully drawn characters, and wry humor prove why Grafton's series is one of the best. With nine letters to go, one hopes she can keep it up. For all mystery collections.Wilda Williams, "Library Journal"Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From AudioFile
The 18-year-old murder of an unidentified young woman has never been solved by the Santa Teresa County Sheriff's Department. Two of the original detectives, now elderly and ill, decide to try once more to identify the "Jane Doe" and discover who killed her. Kinsey Millhone agrees to help, little knowing that the old murder will touch on her own past and put her life in danger. Lynn Lauber's abridgment flows smoothly. It's plot-driven, as all abridgments must be, but includes enough descriptive passages to enable listeners to imagine their favorite Kinsey Millhone settings. Within a few minutes of listening to Judy Kaye, a listener simply believes he or she is listening to Kinsey Millhone. True, the story's first-person narration makes impersonation easier, but Kaye's remarkable performance comes from understanding Kinsey's character. The straightforward, shoot-from-the-hip attitude with a sense of humor and endearing humility is delivered in a gently raspy voice. Kaye likes Kinsey Millhone just as much as Grafton's fans do. This is a listen you won't want to end. A.C.S. © AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From Booklist
Kinsey Millhone bonds over junk food with two ailing old-timers in a novel that combines an 18-year-old unsolved murder case with a subtle but heartfelt rumination on aging. About to turn 37, with the daunting task of trying, ineffectually, to decorate her newly rented, mildewed office, Kinsey is suffering from a general malaise. Then Lieutenant Con Doyle, currently sidelined by a series of heart attacks, contacts her about his investigation of a cold case involving the murder of a female adolescent who was never identified. Doyle wants to help out his old mentor, 73-year-old bachelor Stacey Oliphant, who is ill with cancer. Over a lunch of salami sandwiches chased by shots of Old Forrester (Doyle's self-prescribed healthy-heart eating program), Doyle talks Kinsey into coming on board. The three follow many fruitless leads and interview a host of desperate, dysfunctional small-town denizens before solving the case. As usual, Grafton combines in-depth, complex characterizations with a fluid narrative style; she also gives us a model portrait of how to face aging and illness with grace and humor. Grafton appends an interesting author's note detailing the facts of the real (still-unsolved) case that inspired her story. Joanne Wilkinson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

FROM OUR EDITORS

The Barnes & Noble Review
We're up to "Q" in Sue Grafton's alphabet mystery series, and the bestselling author continues to build momentum as Kinsey Millhone gets caught up in a case already two decades old.

The core tale, based on fact, is as unsettling as it is gripping: Eighteen years ago, the unidentified body of a young girl was discovered decomposing in Grayson Quarry of Santa Teresa, California. Detective Stacey Oliphant and Lt. Con Dolan, two driven cops who've hung with the case for most of their careers, have never been able to learn who the woman was or catch her killer. Battling age and health issues, they ask Kinsey to take a crack at solving the "Jane Doe" mystery. Although all leads are long-cold by now, Kinsey follows every one of them up, interviewing witnesses whose memories of events have either dwindled or become wholly fictitious with time. One of her only clues is the woman's prominent teeth, which she hopes will spark someone's recollection. At the center of the puzzle lies not only a killer but also a link to Kinsey's own troubled past.

Q Is for Quarry eases you into its plot with Grafton's smooth writing style and swift plotting. Grafton knows her characters and their situations and explores them thoroughly -- it's those relationships that become the cornerstone of the novel as the mystery grows more intriguing and the investigation progresses. This is an author who understands how to let police procedure form the gist of the story while never allowing it to overshadow the humanity of her cast. The result is another impossible-to-put-down Grafton mystery. Tom Piccirilli

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"She was a "Jane Doe," an unidentified white female whose decomposed body was discovered near a quarry off California's Highway 1. The case fell to the Santa Teresa County Sheriff's Department, but the detectives had little to go on. The woman was young, her hands were bound with a length of wire, there were multiple stab wounds, and her throat had been slashed. After months of investigation, the case remained unsolved." "That was eighteen years go. Now, the two men who found the body, both nearing the end of long careers in law enforcement, want one last shot at the case. Old and ill, they need someone to do the legwork for them, and they turn to Kinsey Millhone. They will, they tell her, find closure if they can just identify the victim. Kinsey is intrigued with the challenge and agrees to work with them." But revisiting the past can be a dangerous business, and what begins with the pursuit of Jane Doe's real identity ends in a high-risk hunt for her killer.

FROM THE CRITICS

People

Rock solid

USA Today

[Q is for Quarry] is so well-written that many readers might consider it one of her best.

New York Times Book Review

...makes us hold our breath...

Bookpage

Q Is for Quarry provides more insight into the detective's convoluted family relationships...and it's a cracking good story, as well.

Timesdaily