Y is for Yesterday by Sue Grafton (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

THE FINAL INSTALLMENT IN SUE GRAFTON'S ALPHABET SERIES

WINNER OF THE ANTHONY/BILL CRIDER AWARD FOR BEST NOVEL IN A SERIES

Private investigator Kinsey Millhone confronts her darkest and most disturbing case in this #1 New York Times bestseller from Sue Grafton.

In 1979, four teenage boys from an elite private school sexually assault a fourteen-year-old classmate--and film the attack. Not long after, the tape goes missing and the suspected thief, a fellow classmate, is murdered. In the investigation that follows, one boy turns state's evidence and two of his peers are convicted. But the ringleader escapes without a trace.

Now it's 1989 and one of the perpetrators, Fritz McCabe, has been released from prison. Moody, unrepentant, and angry, he is a virtual prisoner of his ever-watchful parents--until a copy of the missing tape arrives with a ransom demand. That's when the McCabes call Kinsey Millhone for help. As she is drawn into their family drama, she keeps a watchful eye on Fritz. But he's not the only one being haunted by the past. A vicious sociopath with a grudge against Millhone may be leaving traces of himself for her to find...

Review Quotes

Praise for Y is for Yesterday

"I'm going to miss Kinsey Millhone. Ever since the first of Sue Grafton's Alphabet mysteries, A Is For Alibi, came out in 1982, Kinsey has been a good friend and the very model of an independent woman, a gutsy Californian P.I. rocking a traditional man's job...it's Kinsey herself who keeps this series so warm and welcoming. She's smart, she's resourceful, and she's tough enough to be sensitive on the right occasions."--New York Times Book Review

"The consistent quality and skillful innovations in this alphabet series justify all the praise these books have received over the past 35 years."--Wall Street Journal

"This will leave readers both relishing another masterful entry and ruing the near-end of this series. Prime Grafton."--Booklist (starred review)

"Grafton once again proves herself a superb storyteller."--Publishers Weekly

"The series may be coming to a close, but Grafton constructs an intricate plot following two time lines with at least a dozen characters in play while rarely slowing the pace."--Library Journal

"The lively, engrossing...Grafton is in sure command of Kinsey's wise-cracking but warm voice and of a many-layered plot that moves back and forth over events of a decade. Y Is For Yesterday might make you wish the alphabet had a few more letters."--Tampa Bay Times-Review

More Praise for Sue Grafton and the Alphabet Series

"Grafton's endless resourcefulness in varying her pitches in this landmark series, graced by her trademark self-deprecating humor, is one of the seven wonders of the genre."--Kirkus Reviews

"Grafton is a writer of many strengths--crisp characterizations, deft plotting, and eloquent dialogue among them--and she has kept her long-running alphabet mystery series fresh and each new release more welcome than the last."--Louisville Courier-Journal

"[Grafton's] ability to give equal weight to the story of the detective and the detective story sets her apart in the world of crime fiction."--Richmond Times-Dispatch

About The Author

#1 New York Times bestselling author Sue Grafton first introduced Kinsey Millhone in the Alphabet Series in 1982. Soon after, both writer and heroine became icons and international bestsellers. Ms. Grafton was a writer who consistently broke the bonds of genre while never writing the same book twice. Named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America, her awards and honors included the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Private Eye Writers of America, the Ross Macdonald Literary Award, the Cartier Diamond Dagger Award from Britain's Crime Writers' Association, the Lifetime Achievement Award from Malice Domestic, a Lifetime Achievement Award from Bouchercon, three Shamus Awards, and three Anthony Awards--including the first two ever awarded. She passed away in December 2017.