Q Is For Quarry: Summary and book reviews of Q Is For Quarry by Sue Grafton, plus links to an excerpt from Q Is For Quarry and a biography of Sue Grafton.

Quarry, n. An open excavation. Quarry, v. Transitive: To dig or take from. Intransitive: To delve into. Quarry, n. An object pursued or hunted; prey. 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 murder remained unsolved. That was eighteen years ago. 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 help with their legwork and they turn to Kinsey Millhone. They will, they tell her, find closure if they can just identify the victim. Kinsey is intrigued and agrees to the job. 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. Note on Text : Q is for Quarry is based on an unsolved homicide that occurred in 1969, and Grafton's interest in the case has generated renewed police efforts. During the past year, the body was exhumed and a nationally known forensic artist did the facial reconstruction that appears in the closing pages of Q is for Quarry. Both Grafton and the dedicated members of the Santa Barbara Sheriff's Department are hoping the photograph will trigger memories that may lead to a positive identification. On the day Jane Doe was reburied, many officers were at the gravesite. "It's eerie," Grafton writes, "to think about the power this woman still has. Here we are, thirty-three years later, and she still wants to go home."

Media Reviews

Bookpage Q Is for Quarry provides more insight into the detective's convoluted family relationships than any of Grafton's previous novels, and it's a cracking good story, as well.   The San Diego Tribune Grafton weaves an intriguing story, convincing in detail and satisfying in development. Still, what lifts this above the crowd is the character of her protagonist, Kinsey Millhone, who rings true both as a detective and as a woman.   Kirkus Reviews The convoluted, fact-based tale—studded with masterful portraits of the dying detectives, a couple of dead-alive ex-cons, and the might-as-well-be-dead suspects—has run half its course before the victim is identified as a wild high-school girl who slept around so indiscriminately and exhaustively that half the population of little Quorum, California, seems to think her violent death was no more than she deserved.   Publishers Weekly While Kinsey Millhone is as energetic and tenacious as ever, and although the plot hustles along at a gratifying pace, her 17th adventure is a little slow getting underway with all the initial accumulated biographical data.   Library Journal - Wilda Williams Inspired by the actual unsolved murder of a young woman in Santa Barbara County....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.

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