My Reading Nook

Kinsey Millhone is someone I can totally relate to. She’s independent, smart and her friends tend to be older people. She doesn’t like to jog, but makes herself jog in order to stay in shape. It also helps offset the poor diet of Quarter Pounders she likes to live on. Harry, her landlord gave her a headset for Christmas so she has music to jog to — the book is set in 1978 which is pre-MP3 players, so it’s more like a Walkman. Harry is 86 years young. Her neighbor, Gus is also in his 80′s.

When Gus falls and dislocates his shoulder, his only living relative, Melanie – a great niece – flies to California from New York to make decisions about his living condition. She decides he needs a companion and hires Kinsey to check out the only applicant for the job.

Solana Rojas is not what she seems. She’s stolen this identity and it’s not the first time shes stolen one either. Kinsey, although not at all comfortable with the woman can find nothing on her resume to warrant telling Gus’ niece not to hire her and Melanie is desperate to get someone to stay with Gus so she can return to New York and her job.

Once hired, Solana begins taking over Gus’ life, his bank accounts and selling off his antiques and painting collection. She’s also sedating Gus to keep his irascible personality at bay as well as keep him confused and unaware of all the things she’s doing to ruin his life. Kinsey picks up that all is not well with Gus and when she sees a cutoff notice for his electricity bill and then sneeks a peek at his bank book, she sure something is wrong.

She calls a county agency for elder abuse, but the investigator is young and not savvy to the ways of the accomplished abuser, and Solana is able to convince her that Kinsey has a grudge against her and the complaint is totally unfounded. Solana has alredy gotten  herself appointed as Gus’  conservator under her real name of Cristina Tasinato which gives her total power over Gus’ finances and property.

Now it’s a race against time to  see if Kinsey can save Gus from the clutches of this wily and tough woman who has stolen from elderly people before.

Sue Grafton‘s character, Kinsey is a well written one –she’s not miss perfect and revels in that fact. She’s no good at personal relationships that are deep as is evidenced by her two divorces and the fact that she lives alone. I’ve watched Kinsey grow and mature through the books Ms. Grafton has written around her. All set in a smallish town in California.

The protagonist in this book is probably one of the best that Ms. Grafton has created in this  series. She’s complicated and yet we see her evil and abhor the things she does to her elderly patients.

T is for Trespass by Sue Grafton
Published by The Berkley Publishing Group 2008
ISBN:978-0-425-22484-7