C is for Corpse by Sue Grafton, 1986

 

About the author: Sue Taylor Grafton (1940 – 2017) is best known as the author of the 25 "alphabet series" ("A" Is for Alibi, etc.) novels featuring private investigator Kinsey Millhone in the fictional city of Santa Teresa, California (based upon Santa Barbara). She was the daughter of detective novelist C. W. Grafton.

Major characters:

• Bobby Callahan, twice the victim
• Glen Callahan, his mother
• Derek Wenner, his stepfather
• Katherine "Kitty" Wenner, his stepsister
• Rick Bergen, another victim, and Kitty's boyfriend
• Sufi Daniels, friend of the Wenners
• Dr. Leo Kleinert, a psychiatrist
• Dr. James Franken, M.D. & his cougar wife Nola
• Kinsey Millhone, private investigator and narrator
• Henry Pitts, Kinsey's landlord
• Lila Sams, Henry's new lady friend

Locale: Santa Teresa, California

Synopsis: Kinsey meets 23-year old Bobby Callahan at her gym. He is recovering from a host of  injuries, sustained in a car crash in which he was driving, and his friend Rick Bergen was killed. Upon learning Kinsey is a P.I., he hires her to investigate the accident. He had been forced off the road by someone, and Bobby claims it was attempted murder.

Kinsey meets Bobby's wealthy family: mother Glen Callahan, stepfather Derek Wenner, and stepsister Katherine "Kitty" Wenner  - who is heavily into drugs. Kinsey begins the preliminaries, but no sooner has she begun meeting with the family and doctors, than Bobby is killed in a second car accident, which turns out to be no accident at all.

Meanwhile, Kinsey's landlord, Henry Pitts, has a new lady friend Lila Sams; but she ain't no lady. She is a gold digger out to scam Henry of his savings. 

Review: I really enjoyed this third book in the series. There is a small cast, and the action moves right along. It adds to the enjoyment when Kinsey, as our narrator, constantly thinks-out-loud her comments about the various people. The scenes in the Callahan/Wenner household gave me a good idea of how the other half lives.

Sufi Daniels was a puzzle, she pops in and out but her connection to the story is quite slim and I never quite figured her out.

The sub-plot about Henry and Lila Sams also adds another dimension, even though you know how that is going to wind up.

The book builds to a climax which occurs in a hospital morgue, where Kinsey finds herself alone with the killer. If you enjoyed Robin Cook's Coma, you will enjoy this hospital chase too.