T Is for Trespass

T Is for Trespass by Sue Grafton
P.I. Kinsey Millhone takes the responsibility for investigating the background of a home healthcare worker hired to care for her elderly neighbor, Gus Vronsky. In her initial investigation Kinsey can find no fault with Solana Rojas, the aide hired by Gus’s grand-niece. But the reader gradually learns that Rojas is a cunning sociopath who wants to ingratiate herself into Vronsky’s life so that she can steal his money. Kinsey and Solana go head-to-head in this chilling tale as the reader learns how easily the elderly can be manipulated. For readers’ familiar with the Millhone mysteries, all of our favorite characters from previous novels are in this tale. The only exception to the status quo is that Kinsey has a Mustang instead of her trademark VW bug. I think Grafton chose a sturdier car in this book because of a vicious scene near the end of the novel where she fights off a big, bruising hulk who is Rojas’s son. The Mustang is Kinsey’s defense against his onslaughts. A neatly wrapped conclusion has Solana and Kinsey tangled in a furious, to-the-death fight, but Kinsey wins the day.