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Q Is For Quarry (Kinsey Millhone #17)

3.83 of 5 stars 3.83 · rating details · 10,166 ratings · 349 reviews

A New York Times BestsellerEighteen years ago, two men found the decomposed body of a murder victim near a quarry off California's Highway 1. The "Jane Doe" case fell to the Santa Teresa County Sheriff's Department but, with little to go on, it remained unsolved. Now the men, both nearing the end of long careers in law enforcement, want one last shot at the case. Old and i...more

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Published September 1st 2003 by Large Print Press (first published October 14th 2002)

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Oct 18, 2009 Writerlibrarian rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: atozchallenge2009, mystery, october_pile, read2009

This was like meeting an old friend by chance on the street that you haven't seen in 10 years. My last Kinsey Millhone was the letter J or K. Q like Quarry kinda picks up where I left off because we get a glimpse of Kinsey's family on her mother's side again. The case in itself is not that hard to guess, based on a true case of an unknown young woman stabbed to death and left in quarry near Santa Barbara. Grafton imitates life but also creates or fleshes out two characters that I grew to like :...more

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Mar 06, 2009 Kittenshhhhh rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: all Grafton fans and those who are looking for a great mystery/suspense series

Shelves: sue-grafton

Sue Grafton is the sweetest smartest woman that you'd ever hope to meet. When she comes for book signings she takes time with EVERYONE who wants to have a moment to talk to her. Also, she signs any books that people bring from home..I have seen her sit for over an hour pulling book after book out of a cardboard box that some fan brought. With Q she stepped a little out of her usual format to base this novel on a true story. She also spent her own time and money to help identify a woman whose bod...more

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May 01, 2013 Aaron rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Small town gossip takes center stage as Kinsey Millhone dives into her 17th adventure. She is still settling into her new office space as two soon-to-be retired police detectives contact her about working on a cold case related to a young woman whose body was found almost 20 years prior. Not only was the murder not solved, but no one ever identified this poor Jane Doe.

While Lieutenant Con Dolan and Detective Stacey Oliphant want to close out the case, they also would like some help because each...more

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Mar 30, 2013 Deven Black rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fun-stuff

The good thing about Sue Grafton's by-the-letter series is that one can enter the series at any point and not miss a thing. The bad thing is that once you're read one of the novels you know the back story, yet you have to keep reading it again in each novel because telling that back story each time is what makes the series accessible at any point.

Even so, the reader is rewarded this time by a greater exploration of Kinsey Millhone's fractured family as well as by a better-than-average story abou...more

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Jul 15, 2012 mitchell Dwyer rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, reviewed

In Q is for Quarry, the seventeenth Kinsey Millhone mystery, Sue Grafton again moves most of the action away from Santa Theresa, this time (mostly) into a nearby Arizona town where she and Santa Theresa Police lieutenant Con Dolan work on identifying a murder victim from 1969, fifteen years (or so) past. Kinsey, Con, and Stacey Oliphant from the Sheriff's department hope that by identifying the victim, they will also figure out who committed the murder. They acquaint themselves with the usual as...more In Q is for Quarry, the seventeenth Kinsey Millhone mystery, Sue Grafton again moves most of the action away from Santa Theresa, this time (mostly) into a nearby Arizona town where she and Santa Theresa Police lieutenant Con Dolan work on identifying a murder victim from 1969, fifteen years (or so) past. Kinsey, Con, and Stacey Oliphant from the Sheriff's department hope that by identifying the victim, they will also figure out who committed the murder. They acquaint themselves with the usual assortment of sleazy criminals and regular, small-town people as they chase down the flimsiest of leads, hoping that the years have uncovered details that may have been overlooked in the immediate aftermath of the crime.

The way I've summarized it, it sounds like a standard mystery story, and as far as plots go, I suppose it is. Grafton populates it with interesting characters, though, some of them rather likable, so reading about them as the story progresses is quite a pleasure. Kinsey's used to working alone, and throwing in with recurring character Con Dolan adds a nice dynamic. There are some new developments in the unfolding story of Kinsey's recently discovered family, and not only does Kinsey learn a few new things about her past, but she begins to settle into a workable (and fun to read about) relationship with one of her cousins. As the series approaches its end, I imagine it is this aspect of our main character's growth that will become the most intriguing. It's nice to see Grafton moving things along in that area.

If you've never read a Kinsey Millhone novel, I wouldn't recommend this one for starters, but you could do a lot worse. If you're stuck somewhere in the middle of the alphabet so far and just can't bring yourself to slog through J, K, and L, I certainly can't blame you, but if you skip ahead to M, it's a pretty good ride at least through Q. My advice, of course, is to make yourself get through whatever doldrums you're in, alphabet-wise, and power through. These last five have been a joy to read.

PS: Kinsey's diet doesn't usually cause me to get the munchies, but you're going to crave a spicy salami sandwich on a Kaiser roll with melted pepper-jack and a fried egg after just a few pages. I haven't been able to think of anything else since.(less)

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May 01, 2012 Nancy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is the third or fourth book in the Kinsey Millhone Alphabet series that I've read. I think Sue Grafton does a good job of allowing you to enter the series at any point without having read all or most of the previous books.

Q is for Quarry involves a cold case handled by two retired/disabled cops. They bring Kinsey in to help. The most interesting part of the book for me was the cops' personal stories: their ongoing and serious illnesses handled in the midst of dealing with the case and thei...more

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Jan 27, 2012 Joy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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 neari...more

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Nov 07, 2011 Robert Olsen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

My mother was a big fan of detective novels in general and of Sue Grafton's fiction in particular. Partly as a gesture to Mom, I suppose, I selected "Q Is for Quarry," as my second beach book of the trip, from the bookshelf at a B & B on St. Croix last month. (The other beach book was "Buddenbrooks.") It was my first exposure to Grafton.

For a popular writer, she is surprisingly good at holding the interest of readers of literary fiction. There is enough of Trollope, Dickens, Austen, and eve...more

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May 10, 2011 Rebekah (Silver Lily) James rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Q is for Quarry.
In my ongoing re-read /inspiration/learning quest (and in anticipation of the soon to be released V is for Violence in November of this year) I picked up Q is for Quarry over the weekend. This is 17th book in the Kinsey Millhone series and while I adore Sue Grafton’s work, this was not exactly my favorite of the series. Grafton is a master of pacing, giving both Kinsey and the reader just enough time to catch our breath in between scenes. I found this one just a tad slower than t...more

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Aug 09, 2010 Julianne rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a great, but extra long Kinsey Millhone story! Somebody was murdered eighteen years ago and her body was found near a stone quarry. Who was she? Two of the original detectives, now long retired, ask Kinsey to help them find out, and answer some questions about this case. They start out in Santa Teresa and Lompoc, two coastal communities of Southern California. But quickly the action takes them to the desert communities near Blythe, and the clues begin to pile up.

I counted at least thirty...more

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Jul 23, 2010 Jerry rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Grafton/Millhone we know and love are back !!

After a "perilously" weak outing with "P", a book with which even her ardent fans were disenchanted (mostly for the many loose ends at the conclusion, atypical of our leading lady...}, Sue and Kinsey are back not only in fine form, but maybe in one of the best stories to date of this 17-book series. A fairly straightforward plot links private eye Kinsey with two older cops -- one retired (Stacey Oliphant) and one on medical leave (Con Dolan) -- w...more The Grafton/Millhone we know and love are back !!

After a "perilously" weak outing with "P", a book with which even her ardent fans were disenchanted (mostly for the many loose ends at the conclusion, atypical of our leading lady...}, Sue and Kinsey are back not only in fine form, but maybe in one of the best stories to date of this 17-book series. A fairly straightforward plot links private eye Kinsey with two older cops -- one retired (Stacey Oliphant) and one on medical leave (Con Dolan) -- who decide as a pastime, and partially to forget about their health woes, to see if they can solve an 18-year old cold murder case, one in which the young woman slain was never even identified. Their hunt for clues, dredging up the pasts of many potential suspects, was entertaining throughout. The interactions between Kinsey and the men were quite realistic, and we notice that Millhone, at the fictional age of 37, grows older herself most gracefully -- she's still an independent "cuss", but one with failings and pressures with which we can all identify.

The closer the trio got to the ultimate truth, Grafton kept piling on the suspects in such a way that the suspense built to the very final page. And unlike the end of "P", which roiled her readers, this one has the usual closing epilogue in which Kinsey "respectfully submits" all the final facts and outcomes.

As great icing on the cake, "Quarry" is based on a true life Santa Barbara County (Calif.) Jane Doe that similarly 33 years ago was a murder victim never even identified. Partially with the book as impetus, and with financial support from the author, the real body was exhumed and a renowned forensics sculptor brought in to recreate the victim's living likeness. Four black and white photos of the sculpture appear on the final page, the culmination of a very appealing and cogent Author's Note, indeed "respectfully submitted" by Ms. Grafton. Well done!!

In sum, one of the most enjoyable of the Kinsey Millhone stories, sure to please her old and her newer readers alike.

P.S.: if you liked the general gist of this story, the Christine Bennett stories by Lee Harris, many of which feature the solution of old unsolved crimes, might similarly appeal.

(less)

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Oct 11, 2011 Elizabeth Quinn rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is my first Kinsey Millhone mystery in a couple of years, and a discovery I made while reading it may explain why I've kind of lost my taste for this series. Grafton is in good form here, teaming up Kinsey with a couple of retired cops working a cold case -- the murder of a Jane Doe found dumped in a quarry 18 years before. A subplot involving Kinsey's long-lost grandmother, aunts, and cousins appears promising but ultimately goes nowhere. The fact that Grafton's murder is patterned on a ac...more

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Feb 28, 2013 Susan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Uh…no…I was looking for Grafton to tie up the loose ends from “P” at the beginning of this book. She doesn’t. She makes a passing reference to problems Kinsey had while looking to rent new office space, but she doesn’t resolve the cliff-hanging ending at all. Perhaps in “R.” We can hope.

Despite this disappointment, Grafton spins a reliably engrossing tale in “Q,” based on a real-life unresolved murder in Santa Barbara County in 1969. She even funded exhumation of the real body and facial reconst...more Uh…no…I was looking for Grafton to tie up the loose ends from “P” at the beginning of this book. She doesn’t. She makes a passing reference to problems Kinsey had while looking to rent new office space, but she doesn’t resolve the cliff-hanging ending at all. Perhaps in “R.” We can hope.

Despite this disappointment, Grafton spins a reliably engrossing tale in “Q,” based on a real-life unresolved murder in Santa Barbara County in 1969. She even funded exhumation of the real body and facial reconstruction to circulate photos of the victim who had never been identified.

Unfortunately, as of 2011, the victim remained unidentified. http://www.independent.com/news/2011/...

“Q” begins the second week in April of 1987 (though it was published in 2002). Kinsey will be 37 on her birthday May 5.

Of course, Kinsey still relies on her portable Smith-Corona typewriter and a copying service to deliver her client reports, still uses her one-fact-per-notecard method of case analysis, still searches for pay phones and correct change to make calls from the field and still has a weakness for McDonald’s QPs with cheese and fries.

Dot matrix printers have arrived, though clearly not for Kinsey since she has no computer. Police departments and hospitals do use computers, however.

Kinsey makes several passing references to Dietz, her current “boyfriend,” if she has one. But he makes no appearance in this book. She learns another long-time acquaintance in the Santa Teresa police department, vice cop Cheney Phillips, has married someone he met only six weeks ago.

For this case, Kinsey helps two aging cops try to regain their self-respect and health by solving the cold case from 1969. She seems to look upon Stacey and Dolan as father-type figures – the age differences are about right.

Readers learn more about Kinsey’s backstory: her parents’ deaths in the auto accident, her living relatives including her Grand (as her cousins call their grandmother – Cornelia Kinsey, born Cornelia Straith LeGrand), her mother’s falling out with the family and the family 23,000-acre property. Who knew?

“My grandmother had known of my existence since the day I was born,” Kinsey says. “I was still smarting from the fact she’d never bothered to make contact.” Kinsey’s Aunt Susanna, her mother’s sister, sends Kinsey a family album, an album that ends abruptly with the deaths of her parents.

On to “R” before I take another break for a book discussion book.
(less)

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Feb 22, 2013 Stephanie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

What a difference between this and P for Peril. While Peril wandered far afield of the usual format, this book is one of the best plotted in the series. In this book Kinsey works a cold case with a retired detective and Detective Dolan who has been somewhat cold to Kinsey in the past. The case takes them across the desert to the Arizona border and ends up with a great finale.

This story has more real detective work and more twists and dead-ends than any other novel in the series so far. I really...more

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Aug 24, 2011 David rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: international-crime-fiction

The 17th book in Sue Grafton's bestselling alphabet crime fiction series. This one was published some 20 years after the first A is for Alibi novel (1982), but in female PI Kinsey Millhone's world it is still the 1980's, a time before widespread computer use, mobile phones or social media. Research had to be done in libraries, phone calls made from payphones and investigations required immense amounts of legwork.

In this case, a Jane Doe was found murdered in an old quarry and never identified. N...more

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Jul 08, 2011 Jim rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

The alphabet mystery series by Sue Grafton is predictably enjoyable. After reading the previous sixteen you look forward to seeing what private detective Kinsey Milhone has gotten involved in this time. The book finds Kinsey helping two retired cops revive the investigation into an unsolved murder that they had investigated eighteen years before, a young girl whose body had been dumped into a quarry wrapped in a tarp. Very little is known about the victim. She is a Jane Doe.

Several factors make...more

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Jul 30, 2011 Rachel added it · review of another edition

Shelves: crime-thriller

I liked the change of setting; that Kinsey's working with others to investigate an old murder. It's a little less predictable and the dialogue made reading more interesting. Also more detail about her family added another dimension. I can't help wondering if she's going to be married and settled near to her new found family by the end of the series?!I

noticed in P as well as this installment that Kinsey's doing a lot of putting on her saucony's- whatever they might be! Did Sue G. make an adverti...more

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Nov 08, 2012 Marilyn rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Sue Grafton does it again - with Kinsey Millhone. Just a good, relaxing read. Here's what the fly says:

"Back in 1969, a lot of young people were hitting the road and disappearing. More than one of them wound up dead - including the girl in the daisy-patterned pants who was found in a quarry off Hwy 1 in Lompoc, CA., the victim of multiple stab wounds. Eighteen years later, she's still a Jane Doe - and the cops who found her are still haunted by the case. Anxious to solve it, but no longer in the...more

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Mar 17, 2011 Carol rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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Mar 10, 2010 Peter rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Another in her alphabet of crime - what will she do when she gets to z?
A good beach of hammock book, or to read curled up on a couch on a winter's day. A 'Jane Doe' case is ressurected after 18 years and the culprit is found out.
On the way, since this is set in the late 1980's, we see a stunning contrast between then and now, a distance of barely 20 years. There are no cell phones, no computer/word processors, no internet or Google or email. Telephone books, public library reference sections, ty...more

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Sep 21, 2010 Jenn rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010-finished, mysteries

Ahh now we get back to why I love this series. After the disappointment with P is for Peril I am glad to see the series get back on track.

The beginning did take me a bit to get into but after the first 50 pages I was hooked. The basis of the story was based off an old unsolved mystery. There were a lot of characters but the plot came together very well.

I also enjoyed seeing Kinsey interacting with her family members. I must admit that at time she gets on my nerves with her unrelenting, unwilli...more

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Dec 13, 2012 Duckpondwithoutducks rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mysteries-grafton

In this Alphabet mystery, Kinsey is asked to help solve an unsolved murder from many years ago. As always, Kinsey takes an excessive amount of pleasure in eating junk food, and is not sure whether she wants the relatives that she never knew while she was growing up to enter her life now. I found the first part of the book slow, but got more into it once Kinsey was able to identify the body. It is interesting that the idea for the book was based on a real unsolved murder, whose details are mentio...more

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Apr 27, 2009 Suzanne rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I haven't read a Sue Grafton in about 5 years, but I picked up Q, R and S in a used books store and after starting Q, I remember why I had read A through P...The main character, Kinsey Millhone, is so interesting. She's a Private Investigator in Santa Teresa, California and she is ultra cool in every way I like: smart as a whip, energetic, relaxed about the details of daily living, her own person in every situation (or laughing at herself for not being herself), unaffected, I could go on and on....more

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Aug 17, 2012 Karen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: crime, noir

A case from 1969 is resurrected by two elderly cops. Because of their health issues, they enlist the assistance of private investigator Kinsey Millhone. Between Stacey Oliphant’s cancer scare and Con Dolan’s heart attacks, both have decided it is time to solve this cold case. However, digging for the victim’s identity inadvertently scares the murderer into committing new crimes. With Kinsey’s help, hidden lies are uncovered and justice is found for a once nameless victim. Grafton was inspired by...more

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Feb 21, 2012 Denise rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I enjoyed this book a bit more than the last few that I have read. In Q, Grafton does a little more development of the characters and a little more backstory. I liked it. Also an interesting idea to use a real cold case and many of the details to drum up interest in the "jane doe" who was found in a quarry. Unfortunately the case is still unsolved in real life and no one knows who the victim was though Grafton did give it more of a chance to be solved by paying for the body to be exhumed and a f...more

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Jul 14, 2008 Kevin rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, read-2008

Great to see Kinsey working in partnership with two old guys to solve an 18 year mystery.

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Jun 04, 2011 Anne Toronto1 rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: suspense

(one review for series) ***** for the first book because I like the series enough to last till about R, now want more to find new authors, and finish another year. The rest get 3-4* because I cannot remember my favorites. I like strong, brave females who make choices and deal with consequences successfully. I like mysteries. I like funny eccentric, her odd sandwich and cute old landlord choices. Southern California feels warm and dry on a long cold Canadian winter. She always seems to go alone i...more

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Mar 07, 2010 Patty rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

These "alphabet novels" are nothing short of perfect mystery. Grafton's cleverly crafted characters will stay with you long after you are finished reading the books. Kinsey Milhone, her landord/best friend, Henry and all the others seem so much like real people it is hard to imagine a world without them. I was on the edge of my seat with all the twists and turns, never forseeing what was coming next. I felt that each novel, as Grafton advanced through the alphabet, improved in every way. I would...more

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Aug 08, 2012 Robin R rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was given to me by a good friend for World Book Night U.S. 2012, which was April 23, 2012. I will finish reading it here in Michigan and donate to the library so others can enjoy it, too. So far I am enjoying getting to know the characters, as I have not read any of her books.
It was fun to try to guess the murderer and I changed my mind several times, and still got it wrong. What I don't like is that it is very detailed (as told by a detective), but then she sums it all up in one page...more

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Apr 10, 2013 Timothy McNeil rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery

This may be a weak four star rating, but there was a fair amount in the first third of the book that seemed to drag and not draw me into the story. But eventually Grafton got around to letting Kinsey be Kinsey and conduct an investigation (rather than just watch two old dudes fumble around an investigation with their 'gut feelings') and the story — while thin — moved along at a good clip. I do think that Kinsey should be used to small town gossip and inter-personal politics by this point in the...more

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About Sue Grafton

Connect with Sue herself on Facebook! www.facebook.com/suegrafton

Received the Shamus Award, "The Eye" (Lifetime achievement award) in 2003.

Family History:

Father: C.W. Grafton, born 1909, third son of Presbyterian Missionaries, born and raised in China, educated Presbyterian College, Clinton, South Carolina; practicing attorney in Louisville, Kentucky with a 40-year specialty in municipal bonds. Au...more

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“In my opinion, there's no condition in life that can't be ameliorated by a dose of junk food.” — 13 people liked it

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Q Is For Quarry (Kinsey Millhone #17)

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