I is for Innocent

"I" is for Innocent is the ninth book in Sue Grafton's alphabet crime and detective series.  Innocent has the compelling elaboration of the central mystery and the moments of humour that are both features of Grafton's best work in the series.     

II.

Kinsey Millhone has had her private investigation services terminated by the California insurance company that had given her office space as part of their business arrangement.  The dismissal has Kinsey yearning for a return to form.  "I wanted to feel like the old Kinsey again...talkin' trash and kickin' butt." <1>  Kinsey receives information about a new case.

Isabelle Barney was shot and killed at her home.  Suspicion fell on her husband David Barney, the person with the inherited access to Isabelle's considerable wealth.  Barney is acquitted at the trial that follows.  A new trial for Barney is coming up presently, though, this time in civil court.  The attorney on the case against Barney, Lonnie Kingman, also happens to be Kinsey's lawyer.  Lonnie turns to Kinsey for investigative work regarding the upcoming civil trial.

Kinsey's investigation takes her to the local jail.  An inmate there has made the claim that David Barney had made a remark to him that suggested David had in fact killed Isabelle.  The inmate, Curtis McIntyre, answers Kinsey's first question with a query of his own.  " 'You single?' ... His voice softened to the coaxing tone reserved for stray dogs and women. 'Come on. Just tell me. I'm a nice guy.' I said, 'I'm sure you're very nice, but it's none of your business.' "  Kinsey will come across Curtis again soon after his release from jail.  "He was simultaneously smoking and chewing gum, a refreshingly aromatic combination for the breath."   There are doubts in Kinsey's mind as to what Curtis claims David Barney told him. 

A strikingly attractive woman, Isabelle Barney had been successful and ambitious in the business world.  Along with admirers she may have had plenty of covert enemies.  Yolanda Weidmann, for example.  When her husband tells Kinsey that Isabelle drank to manage her anxiety, Yolanda disagrees.  " 'She drank because she was an alcoholic,' Yolanda put in. 'We don't know that,' he said. She had to laugh at that ... 'You'll never get a man to admit a beautiful woman is flawed.' "  The case takes on a more ominous tone.  "Beware the dark pool at the bottom of our hearts. In its icy, black depths dwell strange and twisted creatures it is best not to disturb."  Kinsey has to consider that David Barney may well be innocent.

III. 

A gripping shootout between Kinsey and Isabelle Barney's killer concludes "I" is for Innocent.  As to the outcome of that gunfight, well, the Kinsey Millhone series did move on to the letter J.

__________

<1>Grafton, Sue. "I" is for Innocent (1992). Henry Holt and Company, Inc.