J is For Judgment (Grafton, 1993)

Sue Grafton. J Is For Judgment (1993) A supposedly dead person is seen by an insurance agent who’s on holiday in Mexico. Since the insurers have paid his widow, they’re miffed. They send Kinsey to verify the sighting. The supposed deceased supposedly suicided by stepping off his sailboat, after the revelation that he was a swindler and a cheat. Several of his victims are also after his hide, his widow wants nothing to do with him, his erstwhile partner has his own reasons for pursuing him,, and so on.. A nicely done puzzle, with timeouts for Kinsey’s family to connect with her. Kinsey isn’t too happy about that, so we’ll find out more in later novels.

The trail ends with a satisfying solution and a goodly dollop of poetic justice. I enjoyed the book. Since Grafton’ death, 2nd-and copies of her books are becoming rare. This copy was a first edition, with dustcover. ***