Chapters 1-2 Summary

Kinsey Millhone is a private detective who is featured in eight previous novels by Sue Grafton. Kinsey is an orphan raised by an aunt who lives alone in a small apartment in the backyard belonging to octogenarian Henry Pitts.

In Chapter 1, Kinsey arrives at her new office. Kinsey had to rent an office from Lonnie Kingman after her long term situation with California Fidelity Insurance ended in a disagreement with a new efficiency expert. On this Monday in December, Kinsey is called into Lonnie office where he tells her private investigator Morley Shine has died. Kinsey knows Morley because he was a partner to the man who trained her as an investigator. Morley's death leaves Lonnie in a difficult position because Morley was working on a wrongful death case that Lonnie is due to go to court on in a month...