I can't believe it took me all these years to read the first in this series. It was surprisingly good - not as political as Paretsky, not as semi-cozy as Edward of the Iron Shoes, the first of the Sharon McCone series. We don't learn a whole lot of backstory about Kinsey Milhone, but we can tell she's a tough, independent, somewhat lonely and thoroughly competent professional. I like her a lot.returnreturnAnother reviewer points out the fictional setting is a town created by Ross MacDonald, which is perfect since I kept thinking how similar to Ross MacDonald the style is. And yes, love that ending. And the fact that she's not so tough that violence doesn't have an effect.