Books like U is for Undertow (Kinsey Millhone, #21) by Sue Grafton

When a wealthy woman's disappearance and a nearby murder raise questions, private investigator Kinsey Millhone is hired to find her, uncovering a web of secrets and danger in Gerald County.

Private investigator Kinsey Millhone takes on a case that turns into a mystery of a drunk ex‑convict’s death, forcing her to uncover hidden enemies and questionable evidence in Santa Teresa.

Private investigator Kinsey Millhone tackles a tangled case of memory loss, mystery and murder when a young car crash victim’s amnesia hides a deadly secret.

Private detective Kinsey Millhone confronts a tangled web of crime, romance, and vengeance in California’s underbelly in "V" is for Vengeance.

Private investigator Kinsey Millhone is summoned to Floral Beach, California, to prove the innocence of fugitive Bailey Fowler, the accused of a teenage girl's murder, amid town gossip, hidden revelations, and new threats.

Private investigator Kinsey Millhone is hired to locate a missing elderly mother, but the case turns deadly when a former client’s threat turns lethal, forcing Kinsey into a dangerous hunt for truth amid political intrigue and personal danger.

When Lorna Kepler’s bizarre death leaves detectives with no lead, her grieving mother Janice turns to Kinsey Millhone, who must confront a case that threatens to unravel the quiet streets of California’s fictional Santa Teresa.

When attorney Lonnie Klingman dies and his private‑investigator leaves a case unfinished, Kinsey Millhone must solve a suspicious murder in a sleepy California town, confronting rival investigators and hidden motives along the way.

Kinsey Millhone is hired to escort Reba Lafferty home from incarceration, only to find her client is a former gambler, alcoholic and ex-con involved in a money‑laundering scheme linked to a Colombian drug cartel.

Detective Kinsey Millhone investigates an undelivered letter that clears her first husband of a fatal assault, uncovering the real killer and a trail back to her Vietnam War days.

Sue Grafton's mystery series follows private investigator Kinsey Millhone as she navigates the dark secrets of a powerful California construction family, where money, betrayal, and murder intertwine.

After thirty‑four years of mystery, nine‑year‑old Daisy Sullivan seeks the help of private detective Kinsey Millhone to uncover the truth behind her mother’s disappearance.

Kinsey Millhone investigates a mysterious death that uncovers layers of deception and betrayal.

Floral Beach wasn't much of a town: six streets long and three deep, its only notable feature a strip of sand fronting the Pacific. It was on that sandy beach seventeen years ago that the strangled body of Jean Timberlake had been found. The people of floral Beach didn't pay a whole lot of mind to past history, especially when Bailey Fowler, the self-confessed killer, had been properly processed and convicted. They weren't even unduly concerned when, a year after the murder, Fowler walked away from the men's prison at San Luis Obispo, never to be seen again. After all, everyone knew Jean had been a wild kid. "Like mother, like daughter," some said--though never within hearing of Shana Timberlake, who, whatever her faults, still mourned her murdered child. And then, by sheer fluke, the cops stumbled on Bailey Fowler. And a case seventeen years dead came murderously to life again. For Royce Fowler, old and sick with not much time left, his son's reappearance was the chance to heal an old wound. For Kinsey Millhone, the case was a long shot, but she agreed to take it on. She couldn't know then it would lead her to probe the passions buried just below the surface of family relations, where old wounds fester and the most cherished emotions become warped until they fuse into deadly, soul-destroying time bombs.

Private investigator Kinsey Millhone tackles a complex case in California involving a murder investigation and possible insurance fraud.

Sixty‑nine‑year‑old Dr. Dowan Purcell disappears from a nursing home, and private investigator Kinsey Malone is hired by his embittered first wife to uncover the truth. Meanwhile, a young man with a mysterious past crosses their path.

Kinsey Millhone, a seasoned private investigator, tackles yet another complex mystery in the fictional Santa Teresa, California, where she uses her sharp mind and unorthodox methods to solve crimes.

*For the record, the name is Kinsey Millhone. Private investigator. One hundred and eighteen pounds of female in a five-foot six-inch frame. Just turned thirty-three (after what seemed like an interminable twelve months of being thirty-two) . . .* Three things happened on May 5, the day everyone sang ‘Happy Birthday’ to Kinsey Millhone. The repairs were completed on her apartment, and she moved back in. She was hired by Mrs Clyde Gersh to bring her mother back from the Mojave Desert. And lastly, a real surprise. The news that she’d made one of the top slots on Tyrone Patty’s hit list . . .

Kinsey and Me gathers twelve short stories, two parts of the Kinsey Millhone series, revealing the private investigator’s origins and Sue Grafton’s own life echoes.

Kinsey Millhone, a private investigator, is hired to uncover the truth behind the suspicious death of a sheriff in Santa Teresa, California.

In the California town of Santa Teresa, a 1960s kidnapping resurfaces when a childhood witness, now an adult, confides in detective Kinsey Millhone about clues to the missing girl’s fate.