U is for Sue Grafton Fans

Hello, Sue Grafton fans.

I've just registered to leave my name and presence at Sue Grafton's blog. I love this lady's writing, and I wanted to say hello to her and her fans just because I can. Imagine how it would have been had Dostoyevsky been able to do this wonderful thing, contacting Tolsoy, their fans chiming in with stories of war and peace and crime and punishment and family and friends, if not in that or perhaps any other order at all. We, blessed as we are, can write to Sue Grafton. What a neat thing.

I'm nearing the finale of T is for Trespass, Mrs. Grafton's latest novel. I usually spend my Internet time working on things far removed from mystery/detective novels; and one reason I do the work on the former is that we might all have the pleasure and good fortune to read, for example, Mrs. Grafton's work in the future, a future without jihad and what I am pleased to refer to as Left dhimmi fascism. Freedom-- to read, to speak, to think, to write novels-- these are acts of infinite worth, and some of us, at least, must struggle to ensure that such is open to all who so choose to engage.

Why do I read Sue Grafton novels? Let's face it, I'm not a suburban girl or a Sensitive New Age Guy, (snag.) I read her novels because she speaks to a world of moral clarity that I enjoy. Yes, I know Kinsey Milhone is a bit... how do I put it? She's not always exactly on the legal up-and-up. We're not looking at Kantian morals here. No, rather we see in Grafton's novels a character in Milhone who is not black and white, though I would argue morally exemplary. It is the refusal to shirk the ambiguity of justice that appeals to me: Milhone on occasion goes on with the determination of a Greek tragic hero to the final page of the final scene, knowing the difficulties that must arise from her acts. It might be better to look the other way in some cases, to forget what one knows, and let something small go by that in fact needs a cathartic end. The moral of the story is that sometimes the moral hurts.

Mrs Grafton puts it well, sometimes painfully, often beautifully. I continue to read. From "A" to "T" to You. And beyond.