When Kinsey Millhone first arrives in Floral Beach, California, it's hard for her to picture the idyllic coastal town as the setting of a brutal murder. Seventeen years ago, the body of Jean Timberlake--a troubled teen who had a reputation with the boys--was found on the beach. Her boyfriend Bailey Fowler was convicted of her murder and imprisoned, but he escaped. After all this time, Bailey's finally been captured. Believing in his son's innocence, Bailey's father wants Kinsey to find Jean's real killer. But most of the residents in this tight-knit community are convinced Bailey strangled Jean. So why are they so reluctant to answer Kinsey's questions? If there's one thing Kinsey's got plenty of it's persistence. And that's exactly what it's going to take to crack the lid on this case. As Kinsey gets closer to solving Jean's murder, the more dirty little secrets she uncovers in a town where everyone has something to hide--and a killer will kill again to keep the past buried...

蘇‧格拉夫頓一九四〇年齣生於美國肯塔基州路易維爾市，是一位傑齣的小說傢和電視劇作傢。格拉夫頓的創作天賦在早期小說及長篇劇作中已初現端倪。二十世紀八十年代末期，她甚至將阿加莎•剋裏斯蒂的英國作品改編為充滿美國風情的電視劇集。

一九八二年蘇•格拉夫頓推齣的“金西‧米爾虹探案係列”，每部作品皆按英文字母的排列順序命名，其創新手法一直為推理小說迷津津樂道。格拉夫頓運用人物側寫的手法，有效地拓展瞭偵探小說的視野，讓人物迴歸為小說的第一主題，同時也使麯摺的情節有更進一步的深化空間。其作品筆觸果斷、情節多變，讀來令人大呼過癮。

字母係列首部作品《A：不在現場》入選美國推理作傢協會（MWA）評齣的最經典的一百部推理小說，《B：竊賊》和《C：屍體》接連包攬兩屆安東尼讀者票選最佳小說奬和夏姆斯奬。二〇〇八年，蘇•格拉夫頓獲得英國犯罪傢協會授予的卡地亞鑽石匕首奬；二〇〇九年，榮獲“愛倫•坡”終身大師奬。她的小說被譯為二十六種語言版本，風行全球二十八個國傢，至今銷售記錄達數百萬本，堪稱偵探小說界的暢銷大師。