In this novel, private investigator Kinsey Millhone will try to uncover the 34 year-old puzzling disappearance of Violet Sullivan. Sue Grafton includes many flashbacks of incidents prior to her disappearance, perhaps allowing the reader to know more about the events leading up to the disappearance than Kinsey. S is for Silence is not only the title of the book, but a main theme, as well. Many people have secrets about events prior to Violet's disappearance that they didn't come forward with until Kinsey showed up.
In this book, the reader knows more about the events preceding Violet Sullivan's disappearance than Kinsey because of the flashbacks that Sue Grafton has provided. Knowing as much as they do, readers cannot be to close to jump to conclusions, as everything is not what it seems.
Because this book is in a series, it could disappoint those who have read the previous books. This book focuses more on the details of Violet Sullivan's life and disappearance, but not so much on Kinsey's life, as in the other books in the series. If you follow the other books in this series then you could be disappointed. However, this is the first book that I have read from this series and have not had any with details that pertain to the other books and was not disappointed.
I found myself caring about what happened to the characters in this book. Violet was the town tramp, having an affair with many of the men in her town. But with all the violence she dealt with from her husband, I really cared what happened to, just as I would with anyone. At one point, the tires on Kinsey's VW were slashed. I cared for her, her safety, and wondered what would happen to her. She had made some people nervous just by being in their town and in conducting the interviews.
This book would definitely be considered to be a mystery. There is a victim and a suspect, but no witness. It gets you thinking. It's suspenseful and makes you want to keep reading. What kept me reading was the number of dead ends and wanting to find out what really happened or who killed her. It could also be considered under the romance genre to a certain extent, considering the number of affairs she'd had with various men in town, despite being married with a seven year-old daughter.
In conclusion, I would recommend this book to people, whether this is their first book in the series or not. Sue Grafton has a good, descriptive writing style that uses imagery so you can almost imagine yourself there in the story. S is for Silence would be a good read.