I'm still wondering why it is that this series of novels gets all of the accolades and sales. I will admit this was better than 'A is for Alibi'. At least this time, Kinsey did not have an affair with a main suspect (and the guilty party).

Maybe I'm just not used to genuine mystery novels, but I did not find myself drawn into the mystery of this one. The first half of the book just felt flat. There were characters, but they all seemed to run together and none of them presented as suspects, not even red herrings. And since the murder victim was still alive and their attempted murderer still at large, there should have been a sense of danger. But I didn't feel it. This half of the book felt very lazy.

Finally, at the midpoint, the murder was accomplished and clues started to arrive. But by then things had to happen so quickly (it's only a 200 page book) that it all just felt rushed. My writing instructor uses this book to teach her one day mystery class. One of these days, I'll take the class and find out what she has to say about it. ( )

I love Kinsey Millhone. But she's not everyone's cup of tea. I started reading the Alphabet series a few years ago - I think at the time it was up to O is for Outlaw. The idea of a mystery series each title beginning with a new letter amused me. I don't know why. I don't think it's particularly original. At least - I've seen a few others since. At the time though it was new to me and it just struck me as perfect. I flew through the series. Kinsey is riveting. She's brash and harsh and charming. She's fierce and flawed. She gets scared. She holds her own. She pushes herself to run often and tackles cases without judgement and with an open mind. Rosie and Henry are brilliant and I love the little family she builds around her.

But Kinsey Millhone isn't Jack Reacher - her speed is more Tracy Crosswhite. [book:My Sister's Grave|22341263] Her cases aren't full of action and high speed chases - they're slowly nitpicking away until something clicks into place. She writes down all her thoughts and places her facts and ideas on 3x5 index cards - which she often shuffles and rearranges to help her solve her case. And I love it. Kinsey Millhone is great - but she's not for everyone.

For some reason I've seen reviewers compare this to Stephanie Plum - I don't know why - this is absolutely NOTHING like that. Stephanie Plum is a very different character and an extremely different type of book. That's more fluff. Kinsey Millhone is more procedural mysteries. And this series isn't current - it was first published in the 80's - there's not really technology. Messages were relayed by calling the landlines. Paper files were still the main form of storage. Not everyone will enjoy reading this. But if you like your mysteries to be more like procedurals with a determined and fierce character - Kinsey Millhone is for you.


I really liked Bobby. And I laughed finding out who Blackman is. The location of the murder weapon sure was an interesting twist, but I loved how Kinsey was like yeah how hard can it be?


4.5 stars rounded up to five. ( )

Finally my her third book Grafton has delivered what I hoped she would in this series: a murder mystery that is interesting, that doesn't dwell on irrelevant detail and that fills out the central character of Kinsey Millhone. Even the side story of her landlord Henry was interesting and provided relief from the main mystery. ( )

For me, Sue Grafton's books are a "palate cleanser." I know I will get an excellently written PI investigation with a challenging case. This third book doesn't disappoint! It had an interesting twist in that her client had amnesia and then died during the case, so Kinsey Millhone had an uphill run. Again, the author played fair with her readers, so I was happy I had a chance to solve the case, too. (I didn't actually solve it, but I could see how it happened.) I could see why this book won the Anthony Award for best novel.

The book is certainly a product of its time, the mid-1980s, so there is plenty of jogging and no cell phones. There's certainly no "googling" for answers!

If you like classic PI mysteries, you should like this book. ( )

Wow. This book was great. Great writing, better development with characters, a nice side plot involving Henry and Rosie, and a great ending.

Kinsey in book number three I think finally gives you enough yo want to stick with her. You hear about the accident that left her orphaned. Other characters like Rosie and Henry are given more to do. And we have Kinsey doing what she does best, not quitting til she finds out the answer to who tried to kill her client months ago.

C is for Corpse is told in the first person. Kinsey gives you her particulars and goes into how she was hired by a young man (Bobby Callahan) to try to find out who tried to kill him several months earlier. Bobby was left with injuries, and his best friend ended up dead. Initially Kinsey wonders if Bobby could be wrong, but enough evidence is found for her to realize that Bobby was doing something that caused someone to strike out to take him out.

Grafton gives you more information on Kinsey in this one. It's the first book that goes into the accident that leaves Kinsey orphaned. She doesn't use their names yet. However, we hear how she was raised by her aunt who was cold, but did love Kinsey.

We also get more development with Henry in this one, Kinsey's landlord and probably the closet person to our detective. I do love Henry in these earlier books, but geez, this book certainly shows his pattern of getting taken by people. Henry meets a woman that is not all she seems and Kinsey investigates.

We get additional characters that I don't recall being mentioned in future books. I'll have to double-check. I do like how Grafton has characters from earlier books show up in the later ones.

The writing was great and flow smooth. We have a death touch Kinsey and her doing what she can to get to the truth in this one. I don't know if I found the why to the case believable, but it was fun getting there anyway.

The ending leaves Kinsey providing a prologue that has some good news in it. I forgot how much I loved the earlier books that included a succinct prologue. ( )