Suspense

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.


Wow. I did not see it coming. The ending. Poor Kinsey. Poor Tony. Everyone suffered in this one. In many ways it was horrible. The final lines are going to haunt me for a long while.

Maybe he felt he owed Tony that last sacrifice. I’ll never know, but it makes more sense to me that way. Some debts of the human soul are so enormous only life itself is sufficient forfeit.

Grafton, Sue. D is for Deadbeat: A Kinsey Millhone Novel 4 . Pan Macmillan UK. Kindle Edition.



5 stars. ( )

This was another good mystery in the series. I've been reading these mysteries as a break from other series. One of the things I like about them is they are a product of their time. The 1980s -- research required legwork, cell phones weren't connecting us to the world, and desktop computers were expensive and rare. So it made sense to hire a private investigator to do the research and legwork.

There's one thing to remember about this series -- they aren't "cozy mysteries." There aren't a lot of warm, fuzzy characters. There are a good number of scumbags. The scumbags and unpleasant people abound in this book. Another thing to keep in mind is the author usually plays fair with the reader for the denouement. The bad guy isn't Sally's third cousin twice removed who happened to be in town that night and neither Kinsey nor the readers had prior knowledge of the person's existence.

So the upshot is that I thoroughly enjoyed the book, was surprised by the reveal, and am ordering the next book in the series. What more do you want? If you like PI mysteries, you can dive right in at any point, although these do mention past events. I think you'll like the books if you like series mysteries that aren't "cozy." ( )

Urgh. This was terrible. I cared for nothing that was happening other than noticing Kinsey finally had sex, which is ironic given her name. ( )

I think I'm changing my middle initial to B for blindsided. For the second time this year, a novel took me off guard. D is for Deadbeat did just that and I'd even venture to say this book in the ABC series has been the best so far.
It starts off with an ex-con wanting a cashier's check for $25,000 delivered to a 15 year old boy. Before Kinsey can deliver the check, the deadbeat is murdered and the suspects are numerous. Could the deadbeat's sins of the past have played into it or maybe some under the table drug deals in prison has some revenge minded criminals seeking their cash back? Hmm. Definitely worth the time to read this one and find out. ( )