You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
Each of these books gets a little darker. This was a great story. Loved the ending! Too many characters, though. Ready for the next one!
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is the longest and most complex/ambitious of this series thus far. I like that Grafton continues to develop Kinsey’s relationship with her long lost family, which has been a running subplot. Now, Kinsey is beginning to feel a longing for the family she lost, the family that was denied to her. This is a thematic motif that Grafton very cleverly uses throughout the book. So many of the characters are defined by their family relationships (or lack thereof). Many make exceptional (sometimes damaging) sacrifices to cling hold to the purpose they derive from family and companionship. Really interesting stuff.
The mystery itself is fresh and different from the usual, this time a 18 yr old cold case takes Kinsey on a trek across Southern California, mostly in the Mojave Desert. The case itself may have dragged a bit and there were so many characters to keep track of, but overall I was satisfied with the ending. Sometimes you get to the end of one of these spiderweb plots and find the conclusion feels unearned, but not this one. Probably, as a whole, among the strongest of the 17 I’ve read thus far.
The mystery itself is fresh and different from the usual, this time a 18 yr old cold case takes Kinsey on a trek across Southern California, mostly in the Mojave Desert. The case itself may have dragged a bit and there were so many characters to keep track of, but overall I was satisfied with the ending. Sometimes you get to the end of one of these spiderweb plots and find the conclusion feels unearned, but not this one. Probably, as a whole, among the strongest of the 17 I’ve read thus far.
I'm 60% of the way through this book, and so far the first 60% of the book could have been condensed into about ten pages (as opposed to the nearly 400 pages it currently occupies according to the paperback book length) and been SO. MUCH. BETTER. I can't be bothered with this book anymore. If it were a physical book I would find it so gratifying to literally throw it in the trash. As it is I'll just stop reading now and save myself another 300 pages of blathering.
Why are there 350+ pages of virtually nothing happening? Who edited this book? Does Grafton have a "no editor" clause in her contract? She must. That's the only plausible explanation for this POS book.
This is definitely the worst Kinsey Millhone book I've had the misfortune to read.
Why are there 350+ pages of virtually nothing happening? Who edited this book? Does Grafton have a "no editor" clause in her contract? She must. That's the only plausible explanation for this POS book.
This is definitely the worst Kinsey Millhone book I've had the misfortune to read.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I picked up Q is for Quarry for a reading challenge (Q titles aren’t exactly easy to come by!) — and unfortunately, that’s about the only reason I finished it. The mystery had potential, especially given that it’s loosely based on a real cold case, but the story was painfully slow, filled with irrelevant details, and padded to twice the length it needed to be.
I understand that Sue Grafton is often praised for her "detailed" writing, but for me, the descriptions were both excessive and unhelpful. At one point, a bee was described as "a black and yellow gumball"... I nearly threw my phone (listening to audiobook through Libby). The book is packed with long, wandering lists of what people wore, what they ate, and what the inside of every dive bar looked like, none of which felt necessary or meaningful to the plot.
The dialogue was often awkward and didn’t feel like real conversations, and the characters stayed flat and cartoonish from start to finish. I never felt I knew them any better on the last page than I did on the first. Kinsey, the protagonist, seemed to solve the case more by persistence and coincidence than through any real detective work. The ending was rushed, and oddly, the actual resolution was left for the epilogue, which only added to my frustration.
Maybe this just isn’t my genre, or maybe this wasn’t the strongest entry in the alphabet series. Either way, this will likely be my first and last Sue Grafton novel (**maybe not since I accidentally picked up Y is for Yesterday at a Library bag sale). If the story had trimmed all the unnecessary fluff, it could have made at least for a punchier read, but as it stands, it was a long, dull listen.
I love this series. Was a little disappointed in the last one, but this one made up for it. Great book, good read and fantastic characters. I di figure it out before the end, but still not exactly as expected.
I kept getting lost in the timeline in this book, and I know that's my own fault. Written in 2002, set in the 1980s about a murder from 1969...
This is a cold case mystery and late in an established series that I haven't been following. It was fine, but I'm not excited enough about Kinsey to go read the rest of the series.
This is a cold case mystery and late in an established series that I haven't been following. It was fine, but I'm not excited enough about Kinsey to go read the rest of the series.
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I enjoyed reading the book. Kinsey was lovable character. There were a lot of characters involved in the mystery and it was hard sometimes to keep them all straight. Overall I like the book and will read more of the Alphabet books. It was also interesting that it was based on a real Jane Doe whose murder was never solved.