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gigglewigglesquiggle's review against another edition
3.0
Characters: 3
Plot: 3
Setting/world building: 3
Atmosphere: 3
——
3
Plot: 3
Setting/
Atmosphere: 3
——
3
jo2's review against another edition
2.0
My least favorite Kinsey Millhone story so far. All the characters were unlikeable and the changed setting meant we didn't get to see any of the regular characters from Santa Teresa like Henry and Rosie.
davidpaige's review against another edition
3.0
Somehow the premise just didn't appeal to me. It took me longer to finish this book than I expected. I don't think this is as good as her earlier books. I wouldn't recommend starting reading the series with this book.
Besides, if you start the series with this book, you sill start wondering why her apartment is being remodeled.
Besides, if you start the series with this book, you sill start wondering why her apartment is being remodeled.
sjkuzma's review against another edition
3.0
This book followed the formula of the others, with only a change of location. Bailey, an escaped fugitive who was convicted of murder, has resurfaced and is caught. Believing he is innocent, his family hires Kinsey Milhone to discover the true murderer. There are a few twists, but I had the true killer pegged about half way through the book.
hopeevey's review against another edition
5.0
Oh, wow! This is the first Grafton novel I've wanted to listen to again - and it's only the press of how many books I really want to read right now that keeps me from just starting over at the beginning. I was so caught up in the story, and the subtle misdirection, that I did not at all see the end coming. I want to listen again and find the hints that I missed the first time :)
At the same time, I also want to listen again to figure out how Ms. Grafton managed to lay the groundwork for the profoundly moving end of the book. This installment has a whole lot of depth I didn't expect from this series, and am delighted to have discovered.
At the same time, I also want to listen again to figure out how Ms. Grafton managed to lay the groundwork for the profoundly moving end of the book. This installment has a whole lot of depth I didn't expect from this series, and am delighted to have discovered.
slammy90's review against another edition
4.0
Kinsey è una vecchia amica, sempre bello ritrovarla!!
Thumbs up per la Grafton :3
Thumbs up per la Grafton :3
arrrjae's review against another edition
3.0
Full review: https://wanderinglectiophile.wordpress.com/2018/05/24/mini-reviews-kinsey-millhone-mysteries-the-alphabet-series-e-k-by-sue-grafton/
A cold case! What fun it is to see Kinsey take on this type of case. It adds lots of depth and detail to the overall picture of our spunky PI and her business in solving the toughest cases. I enjoyed this one, but was rather overwhelmed by the number of individuals with motives for killing Jean Timberlake. The killer is eventually flushed out and I’m happy to say that I didn’t see it coming.
Overall, this is one of my favorite book series. I think Sue Grafton was incredibly clever and a great writer.
There are obviously some little things that ding the star rating, but really for the most part these books are very enjoyable. I’m always trying to guess where Kinsey is going with her line of thought in piecing the puzzle pieces together in her investigations. Sometimes I can see the direction it’s going to go and others I am pleasantly confused and pondering all the details and how they fit together. One of the things I like most about Grafton’s writing is that she can hing the whole plot on one tiny detail to an investigation. I’m sure that happens a lot in real investigations, but I find it so entertaining that Grafton wrote in such a way that these stories lend themselves to investigations rooted in reality. On the negative side of things, most of these books end a little too quickly for my taste. We can be trucking along to the climax of the story, the conflict happens, and the suddenly we’re at the end of the book within five minutes to the end of the audiobook (maybe about 10 pages in a physical copy?). Often the endings are abrupt and that’s a little off-putting for me.
I love that Grafton keeps her characters so realistic and grounded. Our protagonist isn’t some super powered private investigator or some heroin that’s had a rough past but trained to become as close to superhuman as possible in reality. No, Kinsey Millhone is just like the rest of us. I like that she’s got spunk, humor, sass, and a simplistic perspective on the world. It keeps things simple and clean, and that I feel is exactly who our Kinsey Millhone is in this series.
I started this series listening to the audiobook versions and I will probably keep “reading” them in this format. For about the first half of the series it is read by Mary Peiffer. Peiffer is not my favorite narrator but I believe my issues with her narrations are actually a sign of the times then. Audiobooks weren’t as prevalent back then and the rise of inflection and character voices were less common. This results in a very flat reading for much of Peiffer’s narrations. As the series goes along, she does begin to pitch her voice for characters as well as use inflections more. Unfortunately, she still sounds about twice the age of our main character and that’s a bit distracting. Now that I’m 11 books in though, I’ve gotten used to her as the voice of Kinsey. I’m not sure how well I will like it when it changes over to Judy Kaye in O is for Outlaw.
A cold case! What fun it is to see Kinsey take on this type of case. It adds lots of depth and detail to the overall picture of our spunky PI and her business in solving the toughest cases. I enjoyed this one, but was rather overwhelmed by the number of individuals with motives for killing Jean Timberlake. The killer is eventually flushed out and I’m happy to say that I didn’t see it coming.
Overall, this is one of my favorite book series. I think Sue Grafton was incredibly clever and a great writer.
There are obviously some little things that ding the star rating, but really for the most part these books are very enjoyable. I’m always trying to guess where Kinsey is going with her line of thought in piecing the puzzle pieces together in her investigations. Sometimes I can see the direction it’s going to go and others I am pleasantly confused and pondering all the details and how they fit together. One of the things I like most about Grafton’s writing is that she can hing the whole plot on one tiny detail to an investigation. I’m sure that happens a lot in real investigations, but I find it so entertaining that Grafton wrote in such a way that these stories lend themselves to investigations rooted in reality. On the negative side of things, most of these books end a little too quickly for my taste. We can be trucking along to the climax of the story, the conflict happens, and the suddenly we’re at the end of the book within five minutes to the end of the audiobook (maybe about 10 pages in a physical copy?). Often the endings are abrupt and that’s a little off-putting for me.
I love that Grafton keeps her characters so realistic and grounded. Our protagonist isn’t some super powered private investigator or some heroin that’s had a rough past but trained to become as close to superhuman as possible in reality. No, Kinsey Millhone is just like the rest of us. I like that she’s got spunk, humor, sass, and a simplistic perspective on the world. It keeps things simple and clean, and that I feel is exactly who our Kinsey Millhone is in this series.
I started this series listening to the audiobook versions and I will probably keep “reading” them in this format. For about the first half of the series it is read by Mary Peiffer. Peiffer is not my favorite narrator but I believe my issues with her narrations are actually a sign of the times then. Audiobooks weren’t as prevalent back then and the rise of inflection and character voices were less common. This results in a very flat reading for much of Peiffer’s narrations. As the series goes along, she does begin to pitch her voice for characters as well as use inflections more. Unfortunately, she still sounds about twice the age of our main character and that’s a bit distracting. Now that I’m 11 books in though, I’ve gotten used to her as the voice of Kinsey. I’m not sure how well I will like it when it changes over to Judy Kaye in O is for Outlaw.
gracereadsandruns's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.0
Enjoyed being whisked away to this beach town for a fun, classic mystery. Kinsey is assisting someone who was wrongfully accused of murder.
lylah's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this a lot more than any of the other installments so far—there were a slew of suspects this time and it was great fun to have Kinsey poking through their dirty laundry to figure it out. I was blindsided by the actual culprit, though I picked up on some of the other shenanigans the townsfolk were up to.
Jean Timberlake, the seventeen-year-old Murder victim who died decades ago, was a conflicting portrayal for me. Everything Kinsey dug up was about how sexual she had been and how many lovers she had, even big names in the town. I think the book did a good job of condemning the adults who had nonconsensually engaged in this behavior with the dead teen, but while there wasn’t explicit slut-shaming, there was certainly a judgmental gaze leveled at her for being like that. This book shows its age a bit and there’s always something like that going on, plus Kinsey’s personality can be a bit insufferable at times. I could’ve read many more pages of the tennis racquet fight though.
Overall pretty solid and perhaps the best one so far.
Jean Timberlake, the seventeen-year-old Murder victim who died decades ago, was a conflicting portrayal for me. Everything Kinsey dug up was about how sexual she had been and how many lovers she had, even big names in the town. I think the book did a good job of condemning the adults who had nonconsensually engaged in this behavior with the dead teen, but while there wasn’t explicit slut-shaming, there was certainly a judgmental gaze leveled at her for being like that. This book shows its age a bit and there’s always something like that going on, plus Kinsey’s personality can be a bit insufferable at times. I could’ve read many more pages of the tennis racquet fight though.
Overall pretty solid and perhaps the best one so far.
skullfullofbooks's review against another edition
3.0
Another great installment in the series. I definitely did not anticipate that ending!