Scan barcode
A review by topdragon
P is for Peril by Sue Grafton
2.0
I’ve enjoyed all of the Kinsey Millhone novels so far but this one was a bit of a letdown. I did some quick research after I finished it and “P” is almost always ranked near or at the bottom of all of the books in the series.
Unfortunately it is easy to see why. There are two mystery plots at work in this novel. The main one concerns a missing nursing home administrator. Kinsey is hired by his ex-wife and she proceeds to do her research from every angle imaginable. I always enjoy her methodical approach and this was no exception. But it grew frustrating for both Kinsey and me as she encountered one dead end after another. Meanwhile, the other subplot involves Kinsey trying to rent new office space and getting stuck in a dangerous situation with her future landlords. This part is more thriller than mystery and is what spawns the “Peril” part of the title.
Most of the novel was just fine, even if frustrating. I was confident that Kinsey would get to the end like she always does. But I thought the thriller plot just wasn’t realistic, especially at the end when Kinsey was in the most peril and the murderer just walked away instead of dealing with the loose end that Kinsey had become. Just not the way it would happen. In addition, Kinsey finds out she had been duped the entire time and that criminal gets away scot free. I had hopes that the follow-on novel, “Q is for Quarry” might be about the search for that criminal but alas, it doesn’t appear to be the case.
The mystery part of the plot suffered from too many characters and dead ends as well as several mistakes by Kinsey. She remarks on that herself, kicking herself for her poor performance on this case. The ending was rushed. Kinsey has a eureka moment and solves the mystery in about two sentences. The bigger problem is she doesn’t share the result with us. She implies the solution but we are left guessing at the end. None of the other books in the series has been like this and I wonder if the author was trying to “keep things fresh” and not succumb to formula. Whatever…it didn’t work well.
Having said all that, I generally enjoy reading about Kinsey’s day-to-day activities and I did this time as well. I like the simplicity of her life and the author’s easy flowing descriptions. Most readers think this one was an anomaly of the series and I am happy to keep on trucking with it.
Unfortunately it is easy to see why. There are two mystery plots at work in this novel. The main one concerns a missing nursing home administrator. Kinsey is hired by his ex-wife and she proceeds to do her research from every angle imaginable. I always enjoy her methodical approach and this was no exception. But it grew frustrating for both Kinsey and me as she encountered one dead end after another. Meanwhile, the other subplot involves Kinsey trying to rent new office space and getting stuck in a dangerous situation with her future landlords. This part is more thriller than mystery and is what spawns the “Peril” part of the title.
Most of the novel was just fine, even if frustrating. I was confident that Kinsey would get to the end like she always does. But I thought the thriller plot just wasn’t realistic, especially at the end when Kinsey was in the most peril and the murderer just walked away instead of dealing with the loose end that Kinsey had become. Just not the way it would happen. In addition, Kinsey finds out she had been duped the entire time and that criminal gets away scot free. I had hopes that the follow-on novel, “Q is for Quarry” might be about the search for that criminal but alas, it doesn’t appear to be the case.
The mystery part of the plot suffered from too many characters and dead ends as well as several mistakes by Kinsey. She remarks on that herself, kicking herself for her poor performance on this case. The ending was rushed. Kinsey has a eureka moment and solves the mystery in about two sentences. The bigger problem is she doesn’t share the result with us. She implies the solution but we are left guessing at the end. None of the other books in the series has been like this and I wonder if the author was trying to “keep things fresh” and not succumb to formula. Whatever…it didn’t work well.
Having said all that, I generally enjoy reading about Kinsey’s day-to-day activities and I did this time as well. I like the simplicity of her life and the author’s easy flowing descriptions. Most readers think this one was an anomaly of the series and I am happy to keep on trucking with it.