Full review: https://wanderinglectiophile.wordpress.com/2018/05/24/mini-reviews-kinsey-millho...

Undercover work makes for a nice change of pace and story structure for this series. I found myself equally excited and concerned for Kinsey as she navigated the terrifying terrain that going undercover can be. The crimes committed by the antagonists in this story were interesting as it wasn’t a case of “this dude - or dudette - was killed, find out why.”

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. ( )

Good read with twist at end ( )

There's no mystery this time, though the novel starts with a murder. The killer is identified fairly early. That's not the story. Kinsey is asked to go undercover to help crack a car accident fraud ring. That plan goes awry pretty quickly and most of the story is about her time trapped with the gang. The theme is tension. The trick in the writing is to keep Kinsey as an active and competent protagonist in a story where she's mostly a prisoner. Grafton does a decent job at that balance.

Fine for Grafton fans, if you're OK with none of the usual background characters, and no mystery to solve. ( )

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.



This was super intense. It started off slow and snowballed. I just finished and I'm full of adrenaline. The ending was fantastic, although I would've loved to hear/see more about Jimmy Tate - was he undercover afterall? - and the fallout with Bibianna learning Hannah is Kinsey and the rest. I loved the mystery in this one and Kinsey's foray into undercover work. And man - could you get any more if anything can go wrong it will go wrong? She's so fkd in this one. Every time she blinked the cops/bad guys/someone fkd up and she was left improvising. And I would've liked Gordon Titus (the insurance efficiency overseer) to have been fired instead of Kinsey. I mean, I'm sure Kinsey will land on her feet but it would've been nice to see someone else get screwed.



4.5 stars, rounded up to 5. ( )

Kinsey Millhone investigates insurance fraud cases for California Fidelity. Finding her suspect she spends time trying to build trust but gets involved in a murder and is arrested. Los Angeles Police Lt. Dolan knows Milhone and informs her that her suspect is just one small cog in a mid-size network of auto insurance fraudsters. Milhone is asked to go undercover to identify more of those involved, and learn who coordinates daily operations and how.

At great risk she agrees, spending days living as a hostage in the barrio with some violent and twisted men and women. She needs to lie on the spot, show attitude or respect when appropriate. But when she helps her suspect escape her abusive boyfriend, he grabs Milhone and takes her on a high-speed chase that ends at a hospital.

I found H is for Homicide to be mediocre. The best part was how well and how long Milhone created and maintained a fake identity and persona.