A is for Alibi (edition 1993)

I've been reading Sue Grafton for years and decided to go back to the beginning for a reread. I must say I'm enjoying it just as much on the reread as I did the first time around.

Kinsey Millhone is in the tradition of a the hard-boiled private eye. She has the police background and the tough-chick persona. She's a loner with quirky friends and a tragedy in her past. But likeable, very likeable.

There are things you notice that would be different if she were writing this book for a current setting but she wasn't. She was writing it for a 1980's setting. It works very well for that and actually reminds me how much things have changed in such a short time. I find Kinsey to be realistic and engaging. The mystery wasn't the hardest to figure out but it didn't jump out at me from the first page either. We get a lot of background on Kinsey and she seems very 3 dimensional by the end of the book. This is one of the few mystery series that my husband enjoys also. I know I'm going to enjoy my reread of the entire series. ( )

At first, I wasn't all that impressed with A is for Alibi. I didn't see the humor, it seemed to drag on and on without any point, all in all it just seemed blah. Then I got to the last, oh, one-quarter of the book. Oh my goodness! What a thrill ride! Everything that I felt had been pointless or boring before just "clicked," and it all made sense. Plus the author's style of writing seems perfectly suited for the way she wrapped this book up. I was originally thinking of only giving this book 2 stars before I finished it. I've given it 4 because the last part of the book completely redeems and makes it worthwhile to go through the first parts of the book. It also made me want to find out what happens in the next book, B is for Burglar. ( )

I wasn't greatly impressed with this one. In terms of my course, it's nice to have female writers on it, and nice to have a book with a female main character, too -- no march of the dead white men here -- but this didn't blow me away like Raymond Chandler, and nor did I have the compulsion to keep reading that I had with Agatha Christie and Ian Rankin. Obviously, the quality doesn't matter in terms of my course, but damned if I know what points are to be made, at this stage!

I never really believed in any of the characters, not even Kinsey. It was nice that she was given some background detail -- the running, etc -- but at the same time, I didn't feel her to be that much of a character, and didn't really buy the relationship between her and Charlie, that a professional would get involved in that without being able to strike him off as a suspect. Honestly, that a professional would get involved with him at all while on a case that involves him. I thought the characters of Nikki and her son were interesting, and kinda wished there'd been more of her.

Didn't find the plot that shocking or difficult to guess, and if it wasn't for my course, and for the fact that I needed something mindless and easy today, I might've skim-read the rest and not really bothered, once I got about a third of the way through without any real interest. ( )

This was one of those books I had to force myself to keep reading. I kept hoping it would get better, but it didn't. Bland writing, bland story. Perhaps her later books are better; she did write a whole series of these so some people seem to like them. ( )

This is the first of Sue Grafton's Alphabet series featuring Kinsey Millhone, a private investigator based in Santa Teresa, CA. In this book, Kinsey Millhone is hired by a woman (who has been convicted for the homicide of her husband) to find out who really killed her husband. It was okay, except for three problems: Mary Pieffer, Kinsey Millhone and, Sue Grafton:

Mary Pieffer (the narrator): This is an older recording (1993) and narration styles were different then. Attention was paid to verbatim and neutral interpretation of the text. So maybe, in 1993, listeners found this recording acceptable and even commendable; but now, the narration is annoying. The narrator's voice was colorless and sometimes it sounded like a computer reading.

Kinsey Millhone (the protagonist): Ewww. She doesn't like dogs, likes the smell of her own sweat and, she likes small, dreary, cheap spaces. She's supposed to come across as tough, but I thought of her as crass and belligerent. Seriously, by the time of the climatic action scene in the water, I really didn't care if Kinsey made it or not. Actually, that's not true. I was kind of hoping she'd get swept out to sea.

Sue Grafton (the author): In creating an unlikable heroine who gives the reader/listener no opportunity to invest any enthusiasm for the protag, I am surprised that SG has generated a following of readers willing to follow her through to "U!" In A IS FOR ALIBI, the writer tips off "whodunnit" almost immediately (which makes Kinsey look stupid for not picking up on this) and, has her protag immediately investigate "the homicide of [the accountant:]" as opposed to "the death of [the accountant:]." Maybe this was all innovative (in terms of writing style and mystery plots) in 1988, but it doesn't work for me now.

I've been told that some titles are better than others; that Judy Kaye is a better narrator and, that I should give the series another chance; but really, I have a ton of other books and audiobooks that sound more appealing, so I'll pass.
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