I think this has been my favorite in this series so far. This is also one of the few series I've read entirely in order. I think I liked this as much as I did because it was personal for Kinsey. You get a glimpse into her past, which is usually very shadowed and un-mentioned. I also did not have it remotely figured out, which is a mark of a good mystery to me. ( )

This has got to be one of my favourite Kinsey mysteries: the emotional involvement of her ex-husband, and the background it gave us on her earlier pre-private investigator life was quite fascinating, and explained an awful lot about her.

But, yet, it wasn't like the later Dr Kay Scarpetta novels (by Patricia Cornwell) where the focus went from the mysteries and onto Dr Kay Scarpetta and her failure of a love life. It was still about the mystery (and I've read enough of the later Millhone novels to know it continues to be about the mysteries).

I didn't guess whodunnit or whydunnit at all, but the Kinsey Millhone series aren't really about trying to second-guess the author, they're about the fun of the chase. And this was a fun chase, with Kinsey one step ahead of the law who are suspicious that she may have been involved in the shooting of her ex-husband, the seriously paranoid Mickey Magruder. ( )

It's been a while since I read a Kinsey Millhone adventure so I was surprised to find that Grafton plots a mystery better I remembered. The setup is straightforward - Millhone discovers a letter from the past and it leads her to re-evaluate a past murder and the people involved. Grafton does a good job in making sure the twists are unexpected but still logical. On the down side, there's not much to recommend Millhone as a likable or memorable character except her enjoyment of Quarter Pounders - a pity given the time we have to spend with her when the supporting cast are much more interesting. ( )

All of the "Alphabet" Sue Crafton books are pleasurable reading. Time fillers that you can put down and pick back up without having to remember a convoluted plot or time warps of character studies. ( )

Although I enjoyed learning more about Kinsey's first marriage which she has never before mentioned, and enjoyed her wit which has officially returned -- the story itself left me a little flat in the end. The actual story behind the story so to speak was rather bland and was ultimately not revealed in a very suspensful fashion. I kept expecting a final twist which would deem it worthy, but it never materialized. That being said M, N, and O have finally picked the quality of the series up again back to the pre-J levels. J - L were real duds. ( )