Sue Grafton (1940–2017)

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 show more 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.



I love Kinsey. This mystery was really good. Some of it I saw coming, other parts blew me away. I guessed about Bennet and Paul being the ones that pulled off the forgery scam. I partly guessed about Claire being alive. I did not see the whole Myrna thing coming until it was already there. Robert Dietz is back in this one. The whole romance thing between them mostly sucks. It just never hits right for me. I kind of would've preferred to see how it went with Guy. Jonah Robb is the homicide detective which was interesting. Camilla has left him and is living with and pregnant to someone else. Kinsey and his detective partner, Betsy Bower is seeing him. The chat between them was freaking hilarious.

She said, “Rumor has it you’re involved with Lieutenant Robb.”
I squinted at her in disbelief. “He told you that?”
“Someone else. I’m afraid this is a small town, even smaller when it comes to law enforcement. So it’s not true?”
“Well, I was involved, but I’m not now,” I said. “What makes you ask?” The look on her face underwent a remarkable alteration. The careful neutrality fell away and in one split second, she went from blank to blushing. I sat back in my chair, taking a new look at her. “Are you smitten with him?”
“I’ve been out with him twice,” she said cautiously.
“Ohhh, I see. Now I get it,” I said. “Listen, I’m fond of Jonah, but it’s strictly over between us. I’m the least of your worries. It’s the dread Camilla you’d better be concerned about.”
Detective Betsy Bower had abandoned any pose of professionalism. “But she’s living with some guy and she’s pregnant.”
I raised a hand. “Trust me. In the continuing saga of Jonah and Camilla, the mere fact of this infant has no bearing on their relationship. He may act like he’s cured, but he isn’t, believe me. Camilla and Jonah are so enmeshed with each other I don’t know what it would take to split up their act. Actually, now that I think about it, you probably have as good a shot at it as any.”
“You really think so?”
“Why not? I was always too caught up in my own abandonment issues. I hated being a minor player in their little theater production. We’re talking seventh-grade bonding. Junior high school romance. I couldn’t compete. I lack the emotional strength. You look like you could tackle it. You have self-esteem issues? Are you a nail biter? Bed wetter? Jealous or insecure?”
She shook her head. “Not a bit.”
“What about confrontation?”
“I like a good fight,” she said.
“Well, you better get ready then because in my experience, she’s indifferent to him until someone else comes along. And for God’s sake, don’t play fair. Camilla goes for broke.”
“Thanks. I’ll remember. We’ll be in touch.”
“I can’t wait.”

Grafton, Sue. "M" is for Malice: A Kinsey Millhone Novel (pp. 248-250). Henry Holt and Co.. Kindle Edition.

I can't wait to see what happens with that. I've read up to U is for Undertow but if I read what happens with them, I can't remember it. Tasha Howard makes an appearance - the lawyer cousin. She suggests Kinsey be hired to find Guy. They chat a little but mainly stick to business. I'll be interested to see where it goes. Anyway it all wrapped up nicely and I can't wait to continue on.



This is such a great series. 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5. show less

*SPOILERS*
I started this book on a camping trip and could not put it down. After reading many classic hard boiled mysteries with characters like Philip Marlowe, Lew Archer, etc. I think Grafton did a great job of creating a modern (post-women's lib) female character who fits this genre. Kinsey's asides and descriptions had a subtle humor that made me laugh out loud at times. There were a couple of things that were kind of unlikely (a woman would never shower at a strange man's camper after show more first meeting him. Too vulnerable.)
Grafton did something in this book that I have never seen in the thousands of mystery series I've read in my life: the bad guy was someone the female lead had slept with (a skilled lover, no less) and she did not hesitate to kill him when she had to. Mickey Spillaine killed off many, many female characters and many women that Travis McGee slept with conveniently died at the end of those books.
Kinsey doesn't blame herself for not being able to commit, like many female protagonists do. She doesnt spend a lot of time being neurotic. it was a breath of fresh air. This is good stuff, especially for 1982. show less

How did I "meet" Kinsey Millhone? From a short story published in Redbook magazine (of which I was a subscriber back in the 1980s). I was still in college then. I still remember to this day some points from that story -- how the missing character Lucy, a mother of three, "appeared beleaguered even then" in a photo of her with the two oldest before the third came along. I also remember a certain item of Lucy's that Kinsey discovers which helps Kinsey solve the case.

That short story intrigued show more me enough to start reading Sue Grafton's alphabet mysteries (of which "W is for Wasted" is the most recent). Even after I lost interest in reading mysteries in general, I still continued to read Grafton's as they came out.

So, it was with surprise that I came across "Kinsey and Me" -- somehow I had not realized that a short story collection by Grafton had been published (last year, in 2013).

Yes, the Redbook short story is in here -- as it turns out, it was from 1986. It was nice to revisit that one. There's several other previously-published Kinsey short stories that were new to me. There's one that was written especially for the Lands End catalog that has Kinsey wearing their famous Squall parka -- I smiled at that because my family has gone through several of those parkas over the years. And, boy, the conclusion of that one had me re-reading several times trying to figure it out. All of the Kinsey short stories here were published in the 1980s and 1990s, except for the Lands End one which appeared in 2001. I wonder if Grafton has more recent Kinsey short stories out there.

There's also a couple (also previously published) that are not really short stories but thoughtful ruminations on the art and craft of mysteries and the writing of them.

Finally, the last part of this collection (not previously published, apparently) are short stories based on a character called Kit Blue. They are not mysteries, but deep and sad stories of Kit Blue's alcoholic parents and how their two daughters dealt with it. Sue Grafton states that her parents were alcoholics, and these stories were all written after her mother's death. Knowing this, it is easy to assume that the Kit Blue stories draw heavily from Grafton's own experiences. Grafton states "If Kinsey Millhone is my alter ego, Kit Blue is simply a younger version of me" (p. 209). These stories are deeply affecting without being overly maudlin or preachy. I honestly think that high schoolers and young people could benefit from reading them, hopefully before getting too much into drinking and the like. Alcoholicism (and other substance addictions)can so deeply affect children and loved ones. That is not to say we should be a nation of teetotalers (I certainly am not one) but to understand how our own actions can affect others.

A very good read. show less

Oooohhh Yaaaaahhh..... Back in the saddle with Kinsey. I don't know if it is my extended absence from the series or the writing, but this is a goodie! Really grass roots crime stuff coupled with Kinsey attitude and penuche for getting into a big ass mess. I do love the whole retro feel of these stories. Can anyone remember the last time an "imprint" of a credit card was taken? Okay, I shouldn't talk since that did happen to me once on my recent trip to Vegas but in my home environment, those show more machines went the way of the Dodo bird a good 10 years ago. Grafton has a wonderful way with diving deep into the details without making the whole deluge of information the reader is subjected to coming across as a sweeping influx of 'blah'.

An excellent mystery, an wonderful recipe for disaster and a rather interesting lesson about how far does one take one's "good neighborly" intentions to heart. show less