B is for Burglar

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 show more Millhone isn't Jack Reacher - her speed is more Tracy Crosswhite. [b:My Sister's Grave|22341263|My Sister's Grave (Tracy Crosswhite, #1)|Robert Dugoni|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1405267054l/22341263._SY75_.jpg|41739579] 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.


What a ride. B is for Burglar is intense. There's a million different leads and twists and turns and I loved it. My favourite character was Julia. She was a funny old biddy. Her eagerness to go covert was hilarious. I also enjoyed the interaction with the cabbie who loves Henry's crosswords and treats him like a legend. The ending was good - although I would've liked to see Dolan's reaction - I'm sure it would've been epic.


4.5 stars, rounded up to five. show less

Book on CD performed by Mary Peiffer

Book two in the mystery series featuring private investigator Kinsey Millhone of Santa Teresa, California. Beverly Danziger is expensively dressed and much more nervous than she should be considering her problem. She needs to find her sister to get some papers signed. Kinsey figures this will be fairly routine, so she takes the job. But a trip to Boca Raton, Florida only raises more questions about the missing woman, and Mrs Danziger is upset when Kinsey suggests filing an official missing persons report with the police.

I like this series. Kinsey is a smart, resourceful woman who takes her job seriously and doesn’t rely on some strong handsome type to come along and save her. If she gets into a jam, show more she gets herself out. The action is fast, the characters entertaining and Grafton includes enough twists and red herrings to keep this reader guessing right along with the characters. I figured it out only a couple of pages ahead of Kinsey.

Mary Peiffer does a fine job performing the audio version. She has good pacing and I enjoyed the way she brought the characters to life. show less

I found this, the second Kinsey Millhone book, an improvement on the first. Kinsey grows a little more as a character and the story is tighter, with fewer characters and a more elegant mystery. When the denouement came I thought “of course that’s it” but all through the book it had been deliciously just out of my grasp. Great stuff and Kinsey is a worthy female addition to the PI tradition typified by the likes of Travis McGee.

This book is still early in the series, but I am enjoying it. "B" is for Burglar is certainly a product of the 1980s. Kinsey Millhone jogs, eats out at prices that I vaguely remember, and has no cell phone. She is her own woman, though, and I love it.

This is a standard mystery, with the author playing fair with the reader. I had thoughts about what was going on, but then I have a suspicious mind when reading mysteries. I thoroughly enjoyed the "reveal" when Kinsey figured it out.

Most of all, reading this during the Covid-19 pandemic, I envied the freedom to travel and interact with people. In this much simpler time, before 9/11, it was easy to hop on a plane and fly across the country. People had no masks, no real worries about various show more diseases. Of course, having no cell phones or portable computers certainly made it more necessary to travel and have "boots on the ground."

This book will stand alone but gains from being read in series order. Highly recommended for fans of PI mysteries. show less

After surviving almost being murdered in the first book, Kinsey is still dealing with having to take a life. When she gets another case looking into a missing woman, Kinsey hopes that keeps the ghosts that haunt her at bay. We get more insight into Kinsey, more development for characters like Henry and Lieutenant Dolan. And we get our first glimpse at Jonah Robb and his never ending messy marriage to Camilla.

I really loved B is for Burglar. The reveal was really cool and once again Kinsey comes close to death. Though we know there's a whole alphabet to get through, you can guess she survives.

The writing and flow was top notch. I felt off balanced reading this (in a good way). I was wondering where Grafton was going to take things next show more the first time I read this. My re-read was great, cause Grafton sets things up nicely.

The setting of this one is Santa Teresa, but Kinsey also goes back and forth to Florida. I still wonder how in the world air travel used to be so cheap.

The ending leaves Kinsey slightly worse for wear, but alive and kicking. show less

What fun is it to read a 20th century detective fiction: phone books, treks to the library, phones ringing off the hook: it's not until one reads an account like this one that one realises just how much has changed! While this old-fashioned research does slow down the pace, I enjoyed the mystery as it developed, each layer of dirt uncovered bit by bit. I look forward to reading the rest of the series as a nice light read.

Breezed through No. 2 in the Kinsey Millhone series, in my intended re-read of the entire opus. A couple "clues" shouted out at me in this one, which isn't always the case, but my conclusions weren't 100% right, despite having read it before. It's just fun to spend time with Kinsey, and I'm looking forward to the ones where her landlord, the lovely Henry, becomes a more prominent character.
2018