F is for Fugitive

Welcome back to the 1980s! Originally published in 1989, this book is set when private investigators had a lot of footwork to do. The ubiquitous Web wasn't available, cell phones weren't a thing, and proper society was a bit more straitlaced.

Kinsey Millhone is outside her usual setting, traveling to another town to solve an older mystery. The hotel she stays in, owned by her client, is a bit creepy. The client's family disturbed me as much as Kinsey. But the author plays fair with her readers, letting them solve the mystery, too, with nothing hidden from them.

The series is becoming a cozy mystery combined with the PI mystery subgenres. I like both, so the series is going to be right up my alley. If you like both, then this book should show more be right up yours, too. While the books can be read in any order, as with any good cozy mystery, you'll get the most out of reading them in order, so start with "A" and catch up to this one. I enjoyed this book enough that I bought the next book. show less

I loved this story and it is probably because I have a soft spot for cold case mysteries. The other reason this is a great story is because Kinsey is complete left to her resources. Her support system is non-existent because her client isn’t in good health to help her and Grafton takes the story out of Santa Theresa.

The reader gets a really good feel for just how observant Kinsey is of the people around her. Grafton brings this out as Kinsey is describing the people, the family dynamics and the community culture. With no one to really talk to the only hint as to how Kinsey’s mind is working is through these observations and it emphasizes just why Kinsey makes a good detective.

The case is engaging and the supporting characters make show more great suspects as Kinsey works through the process of trying to find out who killed Jean Timberlake and hopefully free Bailey Fowler. Reading the story also helps bring into reality that fact Kinsey didn’t really have a true family growing up as she interacts with the Fowler family.

As usual Judy Kaye continues to excel as the voice of Kinsey Millhone. show less

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. [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.

Lol Kinsey being scared of needles. I enjoyed this one. I felt sorry for Bailey. His family sucks.

3.5 stars. show less

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

A cold case! What fun it is to see Kinsey take on this type of case. It adds lots of depth and detail to the overall picture of our spunky PI and her business in solving the toughest cases. I enjoyed this one, but was rather overwhelmed by the number of individuals with motives for killing Jean Timberlake. The killer is eventually flushed out and I’m happy to say that I didn’t see it coming.

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 show more 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. show less

I have become quite a fan of Sue Grafton's "Alphabet Mysteries" series -- this being the 12th that I have read. While not my favorite, I found it quite good. It is longer than most in the series, and given the number of characters, I found it necessary to keep notes on their identities.

17 years earlier, Bailey Fowler pleaded guilty to the murder of his sometimes girlfriend, Jean Timberlake, and soon afterwards, escaped from prison. He has been living under an assumed name, but recently had been captured by the police. PI Kinsey Millhone has been hired to exonerate Bailey by his father, Royce. Kinsey moves to the small community and tries to investigate aspects of the case, including the question of who had impregnated Jean, and who show more Jean's actual father had been. The situation is complicated by the fact that Bailey again escapes custody, and is in hiding. As various individuals are murdered, he is a natural suspect. Kinsey finds that Jean Timberlake had been highly promiscuous, and having intimate relations with many of the local males, including the minister as well as the high school principal, Dwight Shales who turns out to be the father of her child.

The story has the usual twists and turns, and the actual perpetrator came as a surprise to me; in fact, this aspect of the story I found to be less than credible. One is to believe that Bailey's younger sister Ann not only killed Jean Timberlake 17 years earlier, but (a) induces Bailey's friend Tap to help him escape custody in an obviously suicidal ploy; (b) kills her own mother (for unclear reasons); (c) murders Shana, Jean's mother, for her friendship with Dwight Shales; and (d) plans to murder Kinsey herself. Ann's ultimate goal is to inherit money through which she will get Dwight to marry her -- a plot 17 years in the making. . Despite the less-than-credible elements (and the fact that the plot includes two psychopathic / violent women), I found the story intriguing, and a worthy addition to the series.

A summary of the plot is available at Wikipedia, here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%22F%22_Is_for_Fugitive show less

Seventeen years ago Bailey Fowler pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter for strangling his girlfriend. Despite this confession he was able to walk away from the San Luis Obispo prison and disappear into thin air. Then, thanks to a robbery gone sideways, the cops have Fowler in their possession again. This time, private investigator Kinsey Millhone is on the case, hired by Fowler's family because they've known all along he was innocent. In his father's eyes he may have robbed a gas station at gun point; yes, he did that...but he's not a killer!
The rush to solve this case and clear Fowler's name is expedited by Senior Fowler's illness. Bailey's dad suffers from a cancer that is spreading quickly. Can Kinsey reunite father and son show more before it's too late? Or did Bailey really kill his pregnant girlfriend?

PS ~ It is not necessary to read every book in the Alphabet series to know what's going on. Even though I hadn't read "E" I knew Kinsey suffered injuries after her garage apartment was bombed at Christmastime. She was still dealing with the repercussions from both in "F".

Caution: "F" is for Fugitive is a little dated. Let's put it this way; it's during an era when you could still swing by the office, pick up your typewriter, and throw it into the trunk of your car. show less

I'm a big fan of Kinsey Millhone but this is my least favorite book of the series so far. The mystery is interesting and it took a while to figure out but Kinsey's attitude through the whole book was disturbing. She seems very contemptuous of anyone with physical disabilities, a family, any religious feelings or anyone that's out of shape. Her rude comments about people in these categories really distract from the story and I'm guessing that a lot of her readers fall in at least one of these categories. The cast of characters are not very likeable either.

The mystery involves a 17 year old murder case. Bailey Fowler confessed to the murder but escaped from prison. After leaving many years as a private citizen, he is recaptured and going show more back to prison. His family asks Kensey to prove his innocence. This book is not set in Santa Teresa because Kinsey's apartment is being rebuilt after a bomb destroyed it in the last book.

I'll keep reading the series because they are well-written, interesting mysteries but I'm hoping for better things from "G." show less