G is for Gumshoe

A step up from F is for Fugitive. Instead of Kinsey being in mortal peril only in the last chapter, she's in peril for the entire book, as someone has hired a discount hitman ($1500) to kill her. So for most of the book she has a bodyguard as a partner, which adds a nice dynamic, without throwing everything off-balance. His attention to detail in security matches her attention to detail on almost everything else. Her primary case appears to have nothing to do with murder. It's just finding and bringing home a mother lapsing into dementia for a daughter who has aged far beyond her 47 years. The pleasure in even the weakest Milhone mysteries is the constant stream of little things noticed, along with Kinsey's humanity. She's always show more struggled around illness, and here she has to get up close to it.

Recommended. I wouldn't advise it as a first Milhone mystery, but third or fourth would be fine. 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.

Robert Dietz. I'm not sure I love him. Romance and Kinsey is kind of weird. Jonah, Dietz, the ex musician husband (I can't think of his name off the top of my head and I'm too lazy to look it up). For some reason the idea of Kinsey and love just makes me cringe. And makes me feel awkward reading it. I love Kinsey but something about her and men just ugh.

I love that even when she's run off the road, car totaled, belongings drowned, packed up and shipped back to her days later - the all purpose dress survives. It only needs a wash. Lol. I want a dress like that. Sounds perfect.

I enjoyed the mystery of this case. I like cold cases that slowly get unraveled. I liked Kinsey interacting with everyone a bit more and opening up. Vera. Darcy. Henry. Poor Henry - running out when Kinsey accidentally sets off the alarm in his underwear and a butcher's knife - she's going to give him a heart attack. On the other hand the new apartment sounds awesome.



3.5 stars rounded up to 4. show less

I really enjoyed this book in the series. Two stories in one plus Kinsey getting romantically involved with someone other than the married cop?!? First all, there's a price on Kinsey's head regarding a prisoner who she put in prison. Probably the only time she irked me in the book... stupid to go out and get shot at without her bodyguard. The second was finding a woman's mother that actually turned into a really cool murder mystery. Definitely a page turner and was definitely surprised with the whole Irene/Agnes story. Looking forward to reading H.

I really loved this one. Kinsey is excited. She moves back into her newly renovated apartment that sounds fabulous. She just celebrated her birthday with friends. She's realizing Jonah is not what she wants. And she is then told she and several others are on a hit list. Kinsey trying to investigate a missing woman realizes she can't investigate and watch her back at the same time. She hires Robert Dietz, a private investigator she hired on an earlier case in A is for Alibi.

This was great. Besides running for her life. Kinsey is dealing with her friend Verna trying to set her up with a doctor, telling herself she's not really into Dietz, and coming to terms with her own mortality.

The hitman was something out of a cartoon it felt like show more sometimes too. We have to get into that man's backstory and his family dynamics. No spoilers, but it was odd.

The writing was really good as was the flow. I was not expecting the ending we get and it took me by surprise. Kinsey and Dietz end up living together for a couple of months after the end of this case before he leaves to go work in Germany.

I think this book was a turning point in Kinsey's development. She finally goes and falls in love again after her wariness about getting too heavily involved with anyone. show less

G is for Gumshoe is not one of Sue Grafton’s best; in fact, I’ve ranked it lower than the other 9 that I have read of the Kinsey Millhone Alphabet Mystery series. There are two unrelated plots. In one, she’s been hired by a woman (Irene) to locate her mother (Agnes) who has not been heard from for 6 months. In the other, she’s been targeted by a hitman hired by someone she’d helped to imprison. Kinsey hires a bodyguard (Dietz) to protect her as she searches for Agnes. When found, Agnes is afraid to be brought back home, and goes missing again. Most of the story involves Kinsey trying to locate Agnes and to figure out the family history behind Agnes and Irene (given discrepancies between legal records and a modified birth show more certificate for Irene).

I found the plot difficult to believe, the characters less than believable, the pacing of the story uneven, and the ending unsatisfying. The hitman has been hired for a mere 1500 dollars. He likes toying with Kinsey (his prospective victim) in a cat and mouse game, and over the course of many days, he periodically appears and shoots towards her and purposely misses. Further, he brings his young son along on his hits. Despite being stalked by a killer, Kinsey is constantly going off on her own, and getting shot at. As for the body guard, he’s ineffectual, although Kinsey doesn't seem to mind, and in fact finds a use for him in bed. Finally, regarding the family mystery, it all becomes clear in the last couple of pages, when out of nowhere, a minor character (Patrick, who turns out to be Agnes’ brother) also turns out to be a serial killer who has killed his wife Sheila and various other people and buried them in his shed over the years. Agnes is actually Irene’s aunt, and she had taken the young Irene away when they saw Patrick murder Sheila. Why hadn't she gone to the police? Who knows. The ending is both forced and rushed, and none too credible. One murder would have been plenty, so to have Patrick turn out to be an aging serial killer makes little sense in the context of the story.

This is far from Grafton’s best. I am glad to say that the next novel in the series, H is for Homicide is far better, a 4-star offering in my estimation. show less

I guess I am slow-motion binge-reading Grafton's Kinsey Millhone series. I don't allow myself to read another in the series until I have reviewed it and any other books I have read since finishing the previous one. G is for Gumshoe won the Anthony Award for Best Novel in 1991, so I had high hopes for the title. It lived up to that award, in my opinion.

After all, what is not to like? An efficient hitman who has kidnapped his son and is taking the boy along on the job. A rambling mother who has a secret. A handsome, sexy bodyguard. And Kinsey herself, on the search for the truth about the rambling mother, whilst avoiding the hitman and enlisting the help of the sexy bodyguard. Being Grafton is a remarkable storyteller, the book is a show more great read.

While the mystery can be read as a standalone book, it is best read in order of publication. So start with "A" and catch up! This book is highly recommended for fans of PI mysteries with a hint of cozy. show less

There are some devices in this one. A contract killer has it in for Kinsey, and a big tough bodyguard is brought on the scene to keep her safe. (There needs to be a special tag for stories with female detectives with big tough bodyguards.). Then we have the character who talks gibberish that the detective has to translate. But I have to admit to enjoying that device when it turns up, and solving the not-so-cold case that the gibberish refers to ends up being a lot of fun. The bodyguard subplot goes about as expected, but all the building blocks are put together neatly into a good story.