E Is for Evidence

I do like the Kinsey Millhone series. The character is far from perfect, which makes her more human in my eyes. I like that the answers to her mysteries don't just fall in her lap. Kinsey has to work for them. And I love the time frame; I lived then and remember a world of cigarettes, no ubiquitous smartphones, and information residing solely on paper.

I liked the mystery in this book. Both the reader and Kinsey know she is being framed, but by whom and for what reason? Again, Sue Grafton plays fair with the reader, but I didn't figure the answer out ahead of Kinsey.

If you like PI mysteries with a hint of cozy, then this series should be up your alley.

My favorite new detective. Kinsey is an ex-cop, twice divorced, smart and irreverent. I loved the humor in this book! It is also slightly nostalgic; I mean the poor girl is still using a Smith Corona to type her reports! It's Christmas time and it all should be light and merry, but things go downhill fast. First, Kinsey opens a bank notice for a deposit she didn't make. Then she is sent to investigate a warehouse fire, but she didn't receive all the paperwork. Now it looks like she is on the take and covering up arson. In "E" Kinsey finds herself the target and must sleuth her way out of trouble.

I have put off reading this series for forever, because I thought the alphabet idea for the titles was kinda lame. I still think that, but I show more ate this one up and I am ever so glad there are 26 letters in the alphabet! Off to find "A" is for Alibi! show less

I actually liked this one better than some of the other Kinsey Millhone mysteries I've read. I found the character to be a little less abrasive in this book. Short, sweet, to the point and though I flashed on the identity of the murderer early on, I had no idea what the motivations were.

The more of these I read, the more I like Kinsey Milhone. I like the way her past is intertwined with the present in this book, with characters mentioned in previous outings getting a full and proper introduction here. I also like the fact that this series isn’t : meet client, investigate case, solve case. There’s a lot of interesting deviation from what could become formulaic. I am beginning to wonder what her medical insurance premium will be if she keeps up her current run of injuries.

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.


I didn't like this as much as the previous books in the series. This kind of dragged for the first three quarters, getting nowhere and then all of a sudden all the revelations kept coming and made no sense. Well it did make sense I guess but I didn't like it.


2.5 stars. show less

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

I loved that this plot line was driven by the necessity to clear her (Kinsey’s) name from being set up by an arsonist rather than by a client that’s brought her a case and is hiring her for her PI services. I also love that you get more of Kinsey’s back story. Most of the books focus on the investigation that Kinsey is conducting and you get very little about her past or what she really wants for the future.

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 show more enjoyable. I’m always 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

Kinsey Millhone mysteries never fail to keep the suspense building right up to the last few pages and then wrap everything up with a bang, sometimes literally. Her wisecracking and cynical philosophizing drive the story as much as the mystery does itself and make for a fun read. In this installment of Sue Grafton's alphabet series the plot complications take twice the trouble to unravel, and Kinsey does just that without leaving a single clue dangling.