Q is for QUARRY (audiobook)(Kinsey MIlhone #18) by Sue Grafton

Published by Random House Audio in 2002.
Read by Judy Kaye.
Duration: 12 hours, 38 minutes.
Unabridged.

I have bounced through the Kinsey Milhone series for my entire adult life. I come and go with no discernible pattern - just popping in and out at random times in this 25 book series. It's pretty easy to do with this series because, while there are larger plots going on concerning Kinsey's family and sometimes here landlord, they don't move very quickly so I can just figure out what's going on with the family drama and then get to the mystery and enjoy how Kinsey solves it.

Synopsis

The mystery in Q is for Quarry was inspired by a real life cold case from the late 1960s. The author and the local police were hoping that the book might inspire someone to come forward with some new information. Sadly, that didn't happen in real life.

In the novel, two retired cops in ill health decide to reopen a cold case that has always haunted them and solve it before they die. They hire Kinsey to help. She will act as a set of fresh eyes and be much more physically mobile than either of them.

The case is about the body of a young woman that was found murdered and tossed into an old quarry. No one was able to identify her and there were precious few leads so the case just dried up. One of the retired cops wants to prove a felon with a long violent rap sheet did it (it fits in this m.o. pretty well) while the other retired cop is basically hoping that working the case will reinvigorate his sickly old friend. 

Kinsey is into it basically because she's got nothing else going on and she really wants to see what these two old dogs can do once they get back into the hunt.

What they find is nothing like what they expected...

My Review

They mystery is excellent. I would rate it 5 stars. The teamwork between the three of them is fun and watching these two old guys snipe and gripe is half of the fun. Of course the sniping and griping comes from mutual concern and the love that comes from a decades-old friendship. 

I quickly grew weary of the ongoing story line about Kinsey's past and a possible rapprochement with her extended family that she didn't know anything about when she was growing up. Those people are super-annoying and I'd just as soon not waste my time hearing about them. In a 12+ hour audiobook, they probably took up no more than 2 hours - but it felt like it was almost half of the book! This part of the story took a 5 star score down to a 4 star score.

Judy Kaye is excellent as the reader for this series.

I rate this audiobook 4 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: Q is for Quarry by Sue Grafton.

B IS for BURGLAR (Kinsey Millhone #2) (audiobook) by Sue Grafton

Published in 1993 by Books on Tape.
Read by Mary Peiffer
Duration: 7 hours, 42 minutes
Unabridged

I've been reading this series on and off again for the better part of 30 years. At one point I was trying to read them all in order but then it just got to be random books when I came across one. Lately, I'd forgotten all about them.

But, I saw some sort of article about how the end of the series was imminent and I thought I would start the series all over again (I certainly didn't remember much of "B" Is for Burglar - just the fact that the burglar mentioned in the title growled as she ransacked the place). 

Kinsey Millhone has been hired to find the sister of a woman who needs to have her sister sign a legal document so that a will can be settled. Kinsey starts her search and finds that the sister has disappeared. She traveled to Florida but didn't make it to her condo and no one has any idea where she really is.

Kinsey digs further and finds that death and mayhem seems to follow the people that she questions in this case and she is certain that something is very wrong - even if she can't quite figure out what is going on yet...

My plan was to listen to all 24 of the existing Kinsey Millhone mysteries in anticipation of the release of what I presume to be the final 2 installments (Y and Z). But, this book was not all that enjoyable of a listen for me. It wasn't the fault of the reader, Mary Peiffer. She did a great job. The book had all of the action of an extended "Murder, She Wrote" except for one extended fight scene. It just had no pizzazz for me and I think I will go back to to becoming an occasional visitor to the world of Kinsey Millhone rather than a regular one.

I rate this audiobook 3 stars out of 5.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here:   B IS for BURGLAR (Kinsey Millhone #2) by Sue Grafton.

"R" is for Ricochet (Kinsey Millhone #18) (audiobook) by Sue Grafton

Should have been titled "S is for Slow" or "T is for Tedious"

Published in 2004 by Random House Audio
Read by Judy Kaye
Duration: 11 hours, 33 minutes

"Occasionally I'm simply a minor character in someone else's play." -Kinsey Millhone.

R is for Ricochet really is an appropriate title for this one since, like a misfired bullet that bounces around and hits uninvolved bystanders, Kinsey gets caught up in a client's mess and nearly gets herself killed.

Set in July of 1987, this is one really slow-developing book. Lots of detailed descriptions of Kinsey's clothing, her client's clothing, the bad guy's clothing, Kinsey's thought processes about her clothing choices, the clothing of the IRS agent in the story, the clothing of a witchy rich lady, the clothing of Kinsey's love interest, the clothing a stripper wears to work, shopping malls, the clothing they look at in the shopping mall, hotel hallways, hotel lobbies, streets, and two separate descriptions of the same office hallway all make it one boring audiobook experience.

Now, don't get me wrong - the reader (Judy Kaye) does a tremendous job of giving each individual character a distinct voice and she captures Kinsey's wisecracking side perfectly, but this story cannot be saved by a great presentation. It is too slow and it should have been about one-half as long. I listen to audiobooks as a diversion as I drive. Many times I had to turn this "diversion" off so I would not fall asleep and careen off the road. It is not saved by the fact that the book does pick up the pace at the end - all that did was make me wonder why we had to lollygag through the first 80% of the book.

I rate this audiobook 2 stars out of 5.

This audiobook can be found on Amazon.com here: R is for Ricochet by Sue Grafton.

Reviewed on September 22, 2007.

M Is For Malice (Kinsey Millhone Mysteries) by Sue Grafton

Good "basic" detective story

Published in 1996.

How much more "back to basics" can you get than this? A multi-millionaire dies. The current will is missing so an older one has to be used. The dis-inherited black sheep son is found and brought back to the mansion. Murder and mayhem follow.

Kinsey's personal life continues to evolve in M Is For Malice. Set in 1986, the total lack of laptop computers, internet & cell phones are a bit jarring and will probably confuse younger readers (why doesn't she just google this person?) who don't pick up on the clues, do the math and figure out what year it is.

I am an occasional reader of the Kinsey Millhone series rather than a hardcore fan, but it seems to me that they have a tendency to get better, rather than weaker like most series.

I rate this novel 4 stars out of 5. It can be found on Amazon.com here: M Is for Malice by Sue Grafton.

Reviewed on March 24, 2008.

"J" is for Judgment (Kinsey Millhone #10) by Sue Grafton

Hits the spot

Originally published in 1993.

So, here I am reviewing an old Sue Grafton novel. What does this tell me? It could be telling me that I need to find more current things to read, but I remember 1993 just fine so this book did not feel old to me. What it really tells me is that I have not come anywhere near reading this series in alphabetical order and have never went out of my way to find them. Not that I don't like them - I have liked all but a couple. It is more like they have been my backup books when I'm needing something that I know is going to be solidly written and interesting.

In this case, I am knee deep in my summer reading marathon in which I feel I need to catch up on a bit of some of my more difficult reads in my to-be-read pile. Now, wait. I know that the Kinsey Millhone series hardly qualifies as difficult reading. This book was an easy one in the middle - dessert, so to speak.

Sue Grafton

"J" is for Judgment features Kinsey Millhone's search for a man who was presumed to have committed suicide because of a horrible financial situation by throwing himself off of a boat at sea. But, years later, he is spotted at a resort city in Mexico. Kinsey Millhone is hired by the insurance company to go and find him, if she can so that they can get their money back - you don't pay out a life insurance policy for a guy who is not dead.

Kinsey heads off to Mexico and, of course, opens up a whole can of worms. She also, incidentally, gets herself involved in one of the funnier scenes that I have read for a while in a neighbor's hotel room. In a separate storyline, this is the book in which Kinsey discovers her long lost relatives.

Rather than insert a lot of spoilers, let me say that "J" is for Judgment hit the spot - a good mystery, a chance to re-connect with Kinsey Millhone and a couple of good laughs along the way.

I rate this book 4 stars out of 5 and it can be found on Amazon.com here: "J" is for Judgment (Kinsey Millhone #10) by Sue Grafton.

Reviewed on June 27, 2011.

H Is for Homicide (Kinsey Millhone Mysteries) by Sue Grafton

From an occasional reader of the Kinsey Millhone series

Originally published in 1991.

 I am only an occasional reader of this series as you can probably tell since I am reading H Is for Homicide more than 15 years after it was first published. I have no idea what letter Sue Grafton has worked her way to by this point but I am more interested in catching up after reading this installment.

Sue Grafton

Lots of fast-paced action keeps Kinsey thinking on her feet throughout the book. Ostensibly, she is undercover to expose a car insurance fraud ring (they cause low speed accidents and fake serious hard-to-prove injuries such as 'back pain') but mostly she's trying not to get killed as things spiral out of control as she goes undercover with some very tough people.

Good job. I give this one 5 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: H is for Homicide by Sue Grafton.

Reviewed on May 7, 2006.

U is for Undertow by Sue Grafton

Originally published in 2009. 

By my count, this is the 21st book in the Kinsey Millhone series. I have read most of them over the years - some are good, some are great and one or two have been duds. U is for Undertow is a strong one. A very solid story, although not a very difficult mystery.

Sue Grafton has kept Kinsey Millhone in the year about twenty years ago in the past. An author has to make several choices as he continues to write about a character over the years. James Bond never ages> Robert B. Parker's Spenser moved forward in time but never seemed to age. He was a Korean War vet (making him at least around 75 years old in his last book) and he still got into fistfights and chased bad guys all over the place. Tony Hillerman aged Joe Leaphorn and just moved on to the younger generation when it was time for action.

The storyline of U is for Undertow most resembled an extended episode of the CBS police drama Cold Case and is different than the rest of her books. Kinsey is asked to investigate a 20 year old kidnapping and the reader flashes back and forth from the 1960s to 1988 until it becomes painfully obvious who the bad guys are and why they did what they did. At that point, we have a little drama while Kinsey cleans up the loose ends and the book ends.

I make it sound simple, but it was a good read - one of the best of the series. The flashbacks worked. The characters were very interesting and it was well done.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5.

This book can be found on Amazon.com here: U Is for Undertow.

Reviewed on July 31, 2010.