What do You think about E Is For Evidence (2005)?
This book was slow. I would like to read the entire series, but I do not think I can handle too many more books like this. The novel starts off with Kinsey working an insurance fraud case and being set up to look like she is helping cover up the fraud. I'm not sure what it would take to make that interesting for me, but this book did not succeed in finding it. I was slightly confused for parts, but I think that may have been due to the fact that I wasn't paying close enough attention due to being bored. I found it to be a frustrating read as it didn't seem like Kinsey was making much progress. She seemed frustrated as well for much of the book and mentioned the only perk being that at least she was working for herself for this case. That perk only lasted until people started dying, and then Kinsey seemed to only be frustrated and depressed with not having enough friends. Really hoping that F is a better book as I have it at home right now from the library. If it is not, well, I guess I will be done with Kinsey. At least for a long while.
—Becky
There is possibly a whole alphabet of these books now. This was the first I've read and probably the last. It is the story of a Private Investigator, caught up in what seems to be an insurance fraud but turns murderous. The P.I. is Kinsey Millhone, a 32 year old based in California, single after going through two husbands. The second of which, a talented jazz musician turns up suspiciously after going AWOL for several years. The plot was plodding and the characters weren't engaging. Apart from the PI most of the characters were from one family who had stakes in a company whose warehouse fire is being investigated, it looks as though Kinsey and the oldest son, Lance, are being framed for insurance fraud. The other four siblings...Kinsey's schoolfriend Ash, bossy Ebony, aloof, fashionable Olive, and deadbeat Bass...flit in and out of Kinsey's investigation as she tries to figure out who might be framing their brother, and her, for setting fire to a company warehouse. The fraud isn't particularly interesting but a couple of corpses and a bomb make for more interesting entertainment. The denouement in the last ten pages isn't really hinted at in the rest of the book, so it is not like a more traditional mystery. I like crime novels with well written heroines like Sara Paretsky's V.I.Warshawski or Linda Barnes' Carlotta Carlyle, Kinsey Millhone just left me "I" for indifferent.
—Jim
Another great read from Sue Grafton featuring her detective, Kinsey Milhone in her alphabet series of mysteries. After Kinsey discovers a large sum of money deposited to her account that she didn't make, she gets caught up in a mystery involving a family's past that somehow involves her future, her livelihood, and her life. E is for Evidence is an enjoyable read that at times doesn't seem to be about the mystery as much as it feels to be about Kinsey herself. But that is all right since I very much enjoy getting to know Kinsey and her past better with each new case as she drives around California investigating while meeting people that find themselves caught up in something they can't quite understand. And indeed, it is the characters in these stories that I find so appealing. With each new story I am enjoying all the familiar characters that populate Kinsey's life. They are becoming as comfortable to me as old friends are. With each new book, I continue to enjoy Kinsey's wit and wry observations as she investigates another case. Thankfully I am only on the letter "F".
—Jeff
