The last two books in the Alphabet Series left me wanting more from Sue Grafton. I was left feeling like the endings were rushed, characters weren't given the right amount of introduction, or were introduced briefly and then not mentioned again, and wanting more from the storyline.Grafton redeemed herself with "L is for Lawless". This is the first book in the series where the job Kinsey is working on is as a favor to a friend of hers. This book's a lot like "H is for Homocide" in that Kinsey finds herself unexpectedly on the road again, away from her apartment and creature comforts. Through the book, Kinsey is still struggling with the idea that she has family that would like to get to know her. Family dynamics are foreign to her. Since the people she is on the run with are father and daughter, the whole idea of "family" is an underlying theme. Will Kinsey be willing to reach out to hers or not?I have to admit that one of my favorite characters in this series is Henry Pitt, Kinsey Millhone's landlord and friend. I enjoyed the Henry who wrote crossword puzzles and tried them out on Kinsey before he sent them in for publication. I enjoyed the Henry who always had something baking in his kitchen. And many times I have wondered why some sexy senior citizen hasn't snagged this wonderful catch of a man!This story gives us a little more insight into Henry than we've seen in the past. Henry convinces Kinsey to help a friend of his on a simple matter - she needs to show that Henry's friend served in the military during World War II so he can be buried as a veteran. Such a simple request and it should have a simple solution, but as we've seen with Kinsey in the past, nothing is an easy task, so the plot thickens...The family of the deceased is too busy fighting among themselves to be much help to Kinsey. Then an old friend shows up and gets attacked at the dead guy's apartment. Once again we're on a race to see what's around the next corner for Kinsey and to find out why the government has no record of this veteran serving his country.There's a little bit of mystery, but more suspense in this book. And more laughs than we've seen in the past with Grafton's other books. I'd recommend this easy read to anyone wanting a few hours of enjoyment as it's definitely one of Sue Grafton's better books in this series. I only hope she will continue with this quality and not hit any more bumps that throw her off to only mediocre writing!
Nearing the middle of the alphabet now and this series continues rolling along with another fun read. This one is especially fun because our intrepid heroine, Kinsey Millhone, is not hired on for a case this time. Instead she does a favor for a friend, a tiny little innocent look-into-something-for-me-would-you kind of favor. And so the adventure begins and, of course, nothing is as innocent as it sounds. It isn’t long before Kinsey finds herself in Dallas after a spur-of-the-moment decision, with follow-on adventure in Kentucky.As always, Kinsey finds ways to get into trouble, even though at several points in the adventure, she is actively trying to leave the case since it just isn’t her problem. And having to deal with the set of dysfunctional family member characters she has to in this one, I can hardly blame her.This is certainly a mystery novel, with everybody trying to locate a hoard of missing money from a bank robbery over 40 years before. But it is a bit more of a “thriller” novel than usual, meaning the identity of the bad guy is known way before the mystery is solved. A lot of time is spent escaping and avoiding him rather than in a traditional who-dunnit style of mystery.There is also a pretty cool twist on the word "Lawless" from the title and what that is really referring to.I’ll keep on plugging away at these novels at the rate of about 4 per year. That will get me to the end of the alphabet at about the same time as Sue Grafton and Kinsey Millhone do.
What do You think about L Is For Lawless (1996)?
This is probably my least favorite Kinsey Millhone book. I guess it was the author's attempt to get Kinsey out of her familiar setting. This is admirable, but not always successful. (Remember when Jessica Fletcher left Cabot Cove and moved to Manhattan? Blecch.) I dearly missed Kinsey's familiar setting and familiar friends and after they left Dallas, found my interest flagging. There were some interesting characters and situations but other than Kinsey, no characters to root for or really care about. The plot was not exactly riveting and too complicated for the ultimate payoff. Oh wait...there was no payoff. Very abrupt and unsatisfying ending. Still Grafton on her worst day is still better than a lot of authors on their best.
—Ouija
Kinsey is private investigator but when Henry her landlord asks her to help some people, she has no idea what she is getting into. A man has died and is said to have left money somewhere. She starts digging into the man's past finding discrepancies from what his son is telling him. Enter Ray, a friend of Johnny's who knows his story. She tends to be wary about him. Checked for warrecord there was none- Kinsey has to find outvwhere he would have been. The man's house is searched but appears nothing was taken. Then he sees a young girl with whom she is acquinted with. Kinsey followts her right onto the plane. Instead of looking for her sj,he was following a bag full of money. Ray catches up with and the young woman. They all go to her parents house to get a seamstress. Each place they get close to, Kinsey - they are close tho an airport,Kinsey is sure to get home to peace in quiet. With all this going on, she is a bridemaid for Rosie and William. Alot happening in the book but hard to get into.
—Fmorlan
Either grafton is faltering or I'm getting better. I had this one figured out way before Kinsey did (and I'm not usually the first to figure things out). Not only that but the plot didn't ring as true for me for a couple reasons: *spoiler* 1.) i didn't get why kinsey would stay involved when she wasn't getting paid, even if she did start it as a favor to Henry; and 2.) there wasn't even a partial resolution at the end--the "crooks" seem to get away and the family who she was originally trying to
—Taryn Chase
