Friday, 27 March 2026 09:04 pm
Book Review: O Is for Outlaw
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deckardcanineI had never read any of Sue Grafton's Alphabet series. My mom read a few of the books long ago and doesn't remember what they were like. Not knowing how they compared, I started on the first free copy I found.
Mysteries are rarely so personal to the detective. The story begins when PI Kinsey Millhone, circa age 35, buys a box of her old papers that she had left with her first husband, LAPD Officer Mickey Magruder, who kept them in a storage facility until he stopped paying and they went to auction. The duo had split up after Mickey possibly beat offender Benny Quintero to death and asked Kinsey to get him off the hook with a lie. In the box, she discovers an unopened letter providing a legit alibi: Mickey was with a mistress. Much as that news hurts, Kinsey takes it upon herself to learn who really killed Benny.
With bewildering timing, Mickey soon gets shot comatose -- with a handgun he once gave to Kinsey. Naturally, that makes her a suspect in the eyes of two police detectives, limiting her hospital visitation privilege. It doesn't help that Kinsey's investigation methods often involve lies if not crimes, such as home invasion.
Yeah, I don't have the utmost respect for Kinsey. It almost sounds like she deserved Mickey, whose gradually revealed story doesn't highlight admirable traits. No wonder they both left the force.
I long wondered about the year of the setting. The book was published in 1999, yet dialogue made the '70s sound not so distant. By my reckoning from other sources, it's 1986. The entire series is within the '80s, including, I presume, Z Is for Zero, unfinished upon Grafton's death.
For most of OIfO, Kinsey appears to make little relevant progress. An overall picture is coming together, but how much of it hints at a possible solution? How much even sounds juicy? I can give credit for credibility (convenient tarot readings notwithstanding), but it comes at the cost of excitement until the climax.
Oh well, still more interesting than some mysteries I've read. I might try another Alphabet entry someday, probably one in which Kinsey is hired for a case unconnected to anyone she knows.
Up for another high fantasy, I'm starting The Hurricane Wars by Thea Guanzon. I don't know many inspired by Southeast Asia....
Mysteries are rarely so personal to the detective. The story begins when PI Kinsey Millhone, circa age 35, buys a box of her old papers that she had left with her first husband, LAPD Officer Mickey Magruder, who kept them in a storage facility until he stopped paying and they went to auction. The duo had split up after Mickey possibly beat offender Benny Quintero to death and asked Kinsey to get him off the hook with a lie. In the box, she discovers an unopened letter providing a legit alibi: Mickey was with a mistress. Much as that news hurts, Kinsey takes it upon herself to learn who really killed Benny.
With bewildering timing, Mickey soon gets shot comatose -- with a handgun he once gave to Kinsey. Naturally, that makes her a suspect in the eyes of two police detectives, limiting her hospital visitation privilege. It doesn't help that Kinsey's investigation methods often involve lies if not crimes, such as home invasion.
Yeah, I don't have the utmost respect for Kinsey. It almost sounds like she deserved Mickey, whose gradually revealed story doesn't highlight admirable traits. No wonder they both left the force.
I long wondered about the year of the setting. The book was published in 1999, yet dialogue made the '70s sound not so distant. By my reckoning from other sources, it's 1986. The entire series is within the '80s, including, I presume, Z Is for Zero, unfinished upon Grafton's death.
For most of OIfO, Kinsey appears to make little relevant progress. An overall picture is coming together, but how much of it hints at a possible solution? How much even sounds juicy? I can give credit for credibility (convenient tarot readings notwithstanding), but it comes at the cost of excitement until the climax.
Oh well, still more interesting than some mysteries I've read. I might try another Alphabet entry someday, probably one in which Kinsey is hired for a case unconnected to anyone she knows.
Up for another high fantasy, I'm starting The Hurricane Wars by Thea Guanzon. I don't know many inspired by Southeast Asia....