Product Description

"THIS IS ONE OF GRAFTON'S MOST FUN-TO-READ BOOKS. . . . One of [Kinsey Millhone's] wildest adventures yet."
--San Francisco Examiner
When Kinsey Millhone agrees to do a favor for Henry Pitts, her lovable octogenarian landlord, she literally gets taken for the ride of her life. The family of a recently deceased WWII veteran wants her to find out why the military has no record of his service. All Kinsey has to do, she thinks, is cut through some government red tape. But when the dead man's house is ransacked and his old army buddy is beaten up, she quickly realizes he was not all he seemed. Before long Kinsey is trailing crooks halfway across the country, impersonating a hotel maid, tangling with a baseball bat-wielding grandmother, and running from one very dangerous character. With her money almost gone and her nerves frayed, Kinsey's got to solve a decades-old crime and make it back home in time for Henry's wedding . . . if she can make it back at all. . . .

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #31842 in Books
• Published on: 1996-07-31
• Released on: 1996-07-31
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 336 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780449221495
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Amazon.com Review
Both new readers and old fans will welcome this 12th Kinsey Milhone adventure in the "A" is for Alibi series by Sue Grafton. In this case, Kinsey agrees to do a favor for a friend of a friend and gets herself into so much trouble that she promises at the outset never to do such a thing again without careful consideration.

Henry Pitt, her longtime landlord asks her to help a fellow neighbor find evidence that his grandfather served in the military during the Second World War. With such proof, the man can be decently buried, courtesy of the U.S. government. It seems such a simple thing, but with Kinsey, it rarely is. Before long she finds herself entangled with an eccentric and quarrelsome family as well as a long lost buddy who has turned up just in time to get himself beaten up in a robbery attempt of the alleged veteran's apartment. It seems there is a reason the Armed Services have no record of the dead man's service. Kinsey sets out to determine what he might have been doing instead of fighting against the Japanese and why someone might think his shabby apartment worth a burgle.

Typical of the series, the mystery is not the central point of the story, but rather a starting point for Kinsey to become embroiled in a suspenseful (and delightful) search-and-rescue operation, usually against her better judgement. In this case, a gun-toting, arthritic octogenarian and revelations of the inner workings of bargain-rate motels are all part of the adventure. This is an easy and enjoyable read, and a solid addition to Grafton's string of alphabetical hits. --K.A. Crouch

From Publishers Weekly
Bemused, beleaguered and begrimed, Southern California's premier PI, Kinsey Millhone leaves her hometown of Santa Teresa in an adventure (her 12th in the alphabet series) that begins straightforwardly enough but quickly twists into a knotted string of untruths. While getting ready for the Thanksgiving Day wedding between a local tavern keeper and the elder brother of her landlord, Kinsey agrees to help the family of recently deceased neighborhood WWII vet, Johnnie Lee, find out why the military has no record of his service. Soon after Kinsey has finished looking (fruitlessly) through his papers, Lee's rooms are burgled, and Ray Rawson, who claims he is an old friend recently arrived in Santa Teresa unaware of Lee's death, is beaten up. Kinsey soon finds herself on a plane bound for Florida, in possession of only the clothes she's wearing and her purse( with an extra toothbrush), trailing a young pregnant woman in possession of a duffel bag spirited from Lee's home. On a stopover in Dallas/Fort Worth, Kinsey sleuths disguised as a hotel maid dusting baseboards ("tough to picture the boy detectives doing this," she reflects), meets the increasingly unreliable Rawson again and encounters yet another figure from Lee's past, a violent, vengeful psychopath. While gradually sorting out the connections among this cast, Kinsey travels to Louisville, where Rawson's 80-something mother proves her mettle and Kinsey, determining that lawless, in this case, is neither adjective nor collective noun, unravels a decades-old mystery. 750,000 first printing; Literary Guild, Mystery Guild and Doubleday Book Club selections; author tour.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
In her 12th alphabetically entitled appearance (e.g., "K" Is for Killer, Holt, 1994), plucky private investigator Kinsey Millhone is just doing a favor for a friend?checking the military status of a recently deceased neighbor?when she's sucked into a chase for the spoils of a 1941 bank heist. It's a lively outing with a couple of heart-pounding scenes, some interesting characters (the most memorable: a half-blind 85-year-old grandmother who wields a shotgun and a baseball bat), and even a little detection. There are also hints of Kinsey's connecting with long-lost relatives, plus a romatic wedding of octogenarians. And, as usual, Grafton gives enough background so it's not necessary to start reading the series at "A." With Grafton's legion of fans growing and her first print runs escalating from 150,000 for "H" to 750,000 for "L," every library with mystery readers should have this book, preferably in multiples.
-?Michele Leber, Fairfax Cty. P.L., Va.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

"L" is for Lacking
Other reviewers have compared this one to "H." They're right. This is an "on the road with the bad guys" adventure. No real mystery here, and other than a few interesting scenes, not much worthy of note.

The supporting cast that has been weaved through the other novels is noticably absent from this book. Maybe they were working on other projects. The book suffers from this, mainly because the replacement players are not nearly as compelling or, frankly, fun.

By the time Kinsey ends up in Kentucky, you will find yourself saying "Who cares? Get back to Santa Teresa."

All in all, it was a disappointing read, annoying so because my prior experience with these books means that you cannot skip the bad ones.

"L" is for Look for another
Of the Sue Grafton's series, this one didn't have the same impact as her earlier books. I was disappointed! The plot developed slowly, and at times reminded me of a bad 'made for T.V. movie'and the characters (other than the familiar aquaintances) lacked "character". After I began reading "L", over a year ago, I put the book down and didn't have the desire to read it until recently. I enjoyed her first books and hope that "M" is a better read.

L is for Lovin' It!
This is another good story in the line of alphabet mysteries by Sue Grafton. Her few "detours" from great writing in previous "letters" seem to have been a minor bump in the road and she now returns to a good plot and strong characters.

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!