D is for Deadbeat (Kinsey Millhone, #4)

by Sue Grafton

D is for Deadbeat is the fourth in the Kinsey Millhone mystery series by Sue Grafton.

My name is Kinsey Millhone. I’m a private investigator . . . female, single and self-employed, with a constitutional inability to work for anyone else. I’m a purist when it comes to justice, but I’ll lie at the drop of a hat. Inconsistency has never troubled me . . .

It was late October, the day before Halloween. He introduced himself as Alvin Limardo. The job he hired Kinsey to do seemed easy enough . . . until his cheque bounced. His real name was Dagett. John Dagett. Ex-con. Inveterate liar. Chronic drunk. And dead.

The cops called it an accident – death by drowning. Kinsey wasn’t so sure. The man, it seemed, had a lot of enemies . . .

• ISBN10: 144721224X
• ISBN13: 9781447212249
• Publish Date: 24 May 2012 (first published 15 May 1987)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Pan Macmillan
• Imprint: Pan Books
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 336
• Language: English

Reviews

I love Kinsey Millhone. But she's not everyone's cup of tea. I started reading the Alphabet series a few years ago - I think at the time it was up to O is for Outlaw. The idea of a mystery series each title beginning with a new letter amused me. I don't know why. I don't think it's particularly original. At least - I've seen a few others since. At the time though it was new to me and it just struck me as perfect. I flew through the series. Kinsey is riveting. She's brash and harsh and charming. She's fierce and flawed. She gets scared. She holds her own. She pushes herself to run often and tackles cases without judgement and with an open mind. Rosie and Henry are brilliant and I love the little family she builds around her.

But Kinsey Millhone isn't Jack Reacher - her speed is more Tracy Crosswhite. [b:My Sister's Grave|22341263|My Sister's Grave (Tracy Crosswhite, #1)|Robert Dugoni|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1405267054l/22341263._SY75_.jpg|41739579] Her cases aren't full of action and high speed chases - they're slowly nitpicking away until something clicks into place. She writes down all her thoughts and places her facts and ideas on 3x5 index cards - which she often shuffles and rearranges to help her solve her case. And I love it. Kinsey Millhone is great - but she's not for everyone.

For some reason I've seen reviewers compare this to Stephanie Plum - I don't know why - this is absolutely NOTHING like that. Stephanie Plum is a very different character and an extremely different type of book. That's more fluff. Kinsey Millhone is more procedural mysteries. And this series isn't current - it was first published in the 80's - there's not really technology. Messages were relayed by calling the landlines. Paper files were still the main form of storage. Not everyone will enjoy reading this. But if you like your mysteries to be more like procedurals with a determined and fierce character - Kinsey Millhone is for you.



Wow. I did not see it coming. The ending. Poor Kinsey. Poor Tony. Everyone suffered in this one. In many ways it was horrible. The final lines are going to haunt me for a long while.

Maybe he felt he owed Tony that last sacrifice. I’ll never know, but it makes more sense to me that way. Some debts of the human soul are so enormous only life itself is sufficient forfeit.

Grafton, Sue. D is for Deadbeat: A Kinsey Millhone Novel 4 . Pan Macmillan UK. Kindle Edition.



5 stars.

[ibeforem]

These books are quick reads. The plots aren’t overly complex, they’re just good little mystery stories. It’s the kind of book I consider a “beach read”.