B is for Burglar

Great book. Really had me guessing until the end.

This series is wonderful. I just started it, going from A up. I really enjoyed this one as I happen to live in Boca Raton and know right where the Jacobsons is :) .Kinsey was hired to find wealthy Elaine Boldt, the flashy widow was last seen wearing a lynx coat, leaving her condo in Santa Teresa for her condo in Boca Raton. But somewhere in between, she simply vanished in thin air. Kinsey's case goes from puzzling to baleful when a house is torched, an apartment is burglarized of nothing but worthless papers, the lynx coat comes back in the picture without it's owner Elaine. Then Elaine's bridge partner is found dead. What you have is murder and plenty of it in this novel. It was a very fast read and I am really growing fond of Kinsey. She is a very believable character and one you got to love.

Having read every Grafton several times, I still find this the one with the most solid and intriguing plot. It reminds of the Sherlock Holmes type of plot, such as "The Redheaded League" that begins with a mystifying situation rather than a murder. The puzzle is to explain it. The mystery deepens and deepens and then the solution explodes and you go back and look at the clues and say "Why didn't I think of that?"

So far, I've read up to "D is for Deadbeat" in this series of mystery novels, and as far as the the early books go, I think this is the best one. Grafton's writing style is so matter of fact that the filler parts kind of get boring in her other books, but this one is filled with plot twists and enthralling characters that keep the pages moving fast. A lady turns up missing and Kinsey Millhone is hired to find her. But what starts off as a missing persons case ends up a lot more bloody and viscious. The characters that pop up and drop dead in this book are just great. There's the missing lady's alcoholic sister and her husband; a punk rock teenage boy and his uncle who's recovering from the death of his wife; a retired woman in her 80s who wants to be a PI; a neurotic subletter; a quirky landlady; and a cute old couple. The mystery is just great but in this one, the characters are better. If you haven't read any of Grafton's books yet, start with this one-- you won't be sorry.

For years my friends have been telling me I should read Sue Grafton's 'Kinsey Millhone' series of Alphabet mysteries. I am not a great fan of mysteries, and I have to admit that the 'alphabet' thing, with each book starting with a new letter of the alphabet just all seemed far too twee for me. And then finally I read B is for Burglar - and loved it - adored it is closer to the word really - and read every other book of hers I could get my hands on. The mystery was satisfyingly complex, and Kinsey Millhone is a gem. The series is now up to O, and I am waiting (eagerly, anxiously, expectantly) for the release of the new P mystery in 2001. This book is set in June 1982 - and if you haven't read the first book in the series, you don't have to worry too much. The narration by Kinsey herself will quickly bring you up to date with the essentials of her life. Kinsey Millhone is a private detective, 32 years old, single. Gloriously, she doesn't smoke, or drink heavily, or do drugs. She isn't a goody-two-shoes either, she really is quite ordinary, with a few of the usual hang-ups we all have. I liked that, because the focus is more on her mysteries than Kinsey coming to angst-stricken grips with her own failings (as often seems to happen in mysteries). Kinsey Millhone has been hired by Beverley Danziger to find her missing sister - Elaine Boldt. It seems like a pretty straightforward case. But as Kinsey delves deeper there seems to be something sinister below the surface. There have been sightings of her since she left her California apartment to head for Florida but nothing that seems to add up. - Elaine was last seen driving a car - but she had no licence - her beloved cat is missing without trace, and she has gone to stay with friends - un-named At the centre of the confusion is a woman, Pat Usher, living illegally in Elaine's Florida apartment. As Kinsey digs deeper she discovers the discord between Beverley and her sister Elaine and then there is the brutal murder of her neighbour and friend, Marty Grice just before Elaine's own disappearance. Somehow Kinsey must sort through the facts, red-herrings and lies - and in the process discovers that beneath the disappearance of Elaine there lies a much darker crime.I really enjoyed the book (it bustled along), enjoyed the mystery, loved the characters - both new and repeated, but most of all I love Kinsey. She is quite ordinary and she has a wonderful sense of humour - which I think develops more as the Alphabet series of books continue. You don't necessarily have to read this series in order, by the way - I didn't. Each book has enough background detail in it to be read on its own.

My friend recommended this series to me, and to kick it off bought me the B & C books (A was sold out). I started reading B Is For Burlar and couldn't put it down until I was done. I don't read alot of mysteries, but this could really get me started. I thought it was very well written and really kept me on my toes the whole way through. When you cringe when the main character gets hurt, that's a good book. I plan to read the whole series and I don't expect to be disappointed. I'd recommend this to any reader, even if you aren't big on mysteries.