It’s no secret that I’m a fan of girl sleuths (like Janet
Evanovich’s .com/articles/03/NW0300128.php>Stephanie
Plum). So when a friend recommended Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone mysteries, I ran
right out and picked one up. I started at the beginning—with A is for Alibi. I
tore through it and reached for the next one, B is for Burglar.
In
B, Kinsey is hired to find Elaine Boldt, a wealthy widow who left her home in
California, headed for her condo in Boca Raton, and hasn’t been seen since. The case
seems easy enough—until Kinsey realizes that there may be a connection between Elaine’s
disappearance and the murder of her neighbor—which took place just a couple of days
before Elaine’s sudden departure.
Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone mysteries are
a fun, speedy read. You’ll fly through it in a matter of days—and you’ll have fun
sleuthing along with Kinsey. While the plot may have a few holes here and there, the
mystery itself is great—not so obscure that you’ll never come up with the solution on
your own, but not so brainless that you’ll figure everything out in the first chapter,
either. Grafton does a great job of handing your clues gradually, making it fun to “play
along.”
And Kinsey is a lovable character, too. There’s nothing fake or
glamorous about her. Instead, she’s plain and simple and down-to-earth. She lives in a
tiny apartment and eats at a Hungarian greasy spoon down the street. She stays in cheap
hotels and flies red-eyes when she’s on the road. She works hard, and she’s not always
even-tempered. And I like her. She’s not quite as quirky as Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie
Plum (or the rest of her characters), but I like her anyway.
…And I look
forward to reading C.
Kristin Dreyer Kramer has been writing in some form or another (usually when she was supposed to be doing something else) since the ripe old age of ten—when she, her cousin, and their two Cabbage Patch Dolls formed the Poo Authors’ Club. After a short career in advertising, Kristin got sick of always saying nice things about stuff that didn’t deserve it—so now she spends her days criticizing things, and she’s much happier for it.
Since creating NightsAndWeekends.com in February of 2002, Kristin has spent her life surrounded by piles and piles of books and movies—so many that her office has become a kind of entertainment obstacle course.
As if her writing and editing responsibilities for N&W.com weren’t enough to keep her out of trouble, Kristin also hosts a number of weekly radio shows: Reel Discovery, Shelf Discovery, and On the Marquee. She’s also a proud member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association (CriticsChoice.com), the Central Ohio Film Critics Association (COFCA.org), the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS.org), and the Women Film Critics Circle (WFCC.Wordpress.com).
Kristin lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband, Paul, and their daughter, Anna. She welcomes questions, comments, and fan mail at kdk@nightsandweekends.com.
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Kristin Dreyer Kramer has been writing in some form or another (usually when she was supposed to be doing something else) since the ripe old age of ten—when she, her cousin, and their two Cabbage Patch Dolls formed the Poo Authors’ Club. After a short career in advertising, Kristin got sick of always saying nice things about stuff that didn’t deserve it—so now she spends her days criticizing things, and she’s much happier for it.
Since creating NightsAndWeekends.com in February of 2002, Kristin has spent her life surrounded by piles and piles of books and movies—so many that her office has become a kind of entertainment obstacle course.
As if her writing and editing responsibilities for N&W.com weren’t enough to keep her out of trouble, Kristin also hosts a number of weekly radio shows: Reel Discovery, Shelf Discovery, and On the Marquee. She’s also a proud member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association (CriticsChoice.com), the Central Ohio Film Critics Association (COFCA.org), the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS.org), and the Women Film Critics Circle (WFCC.Wordpress.com).
Kristin lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband, Paul, and their daughter, Anna. She welcomes questions, comments, and fan mail at kdk@nightsandweekends.com.
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