Though the collection is less revealing about Kinsey than her novels are, it offers a rare sustained glimpse inside...
The collected short cases of Kinsey Millhone, plus a substantial bonus that wasn’t included when the stories were originally published in a limited edition in 1991.
The two qualities that distinguish Grafton (V is for Vengeance, 2011, etc.) from her competitors are amply on display here. Her Santa Teresa shamus is beyond question the most likable of all private eyes, and she never writes the same story twice—except when she recycles an ancient trick for telling the difference between an inveterate liar and his truth-telling brother in “The Lying Game.” “Full Circle” is a routine account of how Kinsey tracked down the man who shot the driver who was cutting Kinsey off on the freeway. But “Non Sung Smoke” works surprising variations on its fatal drug scam, and “Long Gone” and “A Little Missionary Work” cap their tales of embezzlement and kidnapping with nifty final twists. “Falling Off the Roof” and “A Poison That Leaves No Trace” work impressively different changes on the clients who suspect their loved ones were murdered. The seriocomic “Between the Sheets” is a fast-paced search for the corpse that vanished from the bed of his lover’s daughter. And the best of these tales, “The Parker Shotgun,” combines the ingenuity of Agatha Christie and the compassion of Ross MacDonald. The bonus is a cycle of 13 slight but piercingly sensitive vignettes about Kit Blue, an autobiographical figure Grafton used to explore her conflicted feelings about her alcoholic parents in the years before Kinsey came on the scene to tilt her world toward felony and set it reassuringly in order.
Though the collection is less revealing about Kinsey than her novels are, it offers a rare sustained glimpse inside Grafton—and a fine way to pass the time until W is for Whatever.Pub Date: Jan. 8, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-399-16383-8
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Marian Wood/Putnam
Review Posted Online: Nov. 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2012
PROFILES
An appealing, three-dimensional heroine and some clever plot twists make this an enjoyable, quick read.
In this mystery novel, somebody’s been killing the proprietors of a prestigious inn, and the newest innkeeper is determined to find out why before she becomes the next victim.
Doyle (The Infidelity Pact, 2008, etc.) is a self-described “foodie” and an avid cheerleader for the quaint village of East Hampton, New York, and she indulges both of these passions in this first installment of her new Hamptons Murder Mysteries series. Recently transplanted from California following a nasty divorce, 35-year-old protagonist Antonia Bingham has bought the Windmill Inn from the estate of Gordon Haslett, who died suddenly, apparently from a heart attack. An inventive, passionate chef, Antonia has just reopened the inn’s restaurant when she learns from two of her regulars, Len and Sylvia Powers, that the circumstances surrounding Gordon’s death were suspicious. Worse, he wasn’t the first owner of the inn to experience an untimely death. Now, strange things are happening to Antonia—someone removes a stepladder while she’s installing a light bulb, someone locks her in a supply closet, and more. Her new buddy, Joseph Fowler, a 60-something widower, joins in the amateur sleuthing as they try to sort out the possible motives of a multitude of suspects; Gordon, they discover, was universally disliked. Doyle is an enthusiastic guide for Long Island’s East End village; she details each street and shop, the spectacular beaches, and the unique play of sunlight that has been a siren call to artists for more than a century. She also gives readers plenty of opportunities to vicariously indulge in every mouthwatering bite that Antonia and her restaurant patrons consume—especially if the item is loaded with butter, sugar, or some other comforting dietary no-no. Doyle also pays careful attention to housing décor, wardrobe selections, and the hairstyles of every character, which perhaps stems from her experience as a screenwriter (Intern, 2009). The generally smooth prose maintains a gentle pace, although there are one or two unnecessarily awkward lead-ins, such as “an odd incident occurred that unnerved Antonia and once again gave her pause about her own mortality.” The dinner-table gathering of suspects isn’t an original device, but it’s fun and satisfying nonetheless.
An appealing, three-dimensional heroine and some clever plot twists make this an enjoyable, quick read.Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-9972701-4-3
Page Count: 410
Publisher: Dunemere Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A good one in the tough school, in which private detective Marlowe is hired to investigate a blackmailing and finds himself bucking a well-run gang, several murders, and the D A's office. Hard-boiled, fast paced, plenty of action, some sensationalism. Not for conservatives.
Pub Date: Feb. 5, 1938
ISBN: 0394758285
Page Count: 244
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: March 23, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1938
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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