Book Review: "K" Is for Killer by Sue Grafton (Kinsey Millhone #11)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Engaging, creative mystery filled with strong characters

Cons: Ending a bit rushed

The Bottom Line:

Kinsey gets cold case

With some intriguing questions

Another great book

Kinsey Faces a Daunting Case

I’ve often commented in my reviews of the Kinsey Millhone series how fun it is that something other than a murder initially draws Kinsey into some of her cases.  However, there is never anything other than murder involved in “K” is for Killer.  Even so, this is a very creative book.

Kinsey is working late one night at her office when she is interrupted by a woman.  The woman wants to hire Kinsey to find out what happened to her daughter, Lorna.  The catch?  The daughter died 10 months ago, and when she did, no one found the body for two weeks, meaning the police couldn’t even determine the cause of death.

Lorna was a night owl, and as Kinsey begins tracking down leads, she finds herself beginning to follow the same pattern.  Kinsey unravels a world that Lorna’s parents knew nothing about.  But could any of it have led to her death?  Was she even murdered?

Okay, so I knew early on that we were dealing with a murder, but not being able to pin down how added an extra wrinkle to things that I loved.  We learn that Lorna was involved in a porn movie, so some of the subject matter is definitely outside my usual cozies.  Even so, the details were kept to as much of a minimum as possible; same with the state of the body.  I did feel the ending was a bit rushed, but that was my only complaint with the book.

We don’t get to see much of the series regulars in this book.  Kinsey’s landlord is out of town, and she is spending most of her time up at night and sleeping during the day.  Still, Kinsey really is the star of the series, and I loved spending time with her as always.  We only got a brief mention of the thread introduced in the previous book, which disappointed me, but I’m not too surprised, to be honest.  Sue Grafton is a master of character, and she shows it again here as each character we meet along the way comes to vivid life.

I’m still enjoying this series on audio as narrated by Mary Peiffer.  She does such a great job bringing Kinsey and her world to life that it is a pleasure to listen to them.

Once again, we are left wondering how Kinsey will deal with the events of this book, which means I’m anxious to get to the next in the series.  “K” is for Killer will keep Kinsey’s many fans engaged from start to finish.

If you are missing any of Kinsey's adventures, here they are in alphabetical order.

This review is part of this week's Friday's Forgotten Books.