L Is for Lawless

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0449221490 ISBN 13: 9780449221495

Publisher: Fawcett, 1996

"THIS IS ONE OF GRAFTON'S MOST FUN-TO-READ BOOKS. . . . One of [Kinsey Millhone's] wildest adventures yet."
--San Francisco Examiner
When Kinsey Millhone agrees to do a favor for Henry Pitts, her lovable octogenarian landlord, she literally gets taken for the ride of her life. The family of a recently deceased WWII veteran wants her to find out why the military has no record of his service. All Kinsey has to do, she thinks, is cut through some government red tape. But when the dead man's house is ransacked and his old army buddy is beaten up, she quickly realizes he was not all he seemed. Before long Kinsey is trailing crooks halfway across the country, impersonating a hotel maid, tangling with a baseball bat-wielding grandmother, and running from one very dangerous character. With her money almost gone and her nerves frayed, Kinsey's got to solve a decades-old crime and make it back home in time for Henry's wedding . . . if she can make it back at all. . . .

Review:

Both new readers and old fans will welcome this 12th Kinsey Milhone adventure in the "A" is for Alibi series by Sue Grafton. In this case, Kinsey agrees to do a favor for a friend of a friend and gets herself into so much trouble that she promises at the outset never to do such a thing again without careful consideration.

Henry Pitt, her longtime landlord asks her to help a fellow neighbor find evidence that his grandfather served in the military during the Second World War. With such proof, the man can be decently buried, courtesy of the U.S. government. It seems such a simple thing, but with Kinsey, it rarely is. Before long she finds herself entangled with an eccentric and quarrelsome family as well as a long lost buddy who has turned up just in time to get himself beaten up in a robbery attempt of the alleged veteran's apartment. It seems there is a reason the Armed Services have no record of the dead man's service. Kinsey sets out to determine what he might have been doing instead of fighting against the Japanese and why someone might think his shabby apartment worth a burgle.

Typical of the series, the mystery is not the central point of the story, but rather a starting point for Kinsey to become embroiled in a suspenseful (and delightful) search-and-rescue operation, usually against her better judgement. In this case, a gun-toting, arthritic octogenarian and revelations of the inner workings of bargain-rate motels are all part of the adventure. This is an easy and enjoyable read, and a solid addition to Grafton's string of alphabetical hits. --K.A. Crouch

From the Publisher:

One of the nice things about a mystery series is that readers can become familiar with a character and anticipate his or her foibles and methods. I've been following Sue Grafton's alphabet series for years, long before I came to Ballantine Books -- no, not compulsively starting with A is for Alibi, but close enough -- and it's been a pleasure to watch Kinsey Millhone, Grafton's series heroine, grow from one book to the next. It's also a pleasure to watch a writer not only become at ease with her character but hone her storytelling skills. Sue Grafton was good back when she began the series, and she's getting better -- and I, for one, am very glad she's only halfway through the alphabet. --Margaret Sanborn, Senior Publicity Copywriter