M is for Malice (The Kinsey Millhone Alphabet Mysteries) - Hardcover

Grafton, Sue

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0805036377 ISBN 13: 9780805036374

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co., 1996

Synopsis

Brace yourself for an "Electrifying and thoroughly satisfying" read (Publishers Weekly) from #1 New York Times bestselling author Sue Grafton

"M" is for money. Lots of it. "M" is for Malek Construction, the $40 million company that grew out of modest soil to become one of the big three in California construction, one of the few still in family hands.

"M" is for the Malek family: four sons now nearing middle age who stand to inherit a fortune--four men with very different outlooks, temperaments, and needs, linked only by blood and money. Eighteen years ago, one of them--angry, troubled, and in trouble--went missing.

"M" is for Millhone, hired to trace that missing black sheep brother.

"M" is for memories, none of them happy. The bitter memories of an embattled family. This prodigal son will find no welcome at his family's table. "M" is for malice.

And in brutal consequence, "M" is for murder, the all-too-common outcome of familial hatreds.

"M" is for malice . . . and malice kills.


"A" Is for Alibi
"B" Is for Burglar
"C" Is for Corpse
"D" Is for Deadbeat
"E" Is for Evidence
"F" Is for Fugitive
"G" Is for Gumshoe
"H" Is for Homicide
"I" Is for Innocent
"J" Is for Judgment
"K" Is for Killer
"L" is for Lawless
"M" Is for Malice
"N" Is for Noose
"O" Is for Outlaw
"P" Is for Peril
"Q" Is for Quarry
"R" Is for Ricochet
"S" Is for Silence
"T" Is for Trespass
"U" Is for Undertow
"V" Is for Vengeance
"W" Is for Wasted
"X"

About this title

About the Author

The New York Times #1 bestselling author Sue Grafton (1940-2017) entered the mystery field in 1982 with the publication of 'A' Is for Alibi, which introduced female hard-boiled private investigator, Kinsey Millhone, operating out of the fictional town of Santa Teresa, (aka Santa Barbara) California, and launched the bestselling Kinsey Millhone Alphabet Mysteries. In addition to her books, she published several Kinsey Millhone short stories, and with her husband, Steven Humphrey, wrote numerous movies for television, including “A Killer in the Family” (starring Robert Mitchum), “Love on the Run” (starring Alec Baldwin and Stephanie Zimbalist) and two Agatha Christie adaptations, “Sparkling Cyanide” and “Caribbean Mystery,” which starred Helen Hayes. Grafton is published in 28 countries and in 26 languages.

From the Back Cover

"M" is for money. Lots of it. "M" is for Malek Construction, the $40 million company that grew out of modest soil to become one of the big three in California construction, one of the few still in family hands. "M" is for the Malek family: four sons now nearing middle age who stand to inherit a fortune - four men with very different outlooks, temperaments, and needs, linked only by blood and money. Eighteen years ago, one of them - angry, troubled, and in trouble - went missing. "M" is for Millhone, hired to trace that missing black sheep brother. "M" is for memories, none of them happy. The bitter memories of an embattled family. This prodigal son will find no welcome at his family's table. "M" is for malice. And in brutal consequence, "M" is for murder, the all-too-common outcome of familial hatreds.

Reviews

YA. As the alphabet of crime continues, Kinsey looks for Guy Malek, the missing son and partial heir to a huge fortune. She finds him, but then he is murdered. During their short friendship, Kinsey comes to believe that Guy's Christian conversion had been genuine and that he had been clean of drugs for most of his 17-year absence. The background provides scenes of disrupted family life in the 1970s. The informal style, witty repartee, and Kinsey's personality should appeal to teens.?Claudia Moore, W. T. Woodson High School, Fairfax, VA
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Approaching middle age warily, PI Kinsey Millhone of the Southern California coast is mildly depressed, romantically vulnerable and in the process of reassessing her family ties. Yet, when it comes to her professional abilities, she's at the top of her form, as this deftly plotted and absorbing novel (her 13th appearance, after L Is for Lawless) proves. Bader Malek, a local industrial tycoon, has died, and his four sons now stand to inherit a substantial fortune. But one of them, Guy, has been missing since 1968. A drug addict, ne'er-do-well and all-around miscreant, Guy had been disinherited by his exasperated father shortly before he vanished. But that particular will has disappeared, and Kinsey has been hired by the family to find out if Guy is still alive and thus in line to collect his original portion of the estate. She quickly succeeds in locating him and brings back a sweet, guileless and totally reformed man. But is he? The three other brothers?a truly devious, arrogant and greedy lot?are deeply ambivalent about Guy's return. A murder in the family leaves the surviving Malek kin as prime suspects. This is a subtle and swiftly moving novel, pleasantly unpredictable, with an agreeable overlay of smoldering romance, as fellow PI and former lover Robert Dietz reenters Kinsey's life. Grafton's heroine?more introspective, yet still feisty and surefooted?leads this finely tuned and at times electrifying tale to a thoroughly satisfying conclusion. 1,000,000 first printing.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Four heirs ask series star Kinsey Milhone to find their missing black sheep brother?perhaps just to fleece him.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Grafton's fifteenth entry in her popular alphabet series has supersleuth Kinsey Millhone investigating a particularly nasty murder. Bader Malek has died, leaving his three sons squabbling over a considerable fortune. A fourth son, Guy, was sent away in disgrace years earlier after a series of juvenile arrests for drugs, drinking, and assorted scams. Hoping Guy is dead or unfindable so they can split his share of the fortune, the three remaining Maleks figure they ought to make a good-faith effort to find him, so they hire Kinsey, who discovers Guy living a few hundred miles away, working as a church janitor. Surprisingly, he has turned over a new leaf and has become a born-again Christian. Once Kinsey finds him and breaks the news of his inheritance, he decides to return home to reconcile with his brothers. Bad idea. Two days later, Guy is found dead. Reenter Kinsey, who's developed an affection for the unassuming Guy, perhaps because his family problems remind her of her own troubled history. The cops arrest one of Guy's sibs for the murder, but Kinsey's not sure he's the killer. She figures the murder is linked to Guy's checkered past and sets out--successfully, of course--to prove her point. One can only marvel at Grafton's seemingly endless stock of adventurous and inventive plots and hope that a finite alphabet won't limit her to just 26 mysteries. Emily Melton

Edition details

• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0805036377
• ISBN 13: 9780805036374
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 300