P is for Peril

Well, this is totally not surprising at all...a solid mystery novel, with plenty of satisfying twists and turns from Sue Grafton.

A name from the past (and one of my favorite Grafton books) refers Kinsey for another missing persons case – against her better judgement, she takes it and before too long finds herself in the middle of broken family politics, pouty teenagers, a potential stalker, and cases of grand theft, fraud, murder, and a handful of other brushes with human frailty and depravity.

I did rather enjoy all these voices from the 80s complaining about the labyrinth that is Medicare/Medicaid/other federal health regulations – if they only knew!

I do wish, and I don't think I've complained about this before, but Kinsey blabs way too much – to friends (especially new ones), to suspects/interviewees/sources, and even to clients. Maybe it fits with the research that Grafton's done about proper P.I.-ing, but man. Every time she starts to divulge information I want to reach into the book and slap my hand over her mouth. Seriously, lady, keep it to yourself.

The conclusion to this one is atypical – we don't get resolution to any of they mysteries she's involved with; well, we sort of get resolution to one of them, but it has nothing to do with any sleuthing on Kinsey's part. The rest of the mysteries are solved by Kinsey, but we don't see the resolution of the story line – we don't even get the (often) heavy-handed wrap up where she reflects on the events of the novel. Nope. Not saying that's good or bad (honestly, I'm not sure). It's just not par for the course. Not sure why Grafton did it that way, but it worked this time (could get to be tiring if she keeps it up)

Ahhhh, our favorite road trip author! Kept us highly entertained on the drive back home from visiting family in Texas. Kinsey does all the predictable things we know she will based on all the previous (out of sequence) Alphabet books we've consumed on road trips, and this one was pretty fun - finding out what happened to a doctor with a history of disappearing, getting tangled up with two brothers with wicked tempers who don't know what overbearing really means, and a conclusion that, while satisfying, leaves just a whisper of a question about what actually happened. Liked this one a lot, and Judy Kaye, as always, does a great job reading Kinsey.