1. Premise 9
2. Prose 10
3. Plot 9
4. Characters 10
5. Overall 9
Comments (optional - but try to keep it under 3000 words!)
As always, Grafton’s alphabetical mysteries are first-rate. And despite the same setting, same protagonist, many of the same characters, and same investigatory/interviewing techniques, each of these gems manages to be fresh as the first. The ending has its obligatory Investigator-In-A-Life-Or-Death-Situation, often followed by a one or two page wrap-up; in these books, appearing in the form of a short note from the protagonist, Kinsey Millhone. (I had long presumed that her last name was just an unusual spelling of “Malone” but this story clarifies the matter - “No, it doesn’t rhyme with baloney. It’s Mill-hone.”) – on page 41. But each encounter between Kinsey and the other characters is fascinating to watch unfold, made realistic by pitch-perfect dialogue. The narrative never even comes close to going stale. Masterful crime-mystery writing from one of the legendary best.
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