About Sue Grafton and Kinsey Millhone (If you are already familiar feel free to skip ahead)

Sue Grafton has quickly become one of my favorite authors. She writes a series of mystery books that are commonly known as the Alphabet series. This means that the book starts out with things like A Is For Alibi, or I is for Innocent. This series of books center around a main character by the name of Kinsey Millhone. I have not quite figured out Kinsey's past completely but from the 4 books in the series I have read I can say she is in her late 30's, in fairly good shape, since she runs for exercise fairly regularly, she has been married at least once, but very briefly, she doesn't take on a lot of lovers, in fact in the four books I have read in the series she has only been intimate once, with a former lover who some may be familiar with from another book of hers with witch I may not have read yet. In the more recent books she is renting an office from a small firm that she has worked for in the past. And I almost forgot to mention the most important thing about Kinsey, she is a private investigator. She also rents an apartment from a handsome older gentlemen who lives below her, who she is good friends with and one of the few characters that re-occurs often besides Kinsey of course. I think the fact that her personal life is kind of mundane makes her a charming character, when you have a mix of boring normal life to a very exciting, and sometimes dangerous career.

M Is For Malice

In M is for Malice Kinsey is hired to find a long lost brother. It seems there are four middle aged sons who stand to inherit a fortune, but the will states that no one gets their money unless all of the brothers are together.

Kinsey sets out to find the long lost brother Guy, who it appears is the black sheep of the family. He had left way back in his youth because he was angry and hurt and had been accused of quite a few things. At first he thinks his family wants to find him to re-unite with him, and then he finds out that they only want him there so they can get their inheritance. He reluctantly returns home with Kinsey.

Kinsey becomes kind of fond of him, and he becomes fond of her. Unfortunately the relationship never has a chance to blossom because shortly after his return home Guy is murdered. Now Kinsey who thought she was just getting involved with a lost and found case finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation.

Who killed Guy? The answer seems almost obvious at first, but things are not always what they seem.

There is also a sub plot in the book as a man from Kinsey's past comes back into her life. This could either make things more complicated or more interesting. You decide.

My Thoughts

I found this book very interesting, and found myself trying to guess like mad, who the killer was. It is hard to figure out until you are almost close to the end. There are a lot of characters that are suspicious, and that alone makes the book very interesting. Add the long list of suspects and the subtle charm of Kinsey into the mix and you have a wonderfully done mystery book. While not a real comical or upbeat writer, Grafton does throw in the occasional line that will make you laugh. You can't help but like the humble Kinsey.

Although M is For Malice is a book from a series you will not need to read any of the other books in the series in order to follow along. Kinsey gives a brief introduction of herself in each of the books so you get some sense of who she is, but other than that each story line is very different from the others, and includes all new characters each time, of course there are a few re-occurring characters other than Kinsey but they are more for a break from the intense story line and occasionally comic relief. There affiliation with Kinsey almost always has nothing to do with the job assignment that Kinsey is working on. There is a little bit of sub plot going on with Kinsey’s estranged family in some of the books but that is usually explained in each book so you do not have to read previous books to figure out what is going on there either. There is no Millhone family sub plot in this book, but there is a sub plot as mentioned above.

Recommendation

Ok, I hope I have not confused you to much. To sum things up each of the books stand alone. Each of the books in the series that I have read so far have been excellent. M is For Malice is no exception. If you enjoy a good mystery and a likable heroine no doubt you will enjoy this book. So for mystery lovers I am highly recommending this book. Even if you are not normally a mystery reader, you will probably enjoy this book. After I read my first Sue Grafton book I wanted to read more. This book definitely does not disappoint.

Misc. Info

This book comes in audio, paper back, and hardcover. My book is a paper back and is 336 pages excluding intro, and acknowledgments, etc. The print is normal size and I would say that this is not a long or short read. I would say it is a medium read, not one of those you can read in one night, although I am sure some people could. It took me about a week to finish it.

Other Sue Grafton Books

T is for Trespass
http://www.epinions.com/content_418614644356



Recommended: Yes