‘B’ Is For Burglar by Sue Grafton

Synopsis:

Finding wealthy Elaine Boldt seems like a quickie case to Kinsey Millhone. The flashy widow was last seen wearing a $12,000 lynx coat, leaving her condo in Santa Teresa for her condo in Boca Raton. But somewhere in between, she vanished. Kinsey's case goes from puzzling to sinister when a house is torched, an apartment is burgled of worthless papers, the lynx coat comes back without Elaine, and her bridge partner is found dead. Soon Kinsey's clues begin to form a capital M—not for missing, but for murder: and plenty of it.

I don’t know if I am just getting worse at guessing twists at the end of novels, or if Sue Grafton is just really good at fooling me. I sort of had the first book figured out but was caught doubting myself. In this installment, I didn’t even guess the ended until it was revealed.

And that was only one part of what I enjoyed about it.

Kinsey Millhone is very quickly turning into one of my favorite protagonists. She is smart, she is funny, and it is just exciting to read books from her POV.

I enjoyed the story and the characters just as I did with the first one. It is nice meeting new characters with each book and having them explained so well. No character seems like a useless space-filler. It is refreshing. . . even those these books are a smidge on the older side.

‘B’ kept me entertained and kept me turning the page. It made me want to dive right into the next book, but unfortunately I was on vacation and did not have it with me.

5/5 stars.

Memorable quotes: “’Don’t ever do sit-ups. That’s my advice. I do a hundred a day and it always hurts.’ She was winded, her cheeks tinted pink from the effort. She was in her late forties, wearing a bright yellow sweat suit, her belly protruding in pregnancy. She looked like a ripe Florida grapefruit.”

“It’s a marvel God doesn’t reach right down and rip my tongue out by the roots for the lies I tell.”

“The thing Ive been worried about for years is how dinosaurs mated, especially those great big spiny ones. Someone told me once they did it in water, which helped support all that weight , but I find it hard to believe dinosaurs were that smart. It didn’t seem likely with those tiny pinched heads. I shook myself back to reality.”

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‘A’ is for Alibi by Sue Grafton

Synopsis:

PI Kinsey Millhone 32, in a pretty California town, gets her first case. Laurence Fife was a slick divorce lawyer and slippery ladies' man until someone killed him. Released from jail after 8 years, his wife Nikki wants the truth. But the trail is cold, and at the end is a chilling twist - a second eight-year-old murder and a brand new corpse.

By reading this book, it looks like this series could be everything that I look for in a long series.

First off, we have Kinsey Millhone as the protagonist. It is a joy to read a book through her POV. She is a badass and she has a good sense of humor as well. I found myself giggling a few times while reading because of her thoughts. It gives nice comic relief to the harsh cases that she has to investigate.

Second, we have the flow of the book. It was really easy to get into and it flowed together nicely making for a very easy and entertaining read. I didn’t have to strain my brain to see how the pieces of the book fit together. It is very straight forward.

That said, it is a mystery series, so there is still some guesswork on the part of the reader. I was trying to figure out who was guilty the whole time I was reading. My guess would change every few chapters or so until the reveal at the end. I can say that I guessed the twist, but I was not confident in my guess until it was revealed and I enjoyed that it kept me guessing.

Next, the writing style. Like I mentioned before, it is a very easy read because it sucks you in and makes you not want to stop reading. Grafton doesn’t spend time on useless details. She tells you what you need to know and that’s it. I loved that. I didn’t feel that any point of this novel dragged on longer than it needed to.

The story in ‘A’ is For Alibi was also just interesting in general. It wasn’t one of those books where the characters were the only aspects carrying me to finish the book. The story itself was good.

Now, this is only the first book in the series. But I cannot wait to finish the rest of them!

5/5 Stars.

Shout out to Beth for the series rec.

Memorable Quotes:

“I had never believed she was guilty myself but I couldn’t remember what made me so sure. She seemed passionless and I couldn’t imagine her caring enough about anything to kill.”

“Henry trades bread and other baked goods to a nearby restaurant for his meals and he has also, of late, become quite crafty about clipping coupons, declaring that on a good day he can buy $50.00 worth of groceries for $6.98. Somehow these shopping expeditions seem to net him pairs of panty hose which he gives to me. I am halfway in love with Henry Pitts.”

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Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment by James Patterson

Synopsis:

After the mutant Erasers abduct the youngest member of their group, the "bird kids", who are the result of genetic experimentation, take off in pursuit and find themselves struggling to understand their own origins and purpose.

After the mutant Erasers abduct the youngest member of their group, the "bird kids", who are the result of genetic experimentation, take off in pursuit and find themselves struggling to understand their own origins and purpose.

I read the Lake House mini-series a few years back, so this book seemed very familiar to me. It is not a continuation of that series, but those books apparently sparked this series into being produced.

I am hoping that because a veterinarian was a main character in the pervious series, we will continue to see Ella and her mother throughout this one.

In this first installment, we get to meet Max and her “family” of fellow kids. They are all very unique and have their own specialties. We got to learn a bit about their personalities and were given a peak into where they came from. I think that as the series goes on, we will learn more about their original families and why they were given to The School to be given mutations.

I liked this book as a foundation, and I think the rest of the series will only grow off of it. I want to know who controls the voice in Max’s head and how exactly she is supposed to save the world.

I know the Erasers are supposed to add conflict, but I could do without them.

4/5 stars

Memorable quote: “I wont lie to you – it felt really good. And really awful at the same time. Because what’s worse than knowing you want something, besides knowing you can never have it?”

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