“J” Is For Judgment by Sue Grafton

Synopsis:

"J" is for Jaffe: Wendell Jaffe, dead these past five years. Or so it seemed until his former insurance agent spotted him in the bar of a dusty little resort halfway between Cabo San Lucas and La Paz.

Five years ago, when Jaffe's thirty-five-foot Fuji ketch was found drifting off the Baja coast, it seemed a sure thing he'd gone overboard. The note he left behind admitted he was flat broke, his business bankrupt, his real estate gambit nothing but a huge Ponzi scheme about to collapse, with criminal indictment certain to follow. When the authorities soon after descended on his banks and his books, there was nothing left: Jaffe had stripped the lot.

But Jaffe wasn't quite without assets. There was the $500,000 life insurance policy made out to his wife and underwritten by California Fidelity. With no corpse to prove death, however, the insurance company was in no hurry to pay the claim. Dana Jaffe had to wait out the statutory five years until her missing husband could be declared legally dead. Just two months before Wendell Jaffe was sighted in that dusty resort bar, California Fidelity finally paid in full. Now they wanted the truth. And they were willing to hire Kinsey Millhone to dig it up.

As Kinsey pushes deeper into the mystery surrounding Wendell Jaffe's pseudocide, she explores her own past, discovering that in family matters as in crime, sometimes it's better to reserve judgment.

"J" is for judgment: the kind we're quick to make and often quicker to regret.

"J" Is for Judgment: Kinsey Millhone's tenth excursion into the dark places of the heart where duplicity is the governing rule and murder the too-frequent result.

J Is For Judgment takes us on an interesting journey with Kinsey. From traveling to Mexico, pretending to be a hooker, getting shot at, and swimming out to sea, there definitely wasn’t any down time for our favorite Private Investigator.

We also got a little peek into the history of Kinsey’s family and actually met some of her family members. We didn’t think there were any of them. She has always been used to being alone, not suddenly she has a lot of family pretty close by. I hope the next book explores her family a bit more, but I also kind of hope that they don’t become super prominent characters. Kinsey has always worked better on her own, and I think it should stay that way. For now, if anything. Having family nearby adds for an interesting wrinkle in the story, though, and I do think it should be explored.

As for her investigator storyline, this one was a bit different because she wasn’t trying to figure out who was guilty for most of the book, she was just trying to prove that someone was alive. Once she gets further into her investigation, we meet one really interesting but messed up family.

The family in this one certainly made for an interesting plot, but they were almost less “exciting” that characters in some of the other books. By less exciting, I mean they didn’t really do a whole lot.

The way this one ended, it makes me wonder if Renata will show up again in another book or not. I’m not sure there would be much of a need for her to, but I am curious about it.

Overall, another solid Kinsey story. There was a lot of action in this one. I think I want one with her interacting more with the people she knows and loves in the next one – maybe even a romance. You never know what Kinsey is going to get into.

4/5 Stars

Memorable Quotes: “The hard thing about death is that nothing ever changes. The hard thing about life is that nothing stays the same.”

“I pictured myself impales on an ornamental shrub. Not a pretty sight, that one – a hard-assed private eye, punctures by a sticker bush.”

“If I didn’t work on behalf of law enforcement, I’d be in jail, I’m sure.”

“I’ve never once downed a hit of NyQuil without shuddering violently afterward. Nonetheless, I’m aware that I harbor all the incipient characteristics of an over-the-counter cold medicine addict.”

“I perched on a bar stool, munching junk food while I sorted through the mail I’d stolen. It’s hard to give up chronic thievery when my crimes net me such a bonanza of information.”

“Please understand: I don’t have the answers. I’m simply posing the questions. God knows I have questions about my own life to answer yet.”

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“I” Is For Innocent by Sue Grafton

Synopsis:

When David Barney was acquitted in the shooting death of his wife, Isabelle, a good many thought that justice had not been served - including Kenneth Voight, Isabelle's former husband. Now, five years later, Voight is the plaintiff in a civil suit in which Barney stands accused of Isabelle's wrongful death. The stakes are high - Isabelle's estate is worth millions - but time is running short: the statue of limitations will cut Voight off in only a matter of weeks. Enter sexy, savvy ex-cop turned P.I. Kinsey Millhone, brought in by Voight to gather the necessary damning evidence. It doesn't take long, however, for Kinsey to find that while a lot of people hate David Barney, a lot more hated Isabelle. Suddenly a simple civil case becomes a deadly hunt for someone who once got away with murder . . . and may again . . .

Why do I read crime novels? Why do I read the Kinsey Millhone series? The answer to both of those questions is – I read them for books like this. I love any book that keeps me guessing until the final page. I love thinking I have the answer and then changing my mind every few chapters.

“I” Is For Innocent had so many twists and turns, it is incredible that the book didn’t fall right out of my hands.

The one downside I found with it is that there were so many different characters involved that I found myself getting confused at times and not remembering who was who.

Other than that, it was everything you look for in a crime thriller.

Kinsey was her typical badass self. Despite her doubts because of softening up after getting fired, she is still a badass – increasingly more so as the novel progressed. Her sense of humor is one of biggest things that got me hooked to this series. I find myself chuckling out loud often while reading these books and it adds to the joy of the experience.

Henry and William added even more comedic relief to the book. We all know and love Henry as Kinsey’s landlord and friend. When his brother comes to visit, things go to hell for him pretty quick and I found myself laughing a lot at them too.

For the actual crime solving, the case went from trying to put away the “known killer” to Kinsey trying to piece together a seemingly botched investigation by the previous PI (RIP). With so many people tangled in this messy web and so many loose ends to tie up, it seemed like it would never be solved. Of course, Kinsey comes through once again, and while it may not have ended as everyone would have hoped, it ended with the right person paying for their actions.

At different parts of the novel, it seemed like everyone involved was guilty. That is what kept me guessing, and I honestly couldn’t figure it out until it was revealed. The only thing I wish from the conclusion is that we would have gotten some answers, but sometimes you just have to be left guessing. The final scene had my heart racing.

For being the 9^th book in the series, it is one of the best. I really enjoyed the ride it took me on.

5/5 Stars

Memorable Quotes:

“Let’s face it, life is trivial, and my guess is that dying imparts very little wisdom on those in process.”

“It’s hard to have faith in your fellow man when you’re forced to look at some of his handiwork.”

“Unplug yourself often and you risk losing touch with your feelings altogether.”

“The dead are mute, but the living still have voice with which to protest their innocence. Often their objections are noisy and pious, impossible to refute since the person who could condemn them has been silenced forever.”

“There’s no point to anything if you get right down to it. We could all blow out brains out, but we don’t.”

“Growing up had made her crabby, which happens to the best of us.”

“I’m not cute at all. I’m a very cranky person.”

“What I wanted was to bang by forehead against the steering wheel till it bled. Maybe the self-inflicted pain would help me clear my thought process.”

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‘H’ is For Homicide by Sue Grafton

Synopsis:

After a three-week-long investigation, Kinsey couldn't wait to get home. What she needed most was a few quiet days by herself--but two things happened to change all her plans.

First, she ran into a murder case. Then Kinsey met Bibianna Diaz, and before the night was over they were sharing a prison cell..

This book was. . . different. I didn’t feel like I was reading a Kinsey book because she was undercover for the majority of it. She wasn’t leading her usual bad-ass private investigator life. She was undercover in a life of crime.

It was strange to read, and I didn’t like it. But even though I didn’t like that aspect, I liked the book. The book hooked me and I kept turning the page. I couldn’t put the book down. Because she was around the people she was investigation so much, they became humanized. Usually you can just see them as the bad guy, but there was a human side to them in this book which added more depth.

I was hoping that Kinsey would be able to bust out more of her badass self, but aside from playing her undercover role well, we didn’t get to see it as much.

I am so conflicted on it, but I can say that I did enjoy it. The characters were very well developed and the story was different.

I am excited to read the next book, though. I am hoping it is more of a normal book for her.

4/5 stars

Memorable Quotes: “Life was good. I was female, single, with money in my pocket and enough gas to get home. I had nobody to answer to and no ties to speak of. I was healthy, physically fit, filled with energy.”

“I tried to look like an especially law-abiding citizen instead of the free-lance private investigator with a tendency to fib.”

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