Friday, May 4

Sue Grafton: P is for Peril

Another instalment of the alphabet series featuring the intrepid private investigator Kinsey Millhone.
This time a doctor has been missing for nine weeks. His first wife is sure he is still alive, his second wife is equally sure he is dead. Kinsey is hired to find him one way or another.
Her investigations draw her into a web of adultery, teenage angst, medical insurance fraud and murder. All at a time when she is trying to find affordable office space in an owner’s market and is being romantically pursued by an attractive man with a not so attractive past.
I like the alphabet series even if the heroine often has to rely on dumb luck to get the break she needs to crack a case.
Being set twenty years ago it offers an eye opening reminder of what life was like before the personal computer and mobile phones became household items, when things like DNA testing and eftpos weren’t as readily available as they are now.
The tone of the book is conversational meaning that it doesn’t require too much effort on the part of the reader. And I didn't pick ‘who done it’ until very near the end of the book this time. Having said that I think it best to read this series at large intervals if it is not to become predictable.
I was a little disappointed in the ending. Although we see her solve the case and there is a heavy implication as to who was responsible and why, the story didn’t feel finished to me. I actually checked to make sure that no pages had been removed from my copy. There was no ‘wrap up’ at the end, which I think is a new technique for Grafton.
Overall, P is for Peril was just what I anticipated it to be. I find the quality of the alphabet series is consistent and reliable, so if you like one there is every chance you will like the rest. Next time I am looking for a light, easy and entertaining read that doesn’t ask too much of a commitment from me I will go for another instalment.-Lynn

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