D is for Deadbeat (The Kinsey Millhone Alphabet Mysteries) [Mass Market Paperback]

Sue Grafton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 29, 2005

When Alvin Limardo walks into P.I. Kinsey Millhone's office, she smells bad news. He wants Kinsey to deliver $25,000. The recipient: A fifteen-year-old boy. It's a simple matter. So simple that Kinsey wonders why he doesn't deliver the money himself. She's almost certain something is off. But with rent due, Kinsey accepts Limardo's retainer against her better judgment…

When Limardo's check bounces, Kinsey discovers she's been had big time. Alvin Limardo is really John Daggett--an ex-con with a drinking problem, two wives to boot, and a slew of people who would like to see him dead. Now Kinsey is out four hundred dollars and in hot pursuit of Daggett.

When Daggett's corpse shows up floating in the Santa Teresa surf, the cops rule the death an accident. Kinsey thinks it's murder. But seeking justice for a man who everyone seemed to despise is going to be a lot tougher than she bargained for--and what awaits her at the end of the road is much more disturbing than she could've ever imagined…

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"D" is for Detective Kinsey Millhone, given $25,000 of stolen drug money by a drunkard named Daggett who then dies in a drowning. When she decides to deliver the money to Daggett's designee, a young man who was the sole survivor of an auto accident perpetrated by Daggett, Kinsey finds herself in a dilemma: too many "D's" are after the loot. There are two Mrs. Daggetts, a daughter, the drug dealers and a determined killer who soon claims a second life. At this point, Grafton's lively, well-written adventure develops a deadly flaw. Kinsey comes upon the second victim shortly after he's been shot. Though dying, he is conscious and coherent. Why, then, doesn't she ask who did it? When asked the same thing by the police, she says, "I didn't want the last minutes of his life taken up with that stuff"a humane but unlikely rejoiner from any private eye. Even so, the pleasure of this story comes through. Let's give it a "D" for Dandy.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

"One of the things that makes Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone series so unfailingly entertaining is Millhone's character. She's the last one to cultivate eccentricities in the Nero Wolfe manner, and her unsentimental, loner's-eye view of herself and the world keeps her feet on the ground. But her cases often get messy because she feels things strongly. This happens again, more satisfyingly than ever, in 'D' is for Deadbeat."--The Detroit News

"Kinsey Millhone has the characteristic persistence of the good private eye who won't be deterred from digging out the truth. With skill, Grafton keeps not only her appealing detective but her readers on the edge to know more."--Ms. magazine

"Taut prose and controlled plotting make Grafton an outstanding writer of hardboiled detective stories. Social awareness and human weakness play a great part in the Millhone books, which always manage to finish with a heart-stopping climax. Well done indeed."--Library Journal

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks (November 29, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312939027
• ISBN-13: 978-0312939021
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #39,602 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #26 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Mystery & Thrillers > Mystery > Hard-Boiled

More About the Author

New York Times-bestselling author Sue Grafton is published in twenty-eight countries and twenty-six languages--including Estonian, Bulgarian, and Indonesian. Books in her alphabet series, begun in 1982, are international bestsellers with readership in the millions. And like Raymond Chandler and Ross Macdonald, Grafton has earned new respect for the mystery form. Readers appreciate her buoyant style, her eye for detail, her deft hand with character, her acute social observances, and her abundant storytelling prowess. She has been named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America (2009) and is a recipient of the Ross Macdonald Literary Award (2004).

Sue Grafton has been married to Steve Humphrey for more than thirty years, and they divide their time between Montecito, California, and Louisville, Kentucky, where she was born and raised. Grafton, who has three children and four grandchildren, loves cats, gardens, and good cuisine.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lots of suspects, December 10, 2002

By 

Karen Potts (Lake Jackson, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: D Is for Deadbeat (A Kinsey Millhone Mystery) (Mass Market Paperback)

Private Investigator Kinsey Millhone is back again in this fourth installment of Sue Grafton's alphabet series. This time she is offered a fee to give a $25,000 cashier's check to a young man named Tony Gahan. The check for the fee bounces and Kinsey is now looking for the man who gave it to her, plus the young man she is to give the cashier's check to. Everything she finds out about her client is bad. He is a drunk, who has killed several people in a car wreck, and appears to be a bigamist. When he is found dead, Kinsey has plenty of suspects including survivors of the dead motorists and two angry wives. This book is written in Grafton's usual breezy style, and Kinsey becomes more independent and more likeable with each book. I would recommend the whole series to mystery-lovers.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great story with a surprise ending., January 20, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: D Is for Deadbeat (A Kinsey Millhone Mystery) (Mass Market Paperback)

The alphabet detective is back and as good as ever. Grafton does a great job setting this mystery up and the ending is a complete surprise. The twists and turn in the book take you all over the place, where you end up is the one place you never would have figured. You will read this without putting the book down.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Serious fun!, December 4, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: D Is for Deadbeat (A Kinsey Millhone Mystery) (Mass Market Paperback)

No one can make a funeral funnier than Kinsey. For that matter, I laughed till I wheezed over her description of the deadbeat's wife--a somewhat unstable Fundamentalist--and the picture taken on their 40th wedding anniversary. But the last chapter is a real nail-biter, as usual, and looking through Kinsey's eyes, these folks may be quirky, but human just the same. I've read all the books in the series, but this is the one I'd recommend to someone who hasn't read any of these books yet. What a sleuth