Customer Reviews

"E" is for Evidence

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

As a Kinsey Millhone fan, I must say that the "E" installment of the series, is the richest and most suspenseful, (with "K" is for Killer, being right behind it). The book begins almost slowly, but picks up at a frightening (literally) pace. The middle of this novel is one of the most surprising I have found in a Grafton novel to date. We are allowed to glimpse into Kinsey's past marraige to Daniel and find the reason out behind his abandonment of her. I read through these books the day i receive them. All I can say, is that when Grafton hits Z, She had better pick up with 1, 2, 3 etc. because we all would miss Kinsey too much!! Bravo!

I didn't read Kinsey Milhone in order of the alphabet - I started at about M and went backwards and forwards as I bought the books. I have been gradually piecing her life together as I go and E is for Evidence was the last one I've turned up (P isn't due out for another couple of weeks) and my goodness this is good - I think it must go to the top of the pile as the best of her books so far. The mystery is complex, Kinsey's personal life so intertwined with the mystery that it is hard to pick your way between the two, and it is written in classic Grafton style without pathos and self-pity.

After having finished I was thinking over the themes which underlie this book, Kinsey's aloneness, her fear of betrayal, her past betrayals and lack of family - they are all cast into stark reality with the coming of Christmas and New Year - a time when family is the most important. Yet the telling of the story left me without feeling sorry for Kinsey (I tend to be the sort of person who cries at television ads) because Grafton produces such a strong, sympathetic and real character in Kinsey. It is hard to feel sorry for her as she rejects sympathy - even from her readers. I think it shows Grafton's incredible skill as a writer.

As a story this book just knocked my socks off - it has layers like you wouldn't believe, and kept me guessing until almost the very last page as to what was going on and what was going to happen. Kinsey Millhone is given a file to check out an insurance claim on what seems to be a straightforward fire at a company Wood/Warren. The Wood family are old friends of Kinsey's from way back and all seems in order when she checks things out. Unfortunately she has been set up - the fire was arson, a factor which doesn't come to light until after she has investigated the fire - papers were left out of the original claim file which would have pointed in that direction. Now she is on suspension and being investigated herself for corruption. All around she is looking for answers and people aren't telling her the truth. She is forced to ask favours from people she has never much liked - and it isn't helped that her beautiful and dissolute ex-husband Daniel has turned up on her doorstep to complicate things. All this is set against the worst possible Christmas and New Year on record.

I think that all of Grafton's fans will agree that picking up one of her books is like sitting down with a good friend to have a chat and a cup of coffee. I don't think anyone who reads these books doesn't feel some kind of kinship with Kinsey Milhone. When I first settle in and begin my read, by the third chapter or so I want to jump into the book, get her a bigger apartment, replace that black dress she keeps in the trunk of her car and help her find some kind of love life.

But before any of this can happen, Kinsey has to yet, once again, untangle a mess. This time, however, it's her own mess because she's being framed. A mysterious five thousand dollar deposit appears in her checking account and, while we all know Kinsey could use the money, there's no way she can sit still until she finds out where it came from. This will lead her on a search for insurance fraud after a thorough investigation of a fire site. Kinsey is familiar with the owners of this company as she went to high school with one of the girls in the family. As she's rekindling old acquaintances, things are heating up in her investigation. Fires are sizzling, bombs are exploding and things aren't what they seem to be -- what else is new?

So why only three stars you ask? I was really enjoying this book until I got to the end. By missing one sentence in a previous chapter, I didn't understand the ending when I got to it. Consequently, I had to go back and reread the last twenty or so pages just so it would make sense (which it did). I just don't like having to do that. When I read a book, especially one as simple as this alphabet series, the ending should all come together more easily than this one did. It shouldn't just hinge on one sentence. And, that's why "E" was an enigma to me. After I finished it the first time, I was still puzzled.

Now it's on to "F" with hopes that the ending will be more to my liking and that "F" will stand for "Fantastic."

"E is for Evidence" is a good example of the fine writing Sue Grafton has been doing since her Kinsey Millhone series debuted in 1982. Any fan of Sara Paretsky's V.I. Warshawski, Karen Kijewski's Kat Colorado, Marcia Muller's Sharon McCone, or Virginia Lanier's Bloodhound series will definitely enjoy this wonderful series. The main character is Kinsey Millhone, a private investigator, twice-divorced, 32 years old, former cop, who resides in Santa Teresa, CA (thinly veiled Santa Barbara). She is an independent woman with Wonder Woman sheets.

In "E is for Evidence," Kinsey Millhone faces one of her toughest cases yet. She is being framed for insurance fraud and arson at a time when her support network is unavailable due to the Christmas holidays. On her own, she must discover who is behind the frame-up and clear her name. She discovers that this tangled web has roots that go back more than twenty years. A run-in with former husband Daniel Wade only complicates the situation. The shocking ending will leave the reader hungry for more.

A must read for any mystery fan!

I've been reading these in order, obviously beginning with "A". I especially like the main character, Kinsey. She is so down to earth and I love how she unravels mysteries and I admire how organized she is in her work. This series does not need to be read in order by any means. I just like to do it if I can. They always keep me guessing about what is going on as I try to unravel the clues along with Kinsey. I do not always like the way the books end. I would prefer a little more of a wrap-up, particularly in this one (I just didn't quite "get it" at the end). The books are short enough that I can read them very quickly and they always keep my attention (which isn't at all easy).

I've read the entire alphabet series over the years and, quite honestly, have been disappointed with the last few episodes. I ended up with a copy of "E" last week and decided to give it a reread. Now I remember why I was excited about Kinsey Millhone.

"E" is for Evidence has some great elements. First, Kinsey is her own client - investigating why she's been framed for insurance fraud in a warehouse arson. Without client confidentiality rules, Kinsey has so unusual elbow room. Her search leads her into her past. The warehouse was owned by the family of a high school friend and Kinsey plays the old school tie for all its worth. To complicate matters, it's Christmas and her landlord and "cook" are both gone. In this vulnerable moment, enter Kinsey's second ex-husband.

Many of the other reviewers complain about the slow pacing in the first half of the book. I didn't notice any problems -- and with books on tape, when it drags, it really drags. The plot certainly has high energy by the conclusion. There are plenty of twists and turns. The conclusion is all I ask of a mystery - more or less unpredictible but with just enough clues planted along the way that the solution doesn't come from left field.

Sue Grafton continues to entertain and keep us coming back for more of Kinsey
Millhone's adventures. With "E" is for Evidence, Grafton once again brings us in step
with Kinsey and this time she has a lot to lose--her reputation and her business. She is
the victim in an extortion plot and she must defend herself by becoming her own client.
The familiar characters that her readers know so well come to life again and we are
happily transported to California, deeply immersed in her puzzling case.

Kinsey is one of the first of the female private investigators and remains one of the best! Sue Grafton also is at the top of her form, keeping the reader engrossed and
wanting more! If you haven't read this letter of the alphabet yet, don't hesitate. There are others to come and they just keep getting better and better!

Kinsey Millhone is 32 years old. She is a divorced white female living in the town of Santa Teresa California.
(based on Santa Barbara) Kinsey works as a private investigator also spending time as an insurance adjustor. In this book she is in deep trouble. Kinsey is accused by the D.A, of being in on the take on an industrial arson case. Aldo accused is Lance Wood president of the Wood/Warren company which makes furnaces and high tech products. It seems as if he burned a warehouse down to collect a sizable sum from the insurance firm employing Kinsey. Who set the fire? What was the motive?
Why is a bomber intent on murder involved? Why does Daniel Wade the second husband of Kinsey show back up in town? Wade is a recovered drug addict and a struggling musician? Difficult questions which guide the plot of this Millhone novel.
The most fascinating characters are the rich members of the Wood family including:
Mrs. Wood the ailing widow of old man Wood who started the company back in the 1940's.
The siblings of the clan:
Lance-the president of the firm; Bass-the younger son who holds an explosive family secret which could destroy the Wood business; Olive the sister married to an engineer named Terry Kohler; Ebony who wed/divorced a rich European named Julien
and Ashley (who went to high school with Kinsey). Is one of them a murderer?
Grafton writes well and though the action in this one is relatively slow it does have its explosive moments! Kelsey is in danger and only her quick wits can save her life and reputation. Sue Grafton is one of the best murder mystery writers in the business. This is a fine Millhone novel which will keep the reader flipping the pages!

Kinsey Millhone is an absolute delight in 'E is for Evidence'. This is the second-time around in rereading most of her mysteries in the alphabet series ... and she was great the first-time round & continued her fantastic story-telling with EVIDENCE. If there is any criticism, perhaps she is often too unnecessarily descriptive with her environs; nonetheless, I highly recommend most of her novels as totally fun, intriguing 'reads'.

"`E' is for Evidence" is the fifth in a series of Sue Grafton's mystery novels about the loner ex-cop private detective Kinsey Millhone. In this episode, Kinsey is framed for insurance fraud along with her high school friend's brother, Lance Wood. As she tries to clear her name, she gets caught up in the Wood family politics and we get to see a softer side of Kinsey than she would probably care to show. Grafton does a thorough job of developing her characters along with providing enough detail to allow the reader to feel as though he or she is actually in Santa Teresa, California. The twists and turns that this story takes will keep you guessing until the end.