J is for Judgment (Kinsey Millhone Mysteries) [Mass Market Paperback]

Sue Grafton (Author)

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Fawcett Books (January 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0449457672
• ISBN-13: 978-0449457672
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,596,712 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Kinsey shines, but other characters fall flat, September 7, 2000

By 

Suzanne Jacobs "chanale" (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: J Is for Judgment (Paperback)

"J is for Judgment," Sue Grafton's 10th Kinsey Millhone mystery, left me with a bit of what I call the cotton candy syndrome. I started with "A is for Alibi" less than a year ago, and the relative proximity in time between my reading each of the others through "J" has given me a panoramic perspective over them. I have enjoyed Grafton's series more than any other, largely because of the edgy heroine, but I found this installment to be one of the weaker links in an otherwise outstanding series.

I found the first quarter of the book to be highly promising. Kinsey is hired to identify a man spotted in Mexico who may be Wendell Jaffe, recently proclaimed dead years after an apparent boating accident where the body was never found. This section of the book contains one of the funniest moments I've encountered in the series, showing Kinsey as she's never been before.

As Kinsey returns to Santa Teresa for the last three quarters of the book, she encounters the people in Jaffe's life--most of whom are excrutiatingly boring. The primary mystery question posed at the beginning is solved fairy early on, leaving not much left to answer and Jaffe's sniveling family to play out their soap opera.

There is a side story that I found much more interesting than the main plot in the second half. We find out something crucial about Kinsey's mysterious family background. Readers of other books in the series are reminded each book that Kinsey's folks died when she was very young leaving her to be raised by a maiden aunt. In "J is for Judgment," Grafton gives us a deeper look into the tragedy of Kinsey's early years.

For that, if nothing else, I recommend this book to anyone who is a Sue Grafton fan (or more specifically, of Kinsey). However, starting with "J" would be a mistake and would misrepresent that which Grafton is capable of writing--smooth plotting with side characters that make all the difference. "J" was a worthwhile read in the moment, but like cotton candy, I soon felt empty and unfulfilled afterwards.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars J IS FOR JUST FAIR!!!, March 14, 2001

By 

Mac Blair "Mac Blair" (Huntingdon, TN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: J Is for Judgment (Mass Market Paperback)

I can't understand how I can like one of this series so well and then dislike so much. I really liked "I" but I did not even want to finish "J". I did because I thought it had to get better, guess what, it did not. In "J" Kinsey is hired to try to find a man that has been dead for five years. He had been spotted and the Insurance Company wants him found so they can try to recover the half-million dollars in life insurance they have paid out. The man is of course alive and Kinsey finds him and then he is gone again. Along the way she finds out she does have some cousins she was unaware of. I really do like Kinsey Millhone and her human traits. She is not superwoman, which I like. Have "K" bought so guess I will read it. Hope it is better.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Keeps yor attention until the end., July 22, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: J Is for Judgment (Mass Market Paperback)

For the longest time, I refused to read these "alphabet" mysteries. I thought they would be sappy stories and you'd solve the mystery by page 4. Sorta like a Nancy Drew book. A couple weeks ago, I decided to buy the first book in the series and just see what everyone was talking about. Well, I just finished "J" and I have "K" waiting for me. Kinsey is my kind of girl - a wise cracking, independent, intelligent lady. Funny, too. And I still couldn't figure out who done it until I got towards the end of the book. Susan Grafton is a great mystery writer and I laugh out loud at a lot of the wise cracks.I don't know what I'll do when she gets to "Z"!!! Perhaps, she can start on the numbers...... Buy anyone of these books - you won't regret it!!