Customer Reviews

JFK is Missing! (SIGNED)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I picked up this book because of the comparisons of the heroine to Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum. Instead, I found that Grace Smith could be the British counterpart to Sue Grafton's character, Kinsey Milhone. The book is entertaining and well written, but left me wondering about the heroine's lifestyle. I suppose if Evan decides to write 24 more books in the series like Grafton has committed to, we'll find out more about the reasons for Smith's eccentric lifestyle.

Not much to say, besides the fact that Liz Evans writes very entertaining stories -- she's one of my favorite authors !

Comparisons with Sue Grafton are fairly obvious, although Liz Evans has a different style and her detective character (Grace Smith) is not a copy of Kinsey Milhone, although they have some characteristics in common, like no family to speak of and being tightfisted. While Kinsey Milhone's frugal lifestyle is treated as something that's not bad, Grace Smith's efforts to avoid spending money are the subject of humor, as she's always trying to get something for free (like a meal) and drives an old heap that's not all that driveable, because she refuses to spend money on a new car (although she has the money).

Grace lives in a seaside town and works as a private detective (or doesn't work, as the case may be). She lost her position on the police force because she was set up, so that it looked like she'd taken a bribe that resulted in the killer of a policeman getting away with murder. Consequently, the local police both know her and dislike her, which is often a plot element in this series, as it is in this book.

In "JFK Is Missing," Grace is working (in the course of the book) on three cases that turn out to be related (not too surprisingly). THe first involves a blind man who asks her to find a woman he used to talk to early in the morning as they exercised on the seafront -- he doesn't know her name and can't really describe her. Then a young teenager asks her to find her missing "boyfriend" -- an older man she wants to take her to the school dance. And finally, someone else asks her to find a missing person.

Liz Evans always has complicated plots, but this one wasn't so complicated that I couldn't follow it. There's humor, including a pair of squatters that move into Grace's friend's apartment while the friend is out of town. For reasons that aren't very credible, no-one calls the police to charge them with burglary and/or criminal trespass -- instead, Grace has to keep her friend from finding out and going ballistic and try to get the squatters to move out -- more difficult than it sounds.

I thought the book was about 25 pages too long and should have been tightened up with some editing. Otherwise, another great mystery by Liz Evans.

Ok am I the only one who just about choked when Smithie reveals she cuts her short hair with nail scissors? I would really like to know if she was purposefully patterned after Kinsey or not...