"K" is for Killer [Hardcover]

Sue Grafton (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Henry Holt; 1st 2nd Print edition (1994)
• ISBN-10: 8050193764
• ISBN-13: 978-8050193767
• ASIN: B001NDS1K4
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (69 customer reviews)

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

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Guilty Delight, March 13, 2007

By 

Gregory Baird (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: K Is for Killer (Kinsey Millhone Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

Ahh, Sue Grafton. My guilty pleasure of choice, because with her (usually) firm grip on characterization and plotting she crafts the best mystery series out there with her alphabet mysteries -- and one could scarcely call them a 'guilty' pleasure at all. Having just read three heavy, depressing novels in a row I found that I needed an escape. So what did I do? I picked up the next installment of P.I. Kinsey Millhone's adventures and found solace in her hometown of Santa Teresa, California in the 1980s. "K is for Killer" is a step up from the clunking "J is for Judgment", but unfortunately suffers from some problems of its own. While I am imminently satisfied with "K", I am a little nervous. "H" was a flat-out stinker, "J" was pretty flawed, and now "K" shows visible signs of strain in Grafton's usually tight grip on pacing and plotting -- with only the sterling "I is for Innocent" remaining on par with the earlier books in the series. You see, while Grafton's style usually has the plot delving right into the mystery at hand (she is not an author who likes to waste time -- which is one of the things I love about her), in "K" it feels forced and unrealistic. Kinsey is approached by a client, Janice Kepler, who wants her to investigate her daughter Lorna's mysterious death ten months earlier, late on a Sunday evening. By Monday morning Kinsey has not only plowed through the background information that Janice supplied her with, but spoken to not one but TWO of the people involved in the case. Kinsey's investigation moves at such a rapid clip that it becomes completely implausible. And in all of her questioning, only one potential suspect in the entire book seems reluctant to talk to her. One suspect is even willing to squeeze her in at a moment's notice even though he has an important annual meeting in a mere fifteen minutes. Now come on -- guilty or innocent, wouldn't he rather prep for the meeting than re-hash the details of a case he's been talking to the police about for ten months?

A lot of criticism has been lobbed at this book in recent reviews that Kinsey gets too unrealistically involved in the life of a young prostitute character, and I think this is only half true. She doesn't seem to get any more involved with this character than she does with other characters in other books, but her crazed devotion to the case is startlingly out of place, and makes it appear that way. And here lies the defining flaw of "K is for Killer": its plot is remarkably contrived for a Grafton novel. Kinsey even develops a curious -- and unexplained -- case of insomnia that allows her to keep working on the case at all hours and keep the plot moving (and how lucky for her that most of the suspects also work nights, so they are always available no matter how ridiculous the hour). Another all-too-convenient set-up has her randomly showing up at a suspect's house in the middle of the night for no apparent reason other than to stumble upon someone beating them half to death with a pipe. It might have been shocking if it hadn't been so predictable -- and there's a word I NEVER thought that I would associate with Grafton. The ending is also, frankly, ridiculous, and not because of who the killer turns out to be but because of how the final confrontation plays out and where it takes place. Ludicrous -- ANOTHER word I never thought I would associate with Grafton.

So, with all of that griping why am I giving "K" four stars instead of three? Perhaps a degree of it is loyalty to Grafton, but not much. Truth is that as flawed as "K" is it's still an enjoyable ride, and it was just what the doctor ordered. I wanted a guilty pleasure and I got one, and the only troubling factor here is that "H", "J", and "K" have amplified the 'guilty' half of that equation a little too much. I look forward to continuing through the series with "L is for Lawless", but I hope that Grafton manages to bring the pleasurable aspect of her books back to the forefront.
Grade: B-

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Nothing outrageously bad but nothing great either, August 13, 2001

By 

David J. Chmiel - See all my reviews

This review is from: K Is for Killer (Kinsey Millhone Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

I have read one or two books in the Kinsey Millone series previously and have found them to be enjoyable, easy reads that, generally, provide interesting plots, etc. This book was, however, a disappointment.

Kinsey is hired by a grieving mother to investigate the death of her daughter some months previously. In the eyes of the police, the case has turned cold, yet Kinsey begins to discover that the dead girl led a rather complex life which may well have resulted in her death. Without revealing too much about the plot, the premise is interesting enough and Kinsey's investigations lead to a lengthy list of suspects. However, the ending of the book is a complete anti-climax - the killer is discovered almost by fluke and there is no consideration of motive, method or anything else which a crime fiction reader expects to see.

Grafton spends page after page developing a rather interesting plot only to let it fall apart completely at the end. Sadly, given the ending, the reader is left thinking "So what?" and disappointed at the effort expended in reading all of the preliminaries with no result.

Readers of this series may find the book enjoyable enough. I have to confess that I do not read these in order and therefore, cannot comment on the development of Kinsey Millone as a character. Newcomers to the series may just want to leave this one on the shelf. Overall, a disappointment.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disapointing ending - not up to Grafton's standards, August 23, 2001

By 

johnstonhall (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: K Is for Killer (Kinsey Millhone Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

I love Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone - and I enjoyed this book right up to the end - but the end left lots of unanswered questions and loose ends. The killer of the first murder victim was identified (and the fate of the killer was indicated), but what was the motive? There were two distinct different possibilities. Also, the reader might reasonably think that this killer was also responsible for the second murder (although that was never revealed), but what about the third attack and resulting death? There was no explanation, or motive given - and no indication that the same killer was responsible. Grafton is a great writer - if she had just written 4 or 5 more pages to resolve the unanswered questions, it could have been a good book instead of a very disapointing one.