L Is for Lawless [School & Library Binding]

S. Grafton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1996

It was the week before Thanksgiving when Kinsey Millhone first heard the sad story of the late Johnny Lee, the World War II fighter pilot of whom, rather mysteriously, the military authorities have no record. His family are concerned – perhaps Kinsey could make a few calls, straighten things out? Then Johnny's apartment is ransacked. In the debris a hidden safe is uncovered – and in that safe is a mysterious key marked LAWLESS. That night Kinsey's on a plane to Dallas, at the start of a thrilling rollercoaster ride through Texas and Kentucky on the trail of long-buried treasure. Unfortunately there's a fire-raising psychopath on her tail . . . And she's going to be late for a very important wedding . . . 'An alphabet of prime puzzles' Sunday Times

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Both new readers and old fans will welcome this 12th Kinsey Milhone adventure in the "A" is for Alibi series by Sue Grafton. In this case, Kinsey agrees to do a favor for a friend of a friend and gets herself into so much trouble that she promises at the outset never to do such a thing again without careful consideration.

Henry Pitt, her longtime landlord asks her to help a fellow neighbor find evidence that his grandfather served in the military during the Second World War. With such proof, the man can be decently buried, courtesy of the U.S. government. It seems such a simple thing, but with Kinsey, it rarely is. Before long she finds herself entangled with an eccentric and quarrelsome family as well as a long lost buddy who has turned up just in time to get himself beaten up in a robbery attempt of the alleged veteran's apartment. It seems there is a reason the Armed Services have no record of the dead man's service. Kinsey sets out to determine what he might have been doing instead of fighting against the Japanese and why someone might think his shabby apartment worth a burgle.

Typical of the series, the mystery is not the central point of the story, but rather a starting point for Kinsey to become embroiled in a suspenseful (and delightful) search-and-rescue operation, usually against her better judgement. In this case, a gun-toting, arthritic octogenarian and revelations of the inner workings of bargain-rate motels are all part of the adventure. This is an easy and enjoyable read, and a solid addition to Grafton's string of alphabetical hits. --K.A. Crouch --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Bemused, beleaguered and begrimed, Southern California's premier PI, Kinsey Millhone leaves her hometown of Santa Teresa in an adventure (her 12th in the alphabet series) that begins straightforwardly enough but quickly twists into a knotted string of untruths. While getting ready for the Thanksgiving Day wedding between a local tavern keeper and the elder brother of her landlord, Kinsey agrees to help the family of recently deceased neighborhood WWII vet, Johnnie Lee, find out why the military has no record of his service. Soon after Kinsey has finished looking (fruitlessly) through his papers, Lee's rooms are burgled, and Ray Rawson, who claims he is an old friend recently arrived in Santa Teresa unaware of Lee's death, is beaten up. Kinsey soon finds herself on a plane bound for Florida, in possession of only the clothes she's wearing and her purse( with an extra toothbrush), trailing a young pregnant woman in possession of a duffel bag spirited from Lee's home. On a stopover in Dallas/Fort Worth, Kinsey sleuths disguised as a hotel maid dusting baseboards ("tough to picture the boy detectives doing this," she reflects), meets the increasingly unreliable Rawson again and encounters yet another figure from Lee's past, a violent, vengeful psychopath. While gradually sorting out the connections among this cast, Kinsey travels to Louisville, where Rawson's 80-something mother proves her mettle and Kinsey, determining that lawless, in this case, is neither adjective nor collective noun, unravels a decades-old mystery. 750,000 first printing; Literary Guild, Mystery Guild and Doubleday Book Club selections; author tour.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• School & Library Binding
• Publisher: San Val (July 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0613654978
• ISBN-13: 978-0613654975
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (58 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,352,047 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

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars "L" is for Lacking, January 14, 2001

By 

David Chaumette - See all my reviews

This review is from: L Is for Lawless (Kinsey Millhone Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

Other reviewers have compared this one to "H." They're right. This is an "on the road with the bad guys" adventure. No real mystery here, and other than a few interesting scenes, not much worthy of note.

The supporting cast that has been weaved through the other novels is noticably absent from this book. Maybe they were working on other projects. The book suffers from this, mainly because the replacement players are not nearly as compelling or, frankly, fun.

By the time Kinsey ends up in Kentucky, you will find yourself saying "Who cares? Get back to Santa Teresa."

All in all, it was a disappointing read, annoying so because my prior experience with these books means that you cannot skip the bad ones.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars "L" is for Look for another, August 19, 2002

By 

"jnelsonca" (Anaheim, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: L is for Lawless (Hardcover)

Of the Sue Grafton's series, this one didn't have the same impact as her earlier books. I was disappointed! The plot developed slowly, and at times reminded me of a bad 'made for T.V. movie'and the characters (other than the familiar aquaintances) lacked "character". After I began reading "L", over a year ago, I put the book down and didn't have the desire to read it until recently. I enjoyed her first books and hope that "M" is a better read.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kinsey's on the road again!, December 9, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: "L" is for Lawless (Kinsey Millhone Mysteries) (Hardcover)

This book's a lot like "H is for Homocide" in that Kinsey finds herself unexpectedly on the road again, away from her apartment and creature comforts. The book takes her from sunny California to Texas to Louisville, Kentucky. As a Kentucky native who worked in Louisville and southern Indiana for nearly twelve years, I found the descriptions of Interstate 65 from Nashville through west central Kentucky and particularly the Portland neighborhood in Louisville made me homesick to be back down south! As usual, Kinsey's wry humor and knack for lying her way into crazy predicaments adds to the fun. Her long-lost extended family wasn't talked about much in this book--probably because they couldn't figure out where she was once she hit the road--but she gets a taste of what it would be like to be part of a family group, and we may very well see her heading to Lompoc for a visit with "Grand" and the clan in a future book. Fun reading