Customer Reviews

T Is For Trespass (Kinsey Millhone Mysteries)

5 star:		(160)
4 star:		(48)
3 star:		(31)
2 star:		(16)
1 star:		(25)

 

 

The 20th novel in Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone series is one of the best. In her last outing, "S" IS FOR SILENCE, Grafton altered her style a bit, actually entering other characters' points of view to tell parts of the story so that they shared the narrating duties with Kinsey herself. With this new novel, that device is used to chilling effect--between reports from Kinsey, we enter the mind of a woman who is possibly her most twisted adversary to date.

Solana Rojas is a caregiver, a home-help nurse's aide much like the thousands you'll find all over America. But the woman assigned to care for Kinsey's elderly friend is not your usual "angel of mercy." For one thing, she is not the real Solana Rojas--she has stolen that woman's identity. And she has plans. To tell you more of the plot would be--well, criminal.

The best aspect of Grafton's excellent series is her ability to keep up with current social and legal problems, despite the fact that Kinsey's stories are set somewhere in the 1980s. In this novel we have identity theft, the inherent problems of home care, and--perhaps most disturbing--the tendency of society in general to ignore and/or mistreat our most vulnerable citizens. At least this elderly victim has Kinsey Millhone as a champion. And what a champion she is! "T" IS FOR TRESPASS will captivate longtime Grafton fans, and it should make her a lot of new fans as well. Highly recommended.

The real genius in Sue Grafton's work is how she is able to continue to set her stories in the 80's and yet have them still be relevant to today. In an interview several years ago, she said she was lagging so that her heroine would not grow old before her time. Kinsey Milhone is her fantasy self, leading the life Grafton imagines she would if she were a PI in the 80's. Although it doesn't seem that long ago, it is 20 years after all. And the electronic gadgets that would make Kinsey's job easier are not available to her yet. This book is her best yet. Darker, and despite the 20 year lag, topical. She is able to juggle several story lines and keep them all fresh and interesting, satisfyingly complete.

When Kinsey's crotchety octagenarian neighbor Gus takes a fall, the good hearted detective takes on the responsibility for seeing to his welfare. The nurse who is hired comes with glowing recommendations, but soon, a web of stolen identity, embezzlement, abuse, and murder swirls around her, and Kinsey's met her match. This plot is the best Grafton has produced in the last several years, with Kinsey juggling her personal life and her caseload, which, in addition to Gus's life threatening problems, include insurance fraud and a reclusive ex-con, best friend Henry's tangled romance, and a Mexican tarantula, just to name a few of stumbling blocks that pop up to trip her. Even when all seems resolved, trouble still lurks in the wings to disturb Kinsey's peace of mind. In addition to the engaging main characters, Grafton can be relied upon to produce a lively cast of courageous allies and menacing villains without resorting to types. T is for Trespass is more than a mystery, it's an adventure, a look into the dark recesses of some souls, and into the finer instincts of others.

It seems like it's been forever since I last read a Sue Grafton novel. I guess I'm getting spoiled with Nora Roberts' frequent In Death series. So once again I pick up the life of PI Kinsey Millhone in T is for Trespass. This is an interesting mix of Kinsey being Kinsey, as well as a look at identity theft and elder abuse.

One of Millhone's elderly neighbors falls in his home and eventually attracts the attention of her and Henry during a walk. After getting him to a hospital, she attempts to run down some living relative in order to get someone to take care of him during the rehab process. But the nearest relative is a niece on the east coast, and she really can't be bothered to help out much. Kinsey finally convinces her to fly out, take responsibility for the situation, and find someone. Kinsey does a quick background check on the nurse who applies, and all seems well for the first few days. But as time passes, the neighbor continues to deteriorate physically, and the nurse is cutting him off from all outside contact. Kinsey sees that the nurse is taking advantage of the situation to slowly collect everything of value that he owns. She tries to intervene, but the nurse is more than a match for Kinsey, and is able to spin the story such that Kinsey comes out the "bad guy". Once it's determined that the nurse may not be who she appears to be, it becomes a race to see if Kinsey and Henry can rescue the neighbor without ending up in jail (or before he's killed off).

That main plotline works pretty well, as you can see how someone in a caretaker role can take advantage of the very people they are hired to protect. The identity theft angle is also very plausible, and it doesn't even have to be a high-tech crime to be effective. The subplot involving an investigation of accident fraud was also interesting, but the ending angle on that was somewhat strange and unexpected. It didn't really sync with the rest of the story, in my opinion.

Overall, it's an enjoyable read, and Grafton fans will be happy that she's finally back with the next installment. If you're new to the series, you'll be missing some of the character background, but not nearly as bad as some of the episodes you could start with (if you don't feel up to going back to A is for Alibi).

For 25 years, author Sue Grafton has gifted her readers with one of the most consistently quirky characters in fiction. Kinsey Millhone, Grafton's fiercely independent heroine, has been at the front and center of 19 alphabetically titled stories, beginning with "A is for Alibi" in 1982.

With "T is for Trespass," Grafton again proves why she's topped every best sellers list here at home and has been published in 26 languages and 28 countries.

For those unfamiliar with Kinsey, here's some background.

She works as a private investigator in the fictional town of Santa Teresa, Calif. She's single, having been divorced twice and broken up with boyfriend Cheney Phillips, a police officer. She lives in a studio apartment owned by retired baker and sexy senior citizen Henry Pitts.

Kinsey's parents were killed in a car wreck when she was five. Raised by her mother's sister, Kinsey didn't do well in school, but found a home in police work, and later as a private investigator.

She wears blue jeans. She runs along the beach to stay in shape, a task necessary to counter her love for greasy fast food. She cuts her hair with cuticle scissors and she owns one black dress.

Since her 1974 pale blue Volkswagen bug was crushed by a bulldozer in "S is for Silence," Kinsey is now driving a vintage 1970 Ford Mustang, "with a gaudy Grabber Blue exterior."

Instead of working a case out of her office downtown, this time around, Kinsey faces a challenge closer to home.

Her elderly neighbor Gus Vronksy, a prickly curmudgeon who has very few likeable traits and no nearby relatives, needs home health care after a fall.

Solana Rojas, the person hired to care for Gus, turns out to be one of the most dangerous psychopaths in recent memory.

Kinsey, Henry and Gus' niece from New York City must unravel Solana's carefully crafted plan - complete with stolen identity, violence and murder - before it's too late for Gus.

Grafton has always released books according to her timetable, refusing to give in to pressure to publish stories that weren't fully developed. She's never sold out to Hollywood, either, bless her heart.

Gratefully, nothing has changed. Grafton's storytelling skills and her ability to build suspense are in fine form here. Once began, it's difficult to put down any Grafton novel, and "T is for Trespass" is no exception.

T is for Tedious

Did I read the same book everyone else did?
I was disappointed with this latest in the Kinsey Milhone, PI series, which has become stale, predictable, and is now twenty years out of date. None of the characters have changed any, and nothing is happening in any of their lives besides an occasional new `girlfriend' for landlord Henry. Even the sociopathic villain(ess) is poorly drawn and a lot more annoying than scary. Which is a shame, because I love Sue Grafton's Kinsey Milhone books and have eagerly read all of them to date.

Unfortunately, the author seems to have gotten tired of all her characters. This series is past its prime and really needs a shakeup. Kinsey has gotten boring and rather bitchy around the edges. She needs a decent love interest -- someone else to think about besides herself. It would also give the reader a break from the excessive, dull descriptions of Kinsey's numbing routine of serving papers, filing, hassling deadbeat tenants, etc. with which this book is so liberally padded. The attempts to build tension fall flat; alternating chapters written from the villain's point of view add nothing and only serve to drag the book out even more. I found myself skipping whole pages and not losing anything. More action and less philosophizing is desperately needed.

A minor quibble is that I am also getting fed up with the patronizing manner in which Rosie the Hungarian restaurant owner is depicted. Given that Milhone's only other nourishment is Quarter Pounders, she obviously has no gastronomic discernment and is in no position to sneer at someone else's cooking. At the very least, the `outlandish' food Rosie serves should be spelled correctly with the vowel markings included. Without them the words can change meaning rather drastically.

Things do pick up in the last fifty pages (finally!) and feature an unnecessarily gory auto death which makes me think Milhone is the psychopath, not the villain - what is this, `self defense' victim # 5? Later, another person gets killed. If I were the local cops, I'd have Milhone bagged as a serial killer by now.

Skip this book, unless you're a hard-core fan. Seriously reconsider reading anything in the realm of "U is for Underwear" or whatever the next in the series will be called, if it is ever written. Which I doubt, as I get the distinct impression that the author is getting ready to retire.

I'm at a loss to understand how this book can have so many five star ratings. I am a long time Sue Grafton fan, yet I could barely make it through this incredibly boring and almost plotless book.

An unscrupulous nurse abuses Kinsey's elderly neighbor Gus. That's it. That's the whole plot.

To make up for this lack of action, Grafton has made two huge mistakes. The first is that she has padded the material with many chapters of dull recitation from the viewpoint of the nurse, a sociopathic but not particularly interesting character. The second is that she has padded the material with infinitely detailed descriptions of Kinsey's every action, from brushing her teeth to shopping for rutabagas at the grocery store. Honest, I'm not making this up.

If this sounds like a lot of padding, it is. More than half of the book has absolutely nothing to do with the plot, nor is it related to any character development. But if you want to know -- in infinite detail -- how to pickle cucumbers (and the recipe does sound pretty tasty) then this is the book for you. I'm being generous to give it two stars.

I truly LOVE the Kinsey series; however, this book was boring and plotless. In the past Kinsey has always been spunky and daring, but not here. In this book she just keeps running around in circles regarding witnesses to a car accident and dwelling on her diet. Henry was the only one with some backbone in this story, and even that lacked at times. The plot was very predictable for the most part, and even the 'climaxes' of the story were blah. I've enjoyed all of the other books in this series, but I agree with many of the other reviewers....in this book Grafton seems to have lost her edge.

I really like Sue Grafton's books. But for some reason this one was almost unbearable. I almost quit reading it half way through. I've never felt that way before. The main characters seem flat and with little going on really to their lives. Kinsey is losing her edge and spunk. She seems like she's getting old and boring. The whole story was boring. I don't think anything happened until the last 30 pages and that to me is a bad read.

I have read all the ABC novels so far and think that they are some of the better mystery novels out there. I was looking forward to the latest installment and was very disappointed. It seems that some people think it is enough to write a novel about a "socially important" issue and that this one idea will carry a whole book. That is unfortunately not the case, but seems to become more popular with mystery novel writers. Just write a good mystery novel and leave the social critique to the sociologists!
The book is boring, going on and on about the unpleasant abuse of an elderly person. And, as terrible as it is, this doesn't make for a good mystery novel. I hope that she will get back to writing good mystery novels with her next book - or has she finally run out of ideas? Ihope not.