O is for Outlaw (Kinsey Millhone, #15)

O is for Outlaw (Kinsey Millhone #15)

3.84 of 5 stars 3.84  ·  rating details  ·  10,381 ratings  ·  241 reviews
Through fourteen books, fans have been fed short rations when it comes to Kinsey Millhone's past: a morsel here, a dollop there. We know of the aunt who raised her, the second husband who left her, the long-lost family up the California coast. But husband number one remained a blip on the screen until now.

The call comes on a Monday morning from a guy who scavenges defaulte...more
Paperback, 354 pages
Published January 2nd 2001 by Ballantine Books (first published January 5th 1999)
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Jennifer
I realized as I was reading this book that it was more out of a commitment to finish the alphabet with Sue Grafton than out of a love for the character. I feel like the series has been up and down in terms of my interest. The books O, P and Q are where my interest really flagged off. If you are going to start the series - do not read O,P or Q first. Cuz you won't pick up another one.

In this book Kinsey delves into her past and more is revealed about her than in any other book. Normally that has...more
Judi
For gumshoe Kinsey Millhone, the year is May 1986 and she has just turned 36 years old. Sue Grafton explains prior to the novel's start that for Kinsey, time moves slower, but at no fault of her own. Grafton says that A is for Alibi began in May 1982, B is for Burglar takes place in June 1982, and C is for Corpse is in August 1982 and so on bringing us to May 1986.

In this novel, Kinsey Millhone receives a phone call from a stranger, claiming he has a box salvaged from storage with her mementos i...more
mitchell Dwyer
This far into the series, the best thing about a Kinsey Milhone book is what it adds to a reader's understanding of (and liking for) the main character. Author Sue Grafton knows this, and she seems to be pacing herself through the remainder of the alphabet with developments in Kinsey's love life, revelations about her past, and coming to terms with abandonment issues in the face of new relationships with family members she's only known about for a short time.

In N is for Noose, Grafton sweeps Kin...more
aPriL MEOWS often with scratching
Kinsey is getting more and more cowboy as her past relationships change from what she had previously decided about them. Guilt from ignoring or walking away from people who got to close to her in her past seems to fuel a rage to throw herself into her PI work years later when those folk come back. If I were a psychiatrist I'd say she has an attachment disorder. This book reveals more about the first marriage she had with a cop. She self-describes herself as starry-eyed and naive, but I think she...more
Sharal Hunter
Just when I start to wonder if this series has anything to offer in the way of surprises, along comes this installment of Kinsey's next assignment and I'm hooked all over again. I love Kinsey and her smart mouth attitude. This story shows another side of Kinsey when she is told her first ex-husband has been shot and may not survive. When she discovers some very hard truths about the past, Kinsey has to take the painful journey to forgive her ex for his alleged misdeeds. Kinsey also has to look a...more
Angela
As a foreword to this book, Grafton elaborates on the fact that Kinsey never leaves the 80's. I liked that she did this, since it seemed odd to me (at times), but understandable. It is her prerogative.

This installment allows us a peek into Kinsey's life before we met her, when she was still a police officer and married the first time. In many ways, I think this was one of the best to date. I really had no idea where it was going to lead. I do have to say, I enjoyed the journey.

For once, Kinsey i...more
Babs
I loved this author and this series for a long time. I lost track of the books I read and drifted away for awhile. I decided to try to catch up. The problem is, I can't remember where I left off. Also, it seems the author is getting grittier as she moves in the series. I didn't like the description of some of the books.

I was not exactly disappointed by this book, but was not satisfied, either. I relished the opportunity to learn more about the heroine, as she delves into her past and investigat...more
Susan
One of Kinsey's ex-husbands surfaces in a coma and raises questions - some new and some 14 years old. The premise is pretty standard for this alphabet series. And I won't pretend to give a fair review. I love this character and each and every one of the books. I wait and wait and wait for the next one. They used to come every year - now it's every year and a half. I am thinking that during this wait, I may start at "A" again.
Aaron
In this volume, the case taken on by Kinsey Millhone is a very personal one. It brings back memories for herself and for the nation. It all starts as she learns that her ex-husband Mickey Magrudar has been brutally shot and is in a coma due to the head injury, and she is left with the task of figuring out what happen. There is more to her connection to the case than past romance, as she has started to receive mysterious phone calls.

She digs into her past, which included the breakup of her marria...more
Susan
My 5-star rating may be based a bit on being so happy to reconnect with my fictional “friend” Kinsey. It’s been almost a year in my time, but still it’s May 1986 in “Kinsey time” as far as I can figure. So…she is still 36. Her birthday is later this month – unless I’ve lost a year, that is. (True to Grafton’s usual timetable, “O” was published in 1999, a year after “N.”)

Kinsey still uses notecards to organize her case ideas and pay phones when she needs a contact out in the field. Interestingly,...more
Jen
This series is a guilty pleasure for me. Well, mysteries as a genre are, but one of my college English profs got me hooked on Sue Grafton. This was neither my favorite nor least favorite I've read. I actually liked it because we delved some into Kinsey's personal past, which Grafton tended to shy away from in the earlier books in the series. It was sort of cool to see Kinsey swept up in trying to take care of her ex-husband, who she hadn't seen or spoken to in 14 years, by figuring out what he w...more
Petula Darling
After reading 15 books in this series I can't help but marvel at what a great job Kinsey does at keeping the peace in California, since she's clearly the only person who is capable of solving a crime or putting away criminals.
I'm more than happy to let Kinsey step in for the police when it can be justified, as it makes for an interesting story. I hate it, however, when Sue Grafton has the police involved in a story only to have them bungle everything ridiculously. It's one thing to have them una...more
Stephanie
In this installment, Kinsey is involved in the mystery of who shot her first husband and why. Along the way she finds out that she was wrong about something that occurred between them at the time of their breakup years ago and she feels obligated because of it. Also the subplot deals with something going on at a bar that involves several people from this period as well.

Any time an author writes a series this long, they will have a book or two that is not up to the expectations of the fans. This...more
David Sam
The descriptive writing is the best part. The plot is not as silly as the M and N, but the character seems to become less able, smart, and experienced with each novel. Grafton tries to blame it on Kinsey's personal history, but that is a stretch. How many times she explains her not having a weapon handy by saying she does mostly boring work and most PIs don't need one? Fine. But if you are knowingly dealing with dangerous people, and you have been chased and shot before, maybe having one handy m...more
Marilyn
Great book. One of the better ones. Kinsey's all of a sudden presented with a box of her personal belongings which she hasn't seen in over 14 years. The box was found in a storage unit of her ex-husband's. He had failed to pay for the unit, so a scavenger went through the things, found her name, tracked her down and now is trying to make a little money off his finding. Too tempting to resist, Kinsey purchases (her own stuff), but now is curious as to why her ex didn't pay his bill. Is he in trou...more
Angie
I remember a time, I think when I was a kid or teenager (which would make sense, late 1980s/early 1990s) when these books were incredibly popular, and yet being into SF/F so much, plus devouring all the books my mom read for her lit classes in college, I simply never picked one up. I was quite pleased- there are some really great turns of phrase, and the narrating character is easy to relate to (even when doing something sort of bad like picking locks, etc.). I'm not sure how an entire series wo...more
Kristen
Finished the book on audio. I don't like the new reader. She makes Kinsey sound older. She sounds like Kinsey's name should be Judy. I know that IS the reader's real name. But her voice ages her and puts her in the era when a quirky funky name like Kinsey just did not happen.
Henry sounds like a much older and more frail sounding man. Not someone that Kinsey found as an much older bur still very attractive man. Rosie sounds like a curly haired busy body flake, not the tall dark and brooding mada...more
Vicky
Throughout the Kinsey series you don't know too much about her. In this book she tells a lot about her first husband, Mickey. You learn much about her life with him and especially about Mickey, the person. You find out the marriage was brief, but she really knew him and learned a lot from him. The book takes you back to the people they knew and then to the present time. There was a mystery to be solved without Mickey talking since he was in a coma. I really liked the book. It had mystery and a l...more
Pam
I read some of this series years ago and then lost track of it. I saw this one on the library shelves the other day and thought why not? Well I really like Kinsey. This time we get to actually find out about part of her past. Seems like Sue Grafton didn't want us to find out much about Kinsey. No family, divorced, no real significant others in her life, unless you count Henry and Rosie.

Just a few weirdnesses -- she moved out and left her gun behind? Not real. And then her ex gets shot with her g...more
Jessica
I am almost done with this...why do I keep reading these horrible books? Maybe for the same reason Kinsey keeps eating that terrible Hungarian food and drinking that "piquant" wine, it's nearby, easy and cheap.

How she isn't killed by her idiocy by EVERY body she encounters is beyond me. She lies, badly, to everyone! And they all figure it out QUICKLY. Worst PI ever!

Ok, finished. I am reading these out of order, because it truly does not make a bit of difference. That final scene with a heavy equ...more
Anne Toronto1
(one review for series) ***** for the first book because I like the series enough to last till about R, now want more to find new authors, and finish another year. The rest get 3-4* because I cannot remember my favorites. I like strong, brave females who make choices and deal with consequences successfully. I like mysteries. I like funny eccentric, her odd sandwich and cute old landlord choices. Southern California feels warm and dry on a long cold Canadian winter. She always seems to go alone i...more
Patty
These "alphabet novels" are nothing short of perfect mystery. Grafton's cleverly crafted characters will stay with you long after you are finished reading the books. Kinsey Milhone, her landord/best friend, Henry and all the others seem so much like real people it is hard to imagine a world without them. I was on the edge of my seat with all the twists and turns, never forseeing what was coming next. I felt that each novel, as Grafton advanced through the alphabet, improved in every way. I would...more
Julianne
Another fun book by Sue Grafton! Suddenly Kinsey Millhone gets news of an ex-husband she hasn't seen in fifteen years. And the news keeps coming. Seems he was shot the other day with her gun! So she must have done it, or so the police say. Now it's up to her to figure out what her ex has been up to and who wants to shoot him and why. And why pin it on her? Questions and more questions, and she has to find the answers.

Lots of adventures and interesting people along the way. This is another satis...more
Timothy McNeil
First, there seems to be (in my recollection if not in fact) some discrepancy in regards to when Kinsey's marriages were. So that ate at me; either I was not paying proper attention (likely) or Grafton had to make some alterations to the timeline in order to fill in Kinsey's backstory (possible).

I wasn't much interested in the core story and got too little of Kinsey's biting wit, but at least Grafton deftly wove plausible motive among a multitude of suspects and showed off how mundane most of th...more
Lara Tambellini
I loved this book way more than the last one. It was nice to get a little more info about Kinsey's past. Very good book!


Through fourteen books, fans have been fed short rations when it comes to Kinsey Millhone's past: a morsel here, a dollop there. We know of the aunt who raised her, the second husband who left her, the long-lost family up the California coast. But husband number one remained a blip on the screen until now.

The call comes on a Monday morning from a guy who scavenges defaulted sto...more
Gerald
O is for Outlaw is another fairly entertaining Kinsey Millhone adventure. She accidently comes into possession of documentation showing that her ex-husband Mickey McGruder did not commit the crime she thought he had. This misinformation had led to their divorce 15 years earlier. She feels that she has to find him to apologize, but when she does find him, he is in a coma in the hospital after having been shot. This further leads her to a series of unexpected events and discoveries as she attempts...more
Susan
Just reread "O is for Outlaw" after several years. I have to admit that I couldn't remember much of it, including "who dunnit", and the story felt completely new to me, though as characters were introduced I kept thinking "Oh, I remember him".

Here's my problem with mysteries like the alphabet series, and I have to admit that the fault is likely mine and not the books. I have gone through the mysteries in these series (A to U) like people eat potato chips (with a few exceptions, "T" standing out...more
Brad
Mar 08, 2008 Brad rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: increadibly tollerant mouth breethers
'O', the things one does while waiting for a car inspection... I would have rather talked to the fat man sitting next to me. Alas, he was on his cell phone for hours, (must have a sweet battery,) so I was left choosing between year old copies of 'Better Homes and Gardens' and this P.O.S. I regret my choice. Did I have to know that when the protagonist backed from a parking space, she first turned the key then put the car in reverse? Really? Every fucking time? How 'bout just once she forgets to...more
Sarah Sammis
A phone call from a storage bin bidder brings Kinsey Millhone face to face with the memories of her first husband and their failed marriage. Mickey Magruder is in a coma at the UCLA Medical Center and the Los Angeles police Kinsey had something to do with it.

Rather than leave things alone, Kinsey starts investigating Magruder's shooting pro bono, putting herself and her license at risk. Kinsey is the outlaw in O is for Outlaw.

A huge pile of debt, a seedy bar and a Vietnam war secret are at the h...more
Carol
Have read the whole series up to now. My mother and I have read them together, and we both have enjoyed them very much. I really like Kinsey Millhone. I was quite a bit older when I got married for the first time, so I can appreciate her "singleness." I liked my "singleness" too. I realize that the character has been married a couple times, but she is good at picking up her pieces and moving on. I like the new characters she introduces, and I especially like Henry and Rosie. They are great.
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O is for Outlaw (Kinsey Millhone #15)
O Is For Outlaw (Hardcover)
O Is For Outlaw (Mass Market Paperback)
O is for Outlaw (Kinsey Millhone Mystery)
O is for Outlaw (Kinsey Millhone, #15)

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Connect with Sue herself on Facebook! www.facebook.com/suegrafton

Received the Shamus Award, "The Eye" (Lifetime achievement award) in 2003.

Family History:

Father: C.W. Grafton, born 1909, third son of Presbyterian Missionaries, born and raised in China, educated Presbyterian College, Clinton, South Carolina; practicing attorney in Louisville, Kentucky with a 40-year specialty in municipal bonds. Au...more
More about Sue Grafton...
A is for Alibi (Kinsey Millhone, #1) M Is for Malice (Kinsey Millhone, #13) J is for Judgment (Kinsey Millhone, #10) B is for Burglar  (Kinsey Millhone, #2) K is for Killer (Kinsey Millhone, #11)

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“So much of the past in encapsulated in the odds and ends. Most of us discard more information about ourselves than we ever care to preserve. Our recollection of the past is not simply distorted by our faulty perception of events remembered but skewed by those forgotten. The memory is like twin orbiting stars, one visible, one dark, the trajectory of what's evident forever affected by the gravity of what's concealed.” 7 people liked it
“The Latin term pro bono, as most attorneys will attest, roughly translated means for boneheads and applies to work done without charge.” 3 people liked it
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