R is for Ricochet (Kinsey Millhone, #18)

R is for Ricochet (Kinsey Millhone #18)

3.9 of 5 stars 3.90  ·  rating details  ·  13,501 ratings  ·  308 reviews
Reba Lafferty was a daughter of privilege, the only child of an adoring father. Nord Lafferty was already in his fifties when Reba was born, and he could deny her nothing. Over the years, he quietly settled her many scrapes with the law, but he wasn't there for her when she was convicted of embezzlement and sent to the California Institution for Women. Now, at thirty-two,...more
Mass Market Paperback, 384 pages
Published March 29th 2005 by Berkley (first published July 8th 2004)

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Aaron
This is probably my least favorite of Sue Grafton's alphabet-themed mysteries. I guess part of it is because there really is no clear crime that is being investigated for most of the book. Instead, Kinsey Millhone finds herself being hired by multi-millionaire Nord Lafferty to serve as a supervisor for his daughter, Reba, who has just been released from prison for embezzling money from her boss and lover Alan "Beck" Beckwith. The funny thing is that Reba is actually still in love with Beck, who...more
mitchell Dwyer
I haven't read any reviews of R is for Ricochet yet, but I predict this installment in Sue Grafton's series will be as polarizing as P is for Peril was. Five chapters in, I recognized that Grafton was going a different route with this one when I still didn't know what the mystery was. When that remained the case twenty chapters in, I settled in and agreed with the author to go along for the ride, whatever that ride was going to be.

Kinsey Millhone is hired by a wealthy, aging developer to escort...more
Dale
Should have been titled "S is for Slow" or "T is for Tedious"

Published in 2004 by Random House Audio
Read by Judy Kaye
Duration: 11 hours, 33 minutes


"Occasionally I'm simply a minor character in someone else's play." -Kinsey Millhone.

R is for Ricochet really is an appropriate title for this one since, like a misfired bullet that bounces around and hits uninvolved bystanders, Kinsey gets caught up in a client's mess and nearly gets herself killed.

Set in July of 1987, this is one really slow-develop...more
Laura
I heard about this series on Central Standard (NPR) and thought I'd give it a go. The good news first. Grafton choose to set the entire series in the 1980's. It takes sleuthing to a level I haven't seen since Magnum PI. Detective Milhorne often stops by the office to check her message machine, she uses phone books and pay phones, and she uses resources at the library to find facts! Fun, fun!
Now the bad news. Mystery authors walk a fine line with their readers. Make the mystery too difficult to...more
Joy
Private Investigator Kinsey Milhone is back on the job, hired by a privileged parolee's father to keep her out of trouble. It should be an easy assignment-until the parolee's past starts coming back to haunt her.
Reba Lafferty was a daughter of privilege. Abandoned by her rebellious mother when she was an infant, she was the only child of a rich man already in his mid-fifties when she was born, and her adoring father thoroughly spoiled her. Now, at thirty-two, having had many scrapes with the la...more
Marci
I've fallen behind in my Kinsey Milhone reading. I have liked all of the series, with some better than others, and only one that I really had trouble liking at the end. I won't say which one. I liked this one better than most. Sue Grafton is squarely in the hard-boiled detective school of writing, which is definitely not my usual taste, but Kinsey is a lot like someone I knew when I was growing up in California, and I like her in spite of the chasm that separates her lifestyle from mine. In addi...more
Jerry
Millhone in classic form, almost outshined by Reba !

As with many of Sue Grafton's easy-reading tales about Santa Teresa private eye Kinsey Millhone, the books starts out pretty slow with Kinsey accepting a straightforward assignment to escort home a newly released parolee from women's prison, Reba Lafferty. The latter is an appealing young woman with fresh ideas and habits, including a past penchant for light drugs, booze, gambling, and her former boss Beck. That she landed in the slammer by ple...more
pinknantucket
What I shame this book wasn’t “C is for Corpse” (an earlier Sue Grafton novel) so I could make a clever joke about what the novel really should have been called. I can think of several derogatory words that begin with C, but none that start with an R. The best I can think of off the top of my head is “R is for Ratshit”, which is kind of cheating.

Yes, I was less than impressed with this latest effort by Sue Grafton in her alphabetically-themed adventures of her heroine Kinsey Millhone, a private...more
Susan
A definite winner! This was a page-turner for me. It’s July 1987, a few weeks after Kinsey’s 37th birthday. Kinsey (Grafton?) opens philosophically:

“The basic question is this: given human nature, are any of us really capable of change? The mistakes other people make are usually patently obvious. Our own are tougher to recognize. In most cases, our path through life reflects a fundamental truth about who we are now and who we’ve been since birth. We’re optimists or pessimists, joyful or depresse...more
Kara Jorges
Things are slow for Santa Teresa PI Kinsey Millhone, when wealthy Nord Lafferty hires her to pick up his daughter from prison and keep her company for a couple of days. Reba Lafferty is on parole after doing 22 months for embezzlement. Things seem to be fine until Kinsey catches Reba using her as a beard to meet her married lover, who also happens to be the ex-employer she supposedly stole $350,000 from. Reba seems thrilled to be back in Beck’s arms until an overzealous FBI agent slips her some...more
Stephanie
I believe Grafton is running out of gas on this series. I say that because in this story, which finds Kinsey taking a milk run job escorting a recently released daughter of a wealthy man and helping her re-integrate into society, is very mundane and almost is a backdrop for the other events going in Kinsey's life and her landlord Henry's. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy reading about how Kinsey's personal is going and I was glad to see she has some interaction in her life but I don't want it to over...more
Aaron
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Cliff
Once again, Kinsey Millhone tells another tale from her continuing repertoire of more challenging cases. While Sue Grafton has polished her writing to a fine sheen at this point, I can't help but feel that this book is simply more of the same. This isn't all bad, but it does make for the novels to seem a bit unimaginative. Part of the issue is that many of these stories simply aren't very memorable.

Particularly egregious problems with this book were the opening which leads you to believe that so...more
Julianne
This one is unlike all the other Sue Grafton alphabet books. This one is NOT a murder mystery. Still, it's plenty of fun with interesting characters and lots of action.

An elderly gentleman hires Kinsey to go pick up his daughter at a prison for women, where she has just finished serving a 22-month sentence for embezzlement. Kinsey brings Reba back home, takes her to meet her parole officer, buy some new clothes, and eat a few Quarter-Pounders at McDonald's. They run into Reba's former boss. Is...more
Rebecca
I can't remember if I'd read this one before -- I rather think not. Surely I would have remembered the office building's secret room behind the elevator full of money being laundered, as in being counted and shipped out of the country? (The phrase "The king is in his counting-house" now has a modern meaning.) Regardless, it's an enjoyable read. Kinsey has a co-conspirator in the ex-felon Reba, who is supernaturally good at money and floorplans; and she also gets some apparently much-needed roman...more
Pam
I couldn't put this one down. Read it in less than a week. I think it was one of Sue Grafton's best. I even liked the first paragraph, snagged me from the very start . . . "The basic question is this: given human nature, are any of us really capable of change? The mistakes other people make are usually patently obvious. Our own are tougher to recognize. In most cases, our path through life reflects a fundamental truth about who we are now and who we've been since birth. We're optimists or pessim...more
Marilyn
Just another Kinsey Millhone quick, relaxing read. Here is what the fly cover says:

"Reba Lafferty was a daughter of privilege, the only child of an adoring father. Nord Lafferty was already in his fifties when Reba was born, and he could deny her nothing. Over the years, he quietly settled her many scrapes with the law, but wasn't there for her when she was convicted of embezzlement and sent to the California Institution for Women. Now, at thirty-two, she is about to be paroled, having served 22...more
Ron
Having read the first 17, this is beginning to feel like being forced to try all 26 flavors at the ice cream store. The first few were good, the next few, not as much, then the experience eventually slides down into a force feeding totally devoid of enjoyment. Its not that her writing is any worse (or any better, really) than before, its the same, or at least it feels that way to me. I still like the lead, Kinsey Millhone, but this is now like watching Simon & Simon episodes. The plot tricks...more
Bliss Alexander-Smith
This was a fun book. I enjoy detective type stories in general, but this never had me on the edge of my seat or anything. I struck me a little funny that it takes place in the 1980's along with the 1980's accessories like travel agents and floppy disks. I suppose the 80's aren't old enough to be interesting to me yet, just out-dated. Granted I haven't read any of the other books form the alphabet series so I'm sure it makes much more since in context. I also thought it strange how frequent McDon...more
Kevin
These mysteries are generally pretty good, but there have been a few clunkers. I guess with this many books, they can’t all be great. It also seems like Grafton might be getting a little tired of the characters and format. In the last few, the murder hasn’t occurred until around the half way point. These are murder mysteries--so I expect a murder or two. This one involves a wayward daughter and money laundering. Again, I didn’t think there’d ever be a murder and there really wasn’t, at least in...more
Linda
An elderly invalid hires Kinsey Millhone to pick up his daughter and return her home after she has finished her sentence in jail. Reba Lafferty had been convicted for embezzlement and her father hopes that Kinsey can help Reba take her first steps towards a crime- and drug-free life. Would that it were all so simple. In reconnecting with her lover and former boss, Alan Beckwith, Reba again becomes embroiled in Beck’s drug trafficking and money laundering schemes. As Kinsey and her police friend...more
Leigh
This was one of the best ones yet! I am so hooked on Kinsey! Sad that I only have two more to go!
Carol
I love the alphabet series, but this is not her best. Its okay, but most of the others are far better.
Lisa
May 05, 2010 Lisa rated it 3 of 5 stars  ·  review of another edition Recommends it for: fans of thrillers and mysteries
I continue to enjoy Grafton's novels; this is the second one I've read. I'd like to read something more current, one in which there are cell phones and internet; I felt the absence of technology in this novel, which is admittedly older.

Grafton's characters are real people, with good and bad qualities, so they're easy to pull for, and the storyline was engaging enough that I stayed up late last night reading. I'll happily read more of her work; I enjoy her as I do the Kellermans (both Jonathan an...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
Gini
Very disappointing addition to this series - hardly any action and a unimaginative plot
John
Bleh. For a private detective, Kinsey Millhone doesn't do a helluva lot of detecting or investigating in this book. Mainly she hangs around and fails to figure out what is going on. And eats McDonalds. Every other chapter with the McDonalds. Is Grafton cashing checks from McD's? By my count Kinsey eats at least three quarterpounders and five egg mcmuffins in this book. At one point, Grafton mentions McDonalds only to say "we decided to skip McDonalds and go someplace else."
And this was the abri...more
Carol
An older invalid man hires Kinsey Millhone to pick up his daughter and return her home after she has finished her sentence in jail. Woman had been convicted for embezzlement and her father hopes that Kinsey can help her take her first steps towards a crime- and drug-free life. In reconnecting with her lover and former boss, she again becomes embroiled in her former lovers drug trafficking and money laundering schemes. As Kinsey and her police friend/lover Cheney try to persuade her to turn him o...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
Lindsey
I'll probably end up finishing all the available Kinsey Millhone books this year, just because I can't stop reading them.

I really liked this one. It wasn't my favorite one (I think O has been my favorite so far) but it was solid. I like that, although Kinsey's solving a mystery every time, the cases don't look the same so I don't feel like I'm falling into a rut with reading the same story over and over again. I also really enjoyed the "romance" element to this one--although there were times whe...more
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R is for Ricochet (Kinsey Millhone #18)
R Is For Ricochet (Mass Market Paperback)
R is for Ricochet (Kinsey Millhone, #18)
R Is For Ricochet (Audio CD)
R is for Ricochet (Kinsey Millhone, #18)

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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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