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Kinsey Millhone #4-6
Sue Grafton: Three Complete Novels: 'D' Is for Deadbeat, 'E' Is for Evidence, 'F' Is for Fugitive
Following the bestselling success of the first Sue Grafton omnibus comes Volume 2 in the alphabet mysteries featuring one of the most popular female sleuths, Kinsey Millhone. Every single Sue Grafton mystery hits one of the top five positions of the New York Times bestseller lists, and an omnibus of her books are instant classics.
736 pages, Hardcover
First published October 13, 1995
6 people are currently reading
320 people want to read
About the author
Sue Grafton
143 books6,532 followersSue Grafton was a #1 New York Times bestselling author. She is best known for her “alphabet series” featuring private investigator Kinsey Millhone in the fictional city of Santa Teresa, California. Prior to success with this series, she wrote screenplays for television movies. Her earlier novels include Keziah Dane (1967) and The Lolly-Madonna War (1969), both out of print. In the book Kinsey and Me she gave us stories that revealed Kinsey's origins and Sue's past.
Grafton never wanted her novels to be turned into movies or TV shows. According to her family she would never allow a ghost writer to write in her name. Because of these things, and out of respect for Sue’s wishes, the family announced the alphabet now ends at “Y”
Grafton was named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America and received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Private Eye Writers of America, the Ross Macdonald Literary Award, three Shamus Awards, and many other honors and awards.
Grafton had three children from previous marriages and several grandchildren, including a granddaughter named Kinsey. She and her husband lived in Montecito, California, and Louisville, Kentucky.
Grafton never wanted her novels to be turned into movies or TV shows. According to her family she would never allow a ghost writer to write in her name. Because of these things, and out of respect for Sue’s wishes, the family announced the alphabet now ends at “Y”
Grafton was named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America and received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Private Eye Writers of America, the Ross Macdonald Literary Award, three Shamus Awards, and many other honors and awards.
Grafton had three children from previous marriages and several grandchildren, including a granddaughter named Kinsey. She and her husband lived in Montecito, California, and Louisville, Kentucky.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
December 29, 2024
I'm starting to sense a pattern here. Kinsey is a great detective. These stories are excellent procedurals, but she never really solves the crime in a meaningful way. She tends to just stick around until the baddie reveals themselves after killing more people and eventually targeting Kinsey. The badddies in these three episodes were a teenage cross dresser, an incestuous cuckold bomber with a secret identity, and a deeply deranged daughter/stalker. I liked everything about these stories up until their endings which wire mostly preposterous and utterly unpredictable from everything that had happened before. The only clues we have in each case is that the murderer has to be one of the characters Kinsey has already spent considerable time with without ever really suspecting the truth. She does the work, she just doesn't really seem to influence the outcome. Still enjoyable enough and reading them in groups of three like this really brings their flaws and their merits into focus.
June 3, 2017
Likes: Listening to Judy Kaye's reading of D is for Deadbeat, E is for Evidence, and F is for Fugitive is enjoyable. Really like how she voices Kinsey especially when Kinsey is sarcastic. The action scenes are great to listen to. Kaye reads them with a sense of urgency that sets my heart racing.
Dislike: These audiobooks are abridged meaning that they are shorter versions of the actual books. They cut out all the "unnecessary" parts. I miss listening to the smaller details.
I usually prefer unabridged audiobooks but I could not find any of the earlier Kinsey Millhone books that were unabridged AND read by Judy Kaye. Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone series is the only series (so far) that I'm willing to listen as abridged audiobooks and that is largely because of Judy Kaye's narration. These are good audiobooks to listen to when you don't want to spend a lot of time on a book and don't mind that it's abridged. For people who cannot stand abridged audiobooks, I recommend that you stay away from this gift collection.
No reviews on the individual books as I plan to review them when I reread the books again in the future.
Dislike: These audiobooks are abridged meaning that they are shorter versions of the actual books. They cut out all the "unnecessary" parts. I miss listening to the smaller details.
I usually prefer unabridged audiobooks but I could not find any of the earlier Kinsey Millhone books that were unabridged AND read by Judy Kaye. Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone series is the only series (so far) that I'm willing to listen as abridged audiobooks and that is largely because of Judy Kaye's narration. These are good audiobooks to listen to when you don't want to spend a lot of time on a book and don't mind that it's abridged. For people who cannot stand abridged audiobooks, I recommend that you stay away from this gift collection.
No reviews on the individual books as I plan to review them when I reread the books again in the future.
June 6, 2013
D is for Deadbeat
31st May-1st June 2013
This is the second time I have read this book. I did enjoy it. I think the author is starting to inject a little more personality into her work, deviating from the slightly more rigid structure of the earlier books in the series. There was enough mystery in it to keep me reading, even though I'd already read it.
E is for Evidence
1st-3rd June 2013
I had no idea whodunit, or why. So I just had to keep reading to find out and who would have guessed! Never in my wildest dreams did I guess why!!! Crazy! But in an enjoyable way!
F is for Fugitive
3rd-6th June 2013
Really enjoyed this one. The author cleverly snuck in some very funny stuff. There were so many suspects and seemingly random clues. I really couldn't guess whodunit or what was really going on until about the page before it was confirmed. Nice.
31st May-1st June 2013
This is the second time I have read this book. I did enjoy it. I think the author is starting to inject a little more personality into her work, deviating from the slightly more rigid structure of the earlier books in the series. There was enough mystery in it to keep me reading, even though I'd already read it.
E is for Evidence
1st-3rd June 2013
I had no idea whodunit, or why. So I just had to keep reading to find out and who would have guessed! Never in my wildest dreams did I guess why!!! Crazy! But in an enjoyable way!
F is for Fugitive
3rd-6th June 2013
Really enjoyed this one. The author cleverly snuck in some very funny stuff. There were so many suspects and seemingly random clues. I really couldn't guess whodunit or what was really going on until about the page before it was confirmed. Nice.
July 30, 2019
My all-time favorite writer and I just look forward to reading/listening to the next Kinsey Milhone story with every alphabet novel I read. Makes me sad that it has come to an end now with the passing of Sue Grafton this past year...but her memory (and wonderful writing!) will definitely live on through these books.
May 3, 2018
I've been continuing to listen to the series and think F is my favorite of the first 6. It is set in Floral Beach north of Kinsey's home Santa Teresa. I am still appreciating the series even more the second time around.
July 10, 2008
Another great detective series by Sue Grafton
February 25, 2018
Just finished the third in this 3 Novels in 1 volume work. Again the author doesn't disappoint. Thanks to Sue Grafton for a great ride into her world. Thanks for the privilege.
March 8, 2021
Love these easy to read mysteries. Always a twist in them. Kinsey is so cool too.
November 30, 2024
Again, I've read and reviewed all the novels collected here separately, so this is for my own records. All the books got three stars from me, and hence the collection does as well.
I'm reading my way through this series at a very desultory rate - each volume is self-contained, so I don't need to remember much of what went on in a previous book, which is honestly quite nice. Don't get me wrong: I like the more interconnected series as well, but sometimes you just want to pick up something with characters you've read before and not have to think too deeply about what you're reading.
Of the six Kinsey books I've read so far, I think D Is for Deadbeat is the best. I probably won't read any of these again, but if I did it would be that one. It's pretty grim, but it's got a very affecting ending.
I'm reading my way through this series at a very desultory rate - each volume is self-contained, so I don't need to remember much of what went on in a previous book, which is honestly quite nice. Don't get me wrong: I like the more interconnected series as well, but sometimes you just want to pick up something with characters you've read before and not have to think too deeply about what you're reading.
Of the six Kinsey books I've read so far, I think D Is for Deadbeat is the best. I probably won't read any of these again, but if I did it would be that one. It's pretty grim, but it's got a very affecting ending.
Read
June 7, 2019Here as a spiral...I can't quite find the right cover here but I'll go with this. In some ways I preferred E is for Evidence, but it's a hard call, as I did enjoy them all. Having read the three one after the other, I notice they do tend to mush together (were Billy P and Lovella in the first or the second? - first, I think..). The last one did offer a number of successful red herrings. Entertaining reads.
February 27, 2021
Really entertaining
April 8, 2023
The Alphabet Value Collection by Sue Grafton contains 3 of her Novels: D is for Deadbeat, E is for Evidence, and F is for Fugitive.
"D" is for Deadbeat is an interesting novel where Kinsey shows she is willing to sleep with a married man but is so dedicated to her profession that she continues to work even when she finds that the check for her services is bad. She is dubious about accepting the assignment to find and give a $25, 000 cashier's check to a teenager, which she thinks the client could do himself; she becomes even more dubious when the check for her services is bad; but when the client is found dead due to an "accident," she intuits that he is in fact murdered, and she accepts his daughter's assignment to find the murderer. (This is after she has found the teenager and given him the check.) The original client is a true deadbeat--as are most of his "friends"--but Kinsey continues the investigation. There are many potential murderers, making it difficult to find the correct one.
It is an exciting and engaging story, and finally Kinsey herself is not beaten bloody and near death at the conclusion. Others, for once, are in more danger than she. I thought it was more original than the first three novels.
"E" is for Evidence gives us a much more thorough view of Kinsey's second husband (so far we know nothing about the first), and it is a far more negative view than the brief mention made in "C." It is also the first novel where the client is Kinsey herself.
During a bleak Christmas season where Kinsey is alone with all her support group (Henry, Rosie, Jason) gone elsewhere, Kinsey discovers $5,000 added to her bank balance, but soon discovers it is not just a mistake, but that someone is trying to frame her. She was trapped into making a mistake on an estimate she turned in to California Fidelity on an insurance claim for the Wood family, many of whom she knows because she went to school with them--as did Daniel Wade, her ex-husband. She loses her "free" office space, one of the nicer Wade family members is blown up and killed (Kinsey, off center of target, is also blown up and damaged, but not killed--the series has to go on), her home (Henry's converted garage) is blown up, she realizes just how truly Daniel Wade is damaged (he is helping the murderer convict her, his ex-wife), and helping a disgusting new lover, and she learns a truly disgusting family secrete of the wealthy Wood family (aren't the rich always awful in some way?). What a lovely Christmas.
But it is a pretty good novel, in spite of some awful revelations. The plot is definitely original and involves Kinsey in tighter ways. I certainly had trouble spotting the exact guilty party--and I am rereading the novel! (Many years later--I am now reading them in sequence which I didn't before).
It is getting ready to set Kinsey up in new digs and paths. Definitely a good read.
"F" is for Fugitive takes Kinsey out of her home (It was blown up in E and is being rebuilt) and away from all her support crew to a very small village up the coast, Floral Beach, where she is hired by an elderly man to find proof that his son did not kill his girlfriend 17 years ago. (He escaped prison and lived an exemplary life, but is back to see his parents and is wanted again for escaping prison). Kinsey lives in a motel run by the man who employs her and soon discovers the whole family is insane. In fact, most all of the people in Floral Beach are insane. It is a rather dark, depressing novel. We learn nothing new about Kinsey, and the story, while intricate and fairly interesting, is not as engaging as many previous novels in the series. Certainly, I found it the weakest of the three collected in this book.
"D" is for Deadbeat is an interesting novel where Kinsey shows she is willing to sleep with a married man but is so dedicated to her profession that she continues to work even when she finds that the check for her services is bad. She is dubious about accepting the assignment to find and give a $25, 000 cashier's check to a teenager, which she thinks the client could do himself; she becomes even more dubious when the check for her services is bad; but when the client is found dead due to an "accident," she intuits that he is in fact murdered, and she accepts his daughter's assignment to find the murderer. (This is after she has found the teenager and given him the check.) The original client is a true deadbeat--as are most of his "friends"--but Kinsey continues the investigation. There are many potential murderers, making it difficult to find the correct one.
It is an exciting and engaging story, and finally Kinsey herself is not beaten bloody and near death at the conclusion. Others, for once, are in more danger than she. I thought it was more original than the first three novels.
"E" is for Evidence gives us a much more thorough view of Kinsey's second husband (so far we know nothing about the first), and it is a far more negative view than the brief mention made in "C." It is also the first novel where the client is Kinsey herself.
During a bleak Christmas season where Kinsey is alone with all her support group (Henry, Rosie, Jason) gone elsewhere, Kinsey discovers $5,000 added to her bank balance, but soon discovers it is not just a mistake, but that someone is trying to frame her. She was trapped into making a mistake on an estimate she turned in to California Fidelity on an insurance claim for the Wood family, many of whom she knows because she went to school with them--as did Daniel Wade, her ex-husband. She loses her "free" office space, one of the nicer Wade family members is blown up and killed (Kinsey, off center of target, is also blown up and damaged, but not killed--the series has to go on), her home (Henry's converted garage) is blown up, she realizes just how truly Daniel Wade is damaged (he is helping the murderer convict her, his ex-wife), and helping a disgusting new lover, and she learns a truly disgusting family secrete of the wealthy Wood family (aren't the rich always awful in some way?). What a lovely Christmas.
But it is a pretty good novel, in spite of some awful revelations. The plot is definitely original and involves Kinsey in tighter ways. I certainly had trouble spotting the exact guilty party--and I am rereading the novel! (Many years later--I am now reading them in sequence which I didn't before).
It is getting ready to set Kinsey up in new digs and paths. Definitely a good read.
"F" is for Fugitive takes Kinsey out of her home (It was blown up in E and is being rebuilt) and away from all her support crew to a very small village up the coast, Floral Beach, where she is hired by an elderly man to find proof that his son did not kill his girlfriend 17 years ago. (He escaped prison and lived an exemplary life, but is back to see his parents and is wanted again for escaping prison). Kinsey lives in a motel run by the man who employs her and soon discovers the whole family is insane. In fact, most all of the people in Floral Beach are insane. It is a rather dark, depressing novel. We learn nothing new about Kinsey, and the story, while intricate and fairly interesting, is not as engaging as many previous novels in the series. Certainly, I found it the weakest of the three collected in this book.
January 13, 2017
This a bit short and enjoyed it the audiobook.
May 5, 2008
Sue Grafton's series go from A-Z, and they are about the cases a private investigator Kinsey Milhone has. This particular set is read by Judy Kaye (I can only think of her as Rizzo from Grease) and my 5 star rating includes her reading. I've read some of Sue Grafton's books and I intend to read more.
Read
September 17, 2009First time I have read her books. Liked her pi character.
August 10, 2010
Language and personal morals
Want to read
September 20, 2011Took this book with me from the meeting at Terschelling.
November 28, 2013
I love this series. The main character develops over each novel...I can't wait for each 'letter' to be releases.
April 25, 2014
The first book was pretty good, the second one okay...I didn't like the third one at all. I hope this is a fluke and not what I look forward to in future Kinsey Milhone books.
August 31, 2015
Preferred D is for Deadbeat of the three in this group and would actually have given it 4 stars if they had been separated.
January 6, 2016
I listened to this 3 book set....entertaining
July 25, 2020
Again--read these and then bought the books on tape so we could listen as we travel. We like Kinsey Milhone and the mysteries are believable.
April 9, 2021
I finished Book D I will start on book E later.
Started Book E on November 25, 2020 and finished on November 28, 2020
Started Book E on November 25, 2020 and finished on November 28, 2020
June 13, 2012
One of my favorite crime series. Always a good fun read.
April 13, 2017
Definitely not a favorite among the three. I do still like Grafton's characters.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews