"P" is for Peril (A Kinsey Millhone Mystery, Book 16) - Softcover

Grafton, Sue

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0449003795 ISBN 13: 9780449003794

Publisher: Ballantine Books, 2002

Synopsis

Kinsey Millhone never sees it coming. She is mired in the case of a doctor who disappeared, his angry ex-wife, and beautiful current one–a case that is full of unfinished business, unfinished homes, and people drifting in and out of their own lives. Then Kinsey gets a shock. A man she finds attractive is hiding a fatal secret–and now a whole lot of beauty, money, and lies are proving to be a fatal distraction from what Kinsey should have seen all along: a killer standing right before her eyes. . . .

About this title

Review:

When Dowan Purcell, a respected physician who operates a nursing home, disappears, his ex-wife hires Santa Teresa PI Kinsey Millhone to look into it. Fiona Purcell is still seething over Dow's affair and subsequent marriage to Crystal, a former stripper, yet they're still friends, and she seems worried. But when his body is discovered, she's among the suspects. Both of Dow's wives, at least one of his business partners, and perhaps even Crystal's teenage daughter had motives to kill.

While in her most recent adventures (N Is for Noose, O Is for Outlaw) Kinsey has acquired new digs, an extended family, and a few more gray hairs, in this one (which takes place some time in the mid-'80s), she's 36, still living in the remodeled garage that was blown up in an earlier novel. Easier than a facelift, and while Sue Grafton is a solid enough writer to pull it off, dedicated Kinsey fans will miss the more complex and multidimensional character who aged so ruefully and interestingly in the '90s. This isn't Grafton's strongest case; it's hard to care about any of Purcell's women or his associates. More exciting is the secondary plot, which involves a handsome landlord who offers Kinsey the new office space she's been seeking and turns out to be a lot more trouble than she bargained for. Despite its somewhat plodding pace and the echo of a more evolved heroine that rings through its pages, Grafton's many fans will probably shoot P Is for Peril right to the top of the bestseller list. --Jane Adams

From the Back Cover:

“P IS FOR PERIL CRACKLES WITH SUSPENSE AND POPS WITH SURPRISES.”
–Newsday

“GRAFTON COOKS UP SCENARIOS THAT GET YOUR WHEELS TURNING . . . SHE’LL SEE TO IT THAT YOU’RE UP HALF THE NIGHT READING TO THE END.”
–San Francisco Chronicle

“SHARP-EYED AND SHARP-TONGUED [KINSEY MILLHONE] IS AS CAPABLE AND ACERBIC AS EVER.”
–The Wall Street Journal

About this edition

• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0449003795
• ISBN 13: 9780449003794
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 384