P Is for Peril [Hardcover]

Kelsey is supported by her usual cast of friends: her 86 year-old landlord Henry, his older brother, William. who is married to the Hungarian tyrant of Rosie's Tavern, and lawyer Lonnie Kingman. One of Kelsey's former lovers, Jonah Robb, who is now head of Santa Theresa's homicide unit also plays a role in "P is for Peril".

It is the new characters -- mostly women -- that make this Grafton book special. Fiona Purcell, Art Deco decorator, hires Kelsey to find her vanished ex-husband, but seems equally interested in digging up dirt about his current wife, Crystal. Crystal is a former Las Vegas stripper with a troubled teen-age daughter, Leila, (born out of wedlock) and a baby son born to Dr. Purcell. Bright, tough Mariah Talbot arrives from Texas to enmesh Kelsey in the attempt to locate some missing jewelry. Anica Blackburn is the guidance counselor at the Malibu boarding school where Leila is incarcerated. The only person Leila seems to relate to is her Santa Theresa street pal, Pauline. All six women are strong personalities, vividly drawn, that engage the reader's emotions in one way or another. For contrast there is handsome Tommy Hevener, co-owner of the new office Kelsey has leased, who has designs to make their relationship more intimate.

The only fault I have to find with this book -- and it is one shared by most contemporary mystery novels -- is that Grafton feels compelled to put Kelsey in mortal danger at the end of the story. The "Cheap Thrills" ending has become a cliche in the mystery genre. "If it's good enough for Dick Francis, it's good enough for me", seems to be the prevailing notion. Classic mystery writers, even the hard-boiled ones like Chandler and Ross MacDonald, devised climaxes to their stories that did not necessarily involve the imminent death and dismemberment of their investigators in the final chapter. At least Grafton has made risk-taking an integral part of Kelsey Millhone's character.

Because I love her series so much, I decided to start one of my own. Under False Pretense is the first and I am presently working on my second book. I can understand why Sue enjoys Kinsey so much. You get to know so much about the characters they become a part of you. I love spending time with Samantha Parker as much as the many hours I've spent and continue to spend with Kinsey. I'll miss her after Z.

Maria Pease

Sue Grafton's character is an effective protoganist. She represents good in the war waged in genre fiction of good against evil. She is refreshing, not rule bound, considerate of others, her elderly neighbors for example, and seeks to cut through the noisy insincerities of social intercourse to reach the truth. She is a sort of Western star, a loner, she explains, in female garb. Her roughness is meant to be endering and one has to admit that Grafton is successful.

Kinsey Millhone is looking for a new office. Kinsey discovers the nursing home was under investigation when Dow Purcell disappeared. The investigation was being conducted by HCFA on medicare billing. An associate wondered if the missing man could handle the loss of face in the event of prosecution. Dow may have been a good practitioner and an incompetent adminstrator. A former employee certainly held such a view of the situation.

In the midst of the investigation into his disappearance, which at least from a reader's perspective finally seems to be going somewhere, Kinsey learns of questionable conduct on the part of her prospective landlords. She does not know if she is inclined to use her investigative skills to discover their crimes to help an insurance company, but at a minimum decides to back out of the rental. She continues to have a contentious relationship with her client and feels that spending time on the case in order to justify the retainer accepted is a form of indentured servitude.

Kinsey locates the dead man's car in water. The most interesting parts of the story are the medicare fraud strand. The villians portrayed are pretty convincing. Peril is a good word for the position of the characters in this yarn. Under the circumstances Kinsey Millhone would be a good person to know. The book is a nice job of writing.