P Is for Peril (Paperback)

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.