Continuing my journey through Grafton's alphabet I come to "P". I actually liked this one...somewhat. Grafton's writing has definitely improved as she has worked her way through the alphabet so the books are getting a bit better.
In this one Kinsey is hired to look into the disappearance of a Doctor. He disappeared 9 weeks ago with no sign nor word from him. His ex-wife hires Kinsey and she goes on quite a goose chase in an effort to earn her pay. At the same time Kinsey is looking for new office space and finds one that seems to good to be true. Meeting the landlords of the space leads Kinsey into another kind of investigation. Both are, brace yourself for the surprise, solved by Kinsey at the eleventh hour.
What I liked about Grafton's "P" is that she weaved into one book two different mysteries and they worked together and not against each other. She managed to pull it off. We see more of Kinsey's human side in this title as well and I have noticed that Grafton has been focusing on developing Kinsey's character more in the past few books.

Ahhhh, our favorite road trip author! Kept us highly entertained on the drive back home from visiting family in Texas. Kinsey does all the predictable things we know she will based on all the previous (out of sequence) Alphabet books we've consumed on road trips, and this one was pretty fun - finding out what happened to a doctor with a history of disappearing, getting tangled up with two brothers with wicked tempers who don't know what overbearing really means, and a conclusion that, while satisfying, leaves just a whisper of a question about what actually happened. Liked this one a lot, and Judy Kaye, as always, does a great job reading Kinsey.

Kinsey's world view has one striking similarity to mine: cynical humor towards the soap opera of family life. Lots of red herrings in this one so the case rests a lot on interviews and alibis.

I love Sue Grafton's series, but this book gets two stars from me. I see that a few people criticize the lack of a proper ending, but that's not the reason for the lower rating (and I'm happy with the way the book ended, which is surprising to me since I almost require rock-solid resolution).

No, this book gets a low rating from me because Grafton portrays Kinsey as an idiot throughout this story. Even Kinsey acknowledges this, listing all the things she was wrong about near the end of the book. Well, almost all.

She left out how wrong she was in her handling of her budding relationship with Tommy. Right off the bat, not knowing this guy at all, she introduces him to her "inner circle" at Rosie's. Yes, he already knew her address and other too-personal information from the application she filled out for the office space lease. But to have her first meeting with him for drinks -- and not for lunch ACK! -- at her home away from home was just downright stupid.

Then she's shocked when the weirdo keeps showing up there.

"Oh, my! What do I do NOW?"

One of the things I've loved about Kinsey is that she's obviously a human with human failings, but she's also smart and good at taking care of herself -- or at least trying to. She pretty much left her brain at the door when she started on this case.

If I had read this book first, it might have been my last of this series. It feels like someone else wrote this one.

After taking a couple of years away from reading this series, picking it back up was like catching up with an old friend who you haven't seen in a few years. It felt like no time had passed since Kinsey and I last spent time together. And she's such a well written character that even when the central mystery of the book isn't that compelling, I'm just glad to get to spend a few more hours with an old friend. This book has a really abrupt ending. And no explanation as to why that is the ending. Maybe it will be covered in the next book? Either way, it just felt so abrupt and jarring. Took me out of the book a bit. There was also too much going on in this one. Too much plot and too much mystery. Needed a bit more streamlining. Oh well, still enjoyable. Kinsey is still a badass and that's the most important thing.

This bok was much better than the O is for Outlaw. A quick, entertaining read, that keeps you guessing until the end.