P is for Peril (A Kinsey Millhone Novel) Paperback – January 28, 2020

“P is for Peril” is an interesting, well written mystery novel authored by Sue Grafton. It is the 16th novel in a series about Kinsey Millhone, a female private detective residing in California. The time frame is the 1980s. The story is of medium length and fairly easily read and followed. In that it is clearly written and mostly easily followed, it also makes for a good audiobook. I read the book and listened to an audiobook. I enjoyed the novel very much.I like Sue Grafton as a writer artisticly as much as a mystery writer. She has a gift for painting with words and metaphor that I really enjoy. When I said above, this is an easy reading and listening experience, it is very common for me to reread and relisten various passages to take in her description of scenery.I very much want to remain vague about this novel and not spoil anything. I am going to speak here generally about the ending. One may wish to skip this. I agree with other reviewers that this story ends differently than some of Sue Grafton’s other novels. One is left to contemplate various possibilities. Speaking for myself I liked that. After all this is fiction. Let your imagination fill in some spaces.This is the 16th novel in a series. I have been reading each of them in order, one every few months with breaks in between. I place this in the above average category of this series. I liked it better than both “N” or “O”. “N” is my least favorite thus far.In summary I enjoyed this novel very much. I particularly enjoy Sue Grafton’s depiction of scenery and her gift for comedic metaphor. This novel is somewhat different than other of novels in this series as the reader may need to fill,in some blanks. I enjoyed that and I needed to remember that this is fiction. Thank you for taking the time to read this review.

Enjoyed reading. Thought a little more complicated plot than most of Grafton,s books. Thought the ending was somewhat blunted, but imagination works

I gave P is for Peril 3 stars because for most of the book, I found the story to be interesting. I do enjoy Kinsey. She herself is a unique character. The story, though slow in parts, was overall very readable. I would not call it spellbinding, but it could hold its own with other mysteries. There are two separate storylines and the one with the brothers is by far better. Nursing home fraud just doesn't have the pizzazz of a good old fashioned family murder.Unfortunately, there is the end of the book. I do realize that all stories must come to an end, but I really am tired of endings that are so out of sync with the rest of the story. In this book, we are taken through the plot lines rather carefully. Then at the end, the detailed plot stops, and the story is abruptly over. No real explanation, no post scripts, just "the end". This is not the case of a story left hanging so that there can be a sequel, the narrrative just ends without a real tying up of the story threads.This slap-dash ending of stories has become way too common in recent books I have read. It really makes me wonder if these authors have commitments to write a book every X number of years and the time of publication gets near, so the ending of the book suffers. I just don't like to have invested my time in a novel and then feel like I have been short changed because of a unsatisfactory ending.

When I finished the book, at first I thought, "What the hell just happened?" No epilogue, no explanation, no summation of the plot, or the secondary plot, for that matter. Just, BOOM!, it's over.So I laid back in bed an just thought about it. What happened? Who did it?Sue Grafton had never done this before, leaving it to the reader to figure it out. Obviously, she must have done it on purpose. There's no missing chapter (LoL), so the answer must be staring us in the face.Within minutes it was obvious to me! Beautiful! What a great ending.But what about the subplot? Oh yeah, I get that too now. My wife would be so proud.Great story. Great characters. Great suspense. All the more reason to move on to "Q".Highly recommended.

Happily, I've gone along with Kinsey Millhone on her previous A through O adventures, so I always know the parameters of what I'm in for with her. She's in a business we find interesting, even exciting, but most of us prefer to journey with her from our comfy armchairs or couches---she gets into perilous scrapes in every book---but better her than any of us.PERIL's basic plot revolves around Kinsey's investigation into the disappearance of a prominent doctor, the owner of a facility for the elderly. She sets about methodically questioning the ex-wife, current wife, wayward daughter and baby-factory daughter, significant others, and various nursing home personnel. She tries to get a handle on whether or not the doctor absconded to free himself form his current morass of financial and personal difficulties, or if he is indeed dead.An intriguing secondary plot has her getting new office space, a new love interest, and opening up an unsolved murder/arson case. It's always good to get back to the cast of regulars in Kinsey's life---Henry, her landlord, especially. She still has a good working relationship with the local Santa Teresa police, and the minor complication of having been romantically involved with one of the lead investigators keeps the tension going. Ms. Grafton has a way of writing about police that deftly and unsentimentally pictures their attitudes, foiblles, and strong suits. (Michael Connolly does this particularly well also.)I'm always glad to spend time with Kinsey---some of the cases she deals with leave a terrible taste in my mouth and I back off reading her for a while, but come back because I like her.

It’s been 20 years since I read this one, so I didn’t remember the details. In Grafton’s novel, the details matter. Once again, she did her research to spin the two concurrent mysteries. Lots of excitement in this story.

Having had problems with the delivery I found they were extremely sympathetic & received a speedy reply. The book has at last arrived not suppliers fault, & I am very happy with it. Would not hesitate to buy from this supplier again.

Finally got round to finish of the 16th book in the series and I couldn’t put it down, just under 2 days to read the rest. left on a bit of a cliff hanger and left me wanting more! Can’t wait for Q! I don’t usually read fiction books but ever since I first read my first Kinsey Millhone book, I’ve loved them and can’t wait to complete the series!

I wasn't fussed about the last book so gave the series a rest for a bit. I liked the slightly altered format - fewer scenic descriptions of endless freeway journeys to and from the client. And I really didn't mind the missing sign off while Kinsey waited for justice to arrive. I shall plough through the rest of the alphabet in due course

I am still reading this but I have to say it is a great read up till now, Kinsey seems to get herself into so many situations.

The only problem with reading Sue Grafton is that I CANNOT PUT ANY OF HER BOOKS DOWN! Once I started reading this, I was hooked until 2.20 in the morning. Brilliant!