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Summary: Sue Grafton Presents American Wit and Murder From S. Calif
Review: I loved H is for Homicide and believe that it is Sue Grafton at her finest. As a Sue Grafton fan, I have read all of her books and loved them all but this one really hit the spot.Kinsey Milhone, the main character, sets out to investigate a series of suspicious automobile insurance claims and ends up hanging out in the barrio with the perpetrators. Her entree into this secluded world was an evening spent in a very nasty bar posing as an after-hours tart whose mission is to befriend a for-real gorgeous tart who is the key to the insurance fraud ring. This is not the kind of duty that most of us would sign up for with any amount of enthusiasm. But Kinsey Milhone has guts of iron and nerves of steel. Those guts of iron allow her to swallow vast quantities of greasy restaurant food and the nerves of steel facilitate the endurance of the company of sleaze-bags for record amounts of time. None of the miscreants, be they White or Hispanic are spared her cynical witty observations. Readers will, in all likelihood, be laughing cynically at the unvarnished truth that Kinsey uncovers time and again. She lets us know when people are negligent about washing their hands after using the public restrooms. She promptly informs us when residential bathrooms are less than clean and the housework in general has been neglected, when people don't smell or look good. The things that irritate Kinsey tell us the most about her--primarily that she has high personal standards and a great sense of boundaries. Kinsey's level of tolerance for the creeps and oddballs that are the everyday encounters of her job is nothing short of remarkable. When she ends up hanging out with the denizens of the barrio in their apartment/headquarters, I thought that for sure she would end up dead in the apartment dumpster. Yet Kinsey's unique ability to blend in with her temporary surroundings and her skills as a private investigator combine to make a cliff-hanging suspense mystery novel. Sue Grafton is at the top of her form in H Is For Homicide. I also highly recommend L Is For Lawless to newcomers who feel inclined to jump into the series at any point. Just grab any one of her novels, curl up, and let Kinsey Milhone take over!
Rating: 
Summary: The third star is for the last sentence...
Review: ...which was the best plot twist for the storyline. Other than that, the plot is really two-star fare, and anyone who sees I've been working my way through the series knows I've given high marks to all of them thus far. This plot just wasn't chilling, mysterious, or really in any way a page-turner. Don't ever start with this one, and if you haven't the tolerance to read every single Kinsey Millhone mystery, you could afford to skip it. And I don't say that lightly!
Rating: 
Summary: Grafton's Worst
Review: I have read all of Sue Grafton's Kinsey Milhone books, and I've enjoyed all of them, except this one. For a private eye novel, there is no detection or mystery in this one. It's as if Grafton had to turn in a book and had writer's block when she wrote this one. A mystery novel without a plot is no good. Don't start with this one or you'll likely write off the entire series, which is much, much better.
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Summary: Unrealistic Snoozer---Not Up To Grafton's Usual Standards
Review: Kinsey infiltrates an insurance scam ring that turns out to be run by LA gangsters with Touretts syndrome. She puts on some trashy clothes and bad makeup & they just invite her in for a beer. No way. I've read every one of her books, & this is definitely the least believable or entertaining.
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Summary: Well written, but a snore of a plot
Review: My first Sue Grafton book, probably my last. I'd read the reviews noting the realism of her heroine, etc. and I liked the character. But does Grafton ever deliver with a little excitement in her plots? This thing goes on and on and not once was I absorbed. I like a little tension in a mystery. Even the dangerous dog is of course quickly revealed to be a pussy cat. Yawn.
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Summary: Kinsey is tough, funny, stubborn and real.
Review: Sue Grafton has outdone herself. What a woman. What a P.I. She's a real woman not some fluff headed heroine. It left me wanting more. The only shame is that there are only 26 letters in the alphabet.
Rating:
Summary: Kinsey is tough, funny, stubborn and real.
Review: Sue Grafton has outdone herself. What a PI. What a woman. She's real not some fluff headed heroine. It left me wanting more. The only shame is that there are only 26 letters in the alphabet.
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Summary: It could only happen to Kinsey
Review: Only Kinsey could get herself on gang turf in LA trying to investigate an insurance fraud claim for California Fidelity. The latter, who has just been bought out and is now run by an efficiency expert, wants to renegotiate her long-standing employment agreement with the previous bosses. Can Kinsey crack the case and save her job? Will she escape the clutches of Luis, Raymond and Co. in time to buy a new dress for Vera Lipton's wedding? Stay tuned. .
Rating: 
Summary: Insurance fraud
Review: When private investigator Kinsey Millhone returns home after doing a consumer investigation, she is saddened to learn that one of her friends from California Fidelity Insurance has been killed. Kinsey has office space in the C.F. building and the dead man was an employee there. In the meantime, she is checking on insurance fraud cases, and suddenly the murder and her investigation begin to merge. What follows is a book-long wild ride into the underworld in the company of a young hustler named Bibianna Diaz. She spends an evening in a bar named the Meat Locker and things get only worse after that. Kinsey's and Bibianna's lives are threatened as the facts of the insurance fraud becomes clear. This is another good read in a dependable series.
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Summary: Hurrah for Kinsey Millhone
Review: I love Sue Grafton's work. She has created a wonderful set of characters led by Kinsey Milhone, Private Investigator. In this novel Kinsey is investigating insurance fraud and takes her job seriously enough to pose as a hooker in order to get close to the hooker who will lead her to solving the case. This book is as usual a fast paced thriller.
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