O is for Outlaw

Sue Grafton

Kinsey Milhone is offered a box of sentimental items that she had not seen since she left her first husband. He had packed them up when they split and had kept them in storage for the next fifteen years. When he quit paying the storage fees, a salvager bought them and offered them to her.

In it she finds more than she expects. She also finds a letter that may have prevented her leaving Micky McGruder all those years ago. She decides to find Micky for the first time since their split and discuss the letter. She was too late. Micky is in Los Angeles in a hospital in a coma. Someone has just shot him with a gun registered to her. She discovers this when the Los Angeles detectives show up on her door step to question her.

Kinsey now feels she owes a debt to Micky to discover the truth from fifteen years earlier and to find who shot him. She starts digging into Santa Theresa history and Micky's current Los Angeles lifestyle. She has matured a lot since the early 1970's, yet she still is not prepared to deal with the truths she uncovers. She spends enough time in L.A. to follow Micky's most recent movements. She flies out to Louisville, Kentucky, to follow some investigation. She is invited to homes of the rich and famous of Santa Theresa. She discovers the small hang out bar she and Micky spent many nights in is now a popular meeting place. She keeps picking at loose ends only to discover the ends are connected.

I thought this was one of the better Kinsey Milhone books. She is usually quite gritty, very much the hard boiled female detective. She is not a person I can connect with even though I like these novels. In this one, Kinsey softened just a little bit. Here she was more believable as a person. She even hurts Henry's (her landlord) feelings and then feels remorse for the argument. The mystery is well woven, offering the misleads that keep the reader guessing yet are still viable clues for the real antagonist.

I believe this novel can stand alone without the prior books. Sufficient explanation is given to keep the reader informed. None of the past novels are alluded to enough to require expansion of details. If the reader has not read any of the Kinsey Milhone mysteries, or the alphabet mysteries, starting with A is for Alibi, a good introduction to the series can be found in this book.

This is the most recent of the alphabet mysteries - now over half way through the series if she ends at "Z".

A is for Alibi
B is for Burglar
C is for Corpse
D is for Deadbeat
E is for Evidence
F is for Fugitive
G is for Gumshoe
H is for Homicide
I is for Innocent
J is for Judgement
K is for Killer
L is for Lawless
M is for Malice
N is for Noose
O is for Outlaw
P is for Peril
Q is for Quarry
R is for Ricochet
S is for Silence
T is for Trespass
U is for Undertow
V is for Vengeance

Mrs. Pollifax and the Lion Killer by Dorothy Gilman