Beverly Danziger looked like an expensive, carefully wrapped package from a good but conservative shop. Only her compulsive chatter hinted at the nervousness beneath her cool surface. It was a nervousness out of all proportion to the problem she placed before Kinsey Millhone. There was an absent sister. A will to be settled–a matter of only a few thousand dollars. Mrs. Danziger did not look as … look as if she needed a few thousand dollars. And she didn’t seem like someone longing for a family reunion.
Still, business was slow, and even a private investigator has bills to pay. Millhone took the job. It looked routine.
Elaine Boldt’s wrappings were a good deal flashier than her sister’s, but they signaled the same thing: The lady had money. A rich widow in her early forties, she owned a condo in Boca Raton and another in Santa Teresa. According to the manager of the California building, she was last seen draped in her $12,000 lynx coat heading for Boca Raton. According to the manager of the Florida building, she never got there. But someone else had and she was camping out illegally in Mrs. Boldt’s apartment. The job was beginning to seem a bit less routine.
It turned tricky when Beverly Danziger ordered Millhone to drop the case and it took on an ominous quality when Aubrey Danziger surfaced, making all kinds of wild accusations about his wife. But it only became sinister when Millhone learned that just days before Elaine Boldt went missing, her next-door neighbor and bridge partner had been murdered and the killer was still at large.
A house destroyed by arson. A brutally murdered a woman. A missing lynx coat. An apartment burgled of valueless papers, another ransacked in a melee of mindless destruction. And more murder. As Millhone digs deeper into the case, she finds herself in a nightmarish hall of mirrors in which reality is distorted by illusion and nothing–except danger–is quite what it seems.
”more
As usual Sue Grafton came through with
This is another of the wonderful series of stories by Sue Grafton. I truly love the story line and the characters are priceless! Absolutely a series everyone can enjoy. Love the unpredictable twist and turns throughout the book.
It was fun to go back and read one of the early Kinsey Millhone books. I totally enjoyed this series as Kinsey is the intrepid, determined heroine that always brings justice to the wrong doer.
I read the first book in this series before I read the second. She is a consistent writer who happily gives clues along the way which allow you to make assumptions about the characters. I find this kind of book is more pleasing to me than those with surprise endings.
Just got started on the series so far so good.
Love this 2nd book in the series!
Four stars even with one of the dumbest murder weapons in print today. Murder weapon spoiler: Sue has a character take apart a window frame to get at the counterweight that helps lift the window. The murderer has to untie the cord on the counterweight to get it free, then bash the victim, then restring the cord on the pulleys and retie the counterweight, then pound nails to put the window frame back in place. Takes a LOT of time, makes a LOT of noise, when a baseball bat would work quick and easy. Still an interesting story, but, wow, she really had to reach for that weapon.
Always love Sue Grafton books!
I love all of her books
I liked this book more than the first, and I really liked that one too!
Kinsey is one helluva character!
She’s tough, smart and can get to the heart of a mystery in no time. She has great instincts.
Sue Grafton was an incredible writer!
You almost forget that Kinsey is not a real person when you read these stories. It’s so easy to get lost in her thrilling world.
So much so, that I just bought book 3.
Yeah, mystery fans really need to digest this series. I wish I had done it while it was new and Sue was alive, but I am just glad to not be missing out anymore.
True to Sue Grafton. Wonderful book.
Love Sue Grafton books. Her death leaves a hole in the literary world.
Wonderful book -definitely a page turner. Sue grafton will be missed
The Alphabet series is the best. B is for Burglar was really good.
Read along time ago follow Sue through all the alphabet books.
This is the second book in her long string about Kinsey. This and the other books early in the series need to be read first, to help in understanding the characters later on.
Review
3.5 stars but I’m going to round down (since I sometimes round up for this author, and I suppose this makes it balance out a bit!) for the second book in the “Kinsey Millhone” [cozy] mystery series by Sue Grafton. In B is for Burglar, we get to know Kinsey more, figuring out what she likes and doesn’t like. And apparently she is a bit picky when it comes to client. First, she doesn’t want to take the case as it is too simple and sounds like a waste of her time. But when she digs a bit deeper, something strange is going on with a missing woman. Nothing adds up.
It’ s a good mystery in your head, and I think it might be better than the first book in some ways… but not enough to rate it higher. I liked the investigate and research style in this one. It’s a missing person’s case, so you really know as little as she does. You feel like you’re playing along more on this one. But at the same time, I didn’t have a strong connection until the middle of the book with the “victim.”
I found myself getting a little caught up in it being 1982 in the books, but it was published several years later, and I was reading it in 2000. I kept forgetting the time period, which is important in cases like these, given the available tools.
If you’re going to read the whole series take the time in these first few books to really synchronize with the time period, so you are not out of your element.
But Kinsey is a great main character. She’s got flaws. She’s got spirit. You root for her, get annoyed with her. All signs of good character development. But after 26… it might get a bit old!
Kinsey Milhone is my favorite slueth, with her sarcasm and quick thinking.
Grafton books are great reads
Love the characters and end twists