V is for Vengeance

Sue Grafton

Nov 2011 · A Kinsey Millhone Novel Book 22 · Sold by Penguin

About this ebook

A spiderweb of dangerous relationships lies at the heart of this daring Kinsey Millhone mystery from #1 New York Times bestselling author Sue Grafton.

Private detective Kinsey Millhone feels a bit out of place in any department store's lingerie section, but she's entirely in her element when she puts a stop to a brazen shoplifting spree. For her trouble she nearly gets run over in the parking lot by one of the fleeing thieves—and later learns that the one who didn't get away has been found dead in an apparent suicide. But Audrey Vance's grieving fiance suspects murder and hires Kinsey to investigate a case that will reveal a big story behind a small crime and lead her into a web that connects a shadowy “private banker,” an angry trophy wife, a spoiled kid with a spiraling addiction, and a brutal killer without a conscience...

Ratings and reviews

BOTTOM-LINE: More characters, less Kinsey, but it works. . PLOT OR PREMISE: Fantastic opening -- a gambler who hits a run of bad luck, and a loan shark who collects from his losing client pretty aggressively. Oh, and Kinsey apparently has two black eyes from trying to catch a shoplifter? . WHAT I LIKED: There is a LOT going on, with lots of characters running around, almost all of them obsessed with money. Angry cops, mobsters, gold diggers, cheating spouses, lock pickers, blackmailers, informants…it's complicated. . WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: The story jumps around a LOT from person to person, and so it doesn't feel like a Kinsey story for good parts of the book, but it's not egregious. . DISCLOSURE: I received no compensation, not even a free copy, in exchange for this review. I am not personal friends with the author, nor do I follow her on social media.

As usual, a fun ride, good read, at times - edge of my seat anticipation of how scenes would play out. I hate that soon the alphabet will be fresh out of letters!

I liked how the action shifted to the perspectives of each of the major players. I also liked how everything with Dante resolved itself (no spoiler alert here)!

About the author

#1 New York Times bestselling author Sue Grafton first introduced Kinsey Millhone in the Alphabet Series in 1982. Soon after, both writer and heroine became icons and international bestsellers. Ms. Grafton was a writer who consistently broke the bonds of genre while never writing the same book twice. Named a Grand Master by the Mystery Writers of America, her awards and honors included the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Private Eye Writers of America, the Ross Macdonald Literary Award, the Cartier Diamond Dagger Award from Britain's Crime Writers' Association, the Lifetime Achievement Award from Malice Domestic, a Lifetime Achievement Award from Bouchercon, three Shamus Awards, and three Anthony Awards—including the first two ever awarded. She passed away in December 2017.