A is for Alibi
Sue Grafton

Rating: +

Review:
I actually liked this book. I don't usually like mystery books. Sherlock Holmes is cool, because he is so logical and because the storytelling is so fun to read. I think I enjoyed the fact that there was character development and you got to know Kinsey. She was an interesting character and I could relate to her. My favorite parts of the book were when she was trying to catch the woman who claimed her back was hurt. I loved the lengths she went to and how personally she took the whole thing. I could totally imagine myself doing something like that. It wasn't necessary to the story, but it was great for showing Kinsey's character.

Another thing that I liked was that there wasn't any confusion that a private detective was the same as a policeman, or was outside the law, or replaced the law, or anything inaccurate like that. In the few mysteries I've read, and certainly on TV, I've been frustrated by private detectives that act first and then have everything magically clean itself up because they aren't held responsible by the police for anything that happens. Right up front, we see Kinsey answering for her actions, and she does this through the whole book and she and the other private investigators are aware that of the limitations put on them. It was very refreshing and made the story much more realistic.

I guess I enjoyed the book and I liked the character, though at times I wanted to scream at her for doing something that seemed stupid to me (and sometimes was stupid). As I said, I'll probably pick up the following books as I see them in used bookstores and see where this character goes.