Review: B is for Burglar (S. Grafton)
Title: B is for Burglar
Author: Sue Grafton
Rating: 3/5 Stars
Series: Kinsey Millhone (Book 2)
Why?: Recommended
This book was a very wild ride. Every single time I thought I had the whole thing figured out, another wrench got thrown in the whole scenario and I realized that I knew absolutely nothing. (You know nothing, Jon Snow)
ANYWAY.
This is one of those series (at least so far) where you don't necessarily NEED to read the first book in order to read the next one, but it definitely helps because there are little easter-eggy things thrown in there that wouldn't make a ton of sense if you hadn't read the first one. But it's nothing major, and you can understand the book and its plot just fine without understanding the minor references.
Speaking of the plot... oh my.
At first I thought I had the whole thing figured out. I was convinced that the sister had hired like a hitman or something to kill her and then for some reason decided to grow a conscience and report her death in some roundabout way. Then I thought that this Pat Usher had killed her because she wanted her extravagant lifestyle. Then I had no idea what was going on and by the time the big reveal was made it was truly a huge shock. The ending of the first book was super predictable, the ending of this one was not. But I won't say anything because spoilers.
Once again, a huge thing I loved about this book was the fact that Kinsey actually has to work for her answers. Like I mentioned in my other review, I hate it when the answer is just served on a platter to the main character because it makes me feel like it's all much too convenient. Why does everything magically work for this character when it wouldn't in the real world? I like a certain amount of reality infused in my books, thank you very much.
The only reasons I gave this book a rating on the higher end of three stars versus four stars is because of the running, and the fact that it's taking me a little time to get used to Grafton's style of writing. I feel like the running doesn't really fit in with the rest of the story, it seems a little out of place and inhibits the flow of the story. I have nothing against the running itself (and actually find the descriptions of running to be quite accurate, as I run and I can definitely say it's not always the most fun activity around), or the fact that Kinsey runs, but the way it's thrown into the story just rubs me the wrong way. I'm still getting used to Grafton's style, which is a lot shorter and/or choppier than I'm used to, but I like it!
This is a quick, easy read, and extremely intriguing. I would definitely recommend it for people who are trying to get more into the mystery genre!