Synopses & Reviews
Kinsey Millhone should have done something else--she should have turned the car in the direction of home. Instead, she was about to put herself in the gravest jeopardy of her career.
Tom Newquist had been a detective in the Nota Lake sheriff's office--a tough, honest cop respected by everyone. When he died suddenly, the townsfolk were saddened but not surprised: Just shy of sixty-five, Newquist worked too hard, smoked too much, and exercised too little. That plus an appetite for junk food made him a poster boy for an American Heart Association campaign. Newquist's widow didn't doubt the coroner's report. But what Selma couldn't accept was not knowing what had so bothered Tom in the last six weeks of his life. What was it that had made him prowl restlessly at night, that had him brooding constantly? Selma Newquist wanted closure, and the only way she'd get it was if she found out what it was that had so bedeviled her husband. Kinsey should have dumped the case. It was vague and hopeless, like looking for a needle in a haystack. Instead, she set up shop in Nota Lake, where she found that looking for a needle in a haystack can draw blood. Very likely, her own."N" Is for Noose: a novel in which Kinsey Millhone becomes the target and an entire town seems in for the kill.
Review
"There are few writers able to sustain this solid mixture of detection, narrative energy, and cultural observation."--Paul Skenazy,
Washington Post
Review
“Exceptionally entertaining…an offbeat sense of humor and a feisty sense of justice.”
—San Francisco Chronicle
“Millhone is an engaging detective-for-hire…P.I. Kinsey Millhone and her creator…are arguably the best of [the] distaff invaders of the hitherto sacrosanct turf of gumshoes.”
—The Buffalo News
“Once a fan reads one of Graftons alphabetically titled detective novels, he or she will not rest until all the others are found.”—Los Angeles Herald Examiner
“Millhone is a refreshingly strong and resourceful female private eye.”—Library Journal
“Tough but compassionate…There is no one better than Kinsey Millhone.”—Best Sellers
“A woman we feel we know, a tough cookie with a soft center, a gregarious loner.”—Newsweek
“Lord, how I like this Kinsey Millhone…The best detective fiction I have read in years.”—The New York Times Book Review
“Smart, tough, and thorough…Kinsey Millhone is a pleasure.”—The Bloomsbury Review
“Kinsey is one of the most persuasive of the new female operatives…Shes refreshingly free of gender clichés. Grafton, who is a very witty writer, has also given her sleuth a nice sense of humor—and a set of Wonder Woman sheets to prove it.”—Boston Herald
“What grandpa used to call a class act.”—Stanley Ellin
“Smart, sexual, likable and a very modern operator.”—Dorothy Salisbury Davis
“Kinseys got brains and a sense of humor.”—Kirkus Reviews
Review
PHENOMENAL PRAISE FOR THE MYSTERY NOVELS OF
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR
SUE GRAFTON
“Exceptionally entertaining…an offbeat sense of humor and a feisty sense of justice.” —San Francisco Chronicle
“Millhone is an engaging detective-for-hire…P.I. Kinsey Millhone and her creator…are arguably the best of [the] distaff invaders of the hitherto sacrosanct turf of gumshoes.” —The Buffalo News
“Once a fan reads one of Graftons alphabetically titled detective novels, he or she will not rest until all the others are found.”—Los Angeles Herald Examiner
“Millhone is a refreshingly strong and resourceful female private eye.”—Library Journal
“Tough but compassionate…There is no one better than Kinsey Millhone.”—Best Sellers
“A woman we feel we know, a tough cookie with a soft center, a gregarious loner.”—Newsweek
“Lord, how I like this Kinsey Millhone…The best detective fiction I have read in years.”—The New York Times Book Review
“Smart, tough, and thorough…Kinsey Millhone is a pleasure.”—The Bloomsbury Review
“Kinsey is one of the most persuasive of the new female operatives…Shes refreshingly free of gender clichés. Grafton, who is a very witty writer, has also given her sleuth a nice sense of humor—and a set of Wonder Woman sheets to prove it.”—Boston Herald
“What grandpa used to call a class act.”—Stanley Ellin
“Smart, sexual, likable and a very modern operator.”—Dorothy Salisbury Davis
“Kinseys got brains and a sense of humor.”—Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis
SMART AND SASSY (New York Times) P.I. Kinsey Millhone is at it again in N is for Noose--another thrilling adventure from the #1 New York Times bestselling author Sue Grafton
Kinsey Millhone should have done something else--she should have turned the car in the direction of home. Instead, she was about to put herself in the gravest jeopardy of her career.
Tom Newquist had been a detective in the Nota Lake sheriff's office--a tough, honest cop respected by everyone. When he died suddenly, the townsfolk were saddened but not surprised: Just shy of sixty-five, Newquist worked too hard, smoked too much, and exercised too little. That plus an appetite for junk food made him a poster boy for an American Heart Association campaign. Newquist's widow didn't doubt the coroner's report. But what Selma couldn't accept was not knowing what had so bothered Tom in the last six weeks of his life. What was it that had made him prowl restlessly at night, that had him brooding constantly? Selma Newquist wanted closure, and the only way she'd get it was if she found out what it was that had so bedeviled her husband. Kinsey should have dumped the case. It was vague and hopeless, like looking for a needle in a haystack. Instead, she set up shop in Nota Lake, where she found that looking for a needle in a haystack can draw blood. Very likely, her own.N Is for Noose: a novel in which Kinsey Millhone becomes the target and an entire town seems in for the kill.
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 Judgment
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
W Is for Wasted
X
Synopsis
Tom Newquist had been a detective in the Nota Lake sheriff's office - a tough, honest cop respected by everyone. When he died suddenly, the townsfolk were saddened but not surprised: Just shy of sixty-five, Newquist worked too hard, smoked too much, and exercised too little. Newquist's widow didn't doubt the coroner's report. But what Selma couldn't accept was not knowing what had so bothered Tom in the last six weeks of his life. What was it that had made him prowl restlessly at night, that had him brooding constantly? Selma Newquist wanted closure, and the only way she'd get it was if she found out what it was that had so bedeviled her husband. Kinsey should have dumped the case. It was vague and hopeless, like looking for a needle in a haystack. Instead, she set up shop in Nota Lake, where she found that looking for a needle in a haystack can draw blood. Very likely, her own.
Synopsis
“SMART AND SASSY” (New York Times) P.I. Kinsey Millhone is at it again in "N" is for Noose—another thrilling adventure from the #1 New York Times bestselling author Sue Grafton
Tom Newquist has died. A detective in the Nota Lake sheriffs office, Tom was tough, honest, and respected by all. He was also a heavy drinker and a workaholic, much to his wife Selmas distress. And now that Tom is gone, Selma cant help but wonder what it really was that was troubling him….
What made Tom so restless during the last six weeks of his life? Why was he up all night and brooding all day long? What—or who—was at the heart of his dark moods? With the coroners report in hand, Selma decides to enlist the help of Kinsey Millhone to find the truth about what happened to her husband.
But the residents of Nota Lake keep their secrets close—and their enemies closer. And the deeper Kinseys investigation goes, the closer she comes to confronting the most dangerous outcome of all: the truth…
About the Author
Sue Grafton is published in 28 countries and 26 languages -- including Estonian, Bulgarian, and Indonesian. She's an international bestseller with a readership in the millions. She's a writer who believes in the form that she has chosen to mine: "The mystery novel offers a world in which justice is served. Maybe not in a court of law," she has said, "but people do get their just desserts." And like Raymond Chandler and Ross Macdonald, Robert Parker and the John D. MacDonald--the best of her breed--she has earned new respect for that form. Her readers appreciate her buoyant style, her eye for detail, her deft hand with character, her acute social observances, and her abundant storytelling talents.
But who is the real Sue Grafton? Many of her readers think she is simply a version of her character and alter ego Kinsey Millhone. Here are Kinsey's own words in the early pages of N Is for Noose:
"So there I was barreling down the highway in search of employment and not at all fussy about what kind of work I'd take. I wanted distraction. I wanted some money, escape, anything to keep my mind off the subject of Robert Deitz. I'm not good at good-byes. I've suffered way too many in my day and I don't like the sensation. On the other hand, I'm not that good at relationships. Get close to someone and the next thing you know, you've given them the power to wound, betray, irritate, abandon you, or bore you senseless. My general policy is to keep my distance, thus avoiding a lot of unruly emotion. In psychiatric circles, there are names for people like me."
Those are sentiments that hit home for Grafton's readers. And she has said that Kinsey is herself, only younger, smarter, and thinner. But are they an apt description of Kinsey's creator? Well, she's been married to Steve Humphrey for more than twenty years. She has three kids and two grandkids. She loves cats, gardens, and good cuisine--not quite the nature-hating, fast-food loving Millhone. So, readers and reviewers beware. Never assume the author is the character in the book. Sue, who has a home in Montecito, California ("Santa Theresa") and another in Louisville, the city in which she was born and raised, is only in her imagination Kinsey Millhone--but what a splendid imagination it is.