Product Description

Kinsey Millhone, employed by Nord Lafferty to drive his daughter home from her incarceration at the Californian Institute for Women, marvels at the simplicity of the task. But Reba Lafferty emerges feisty and rebellious, and Kinsey is soon fighting to prevent her charge from breaking the conditions of her parole.

As she finds herself befriending the ex-gambler, ex-alcoholic and ex-con, Kinsey discovers that Reba had taken the fall for her boss, also her lover, when he conducted a highly-crafted money laundering scam. Alan Beckwith has so far escaped the clutches of the FBI. Now they believe he is laundering money for a Columbian drug cartel - they just need the proof.

When Kinsey is asked by the police to persuade Reba to unveil crucial evidence guaranteed to put Beckwith behind bars, she doesn’t expect cooperation. But when she hears of shocking new information about her lover, Reba is suddenly all too eager to do everything she can to ruin him.

Embroiled in a cunning challenge of wits, and meanwhile bemused by her own blossoming romance, Kinsey must try to control the bitter, angry Reba as she launches her dangerous revenge . . .

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #29313 in Books
• Published on: 2005-04-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 300 pages

About the Author

Sue Grafton has become one of the most popular female writers, both here and in the US. Born in Kentucky in 1940, the daughter of the mystery writer C. W. Grafton, she began her career as a TV scriptwriter before Kinsey Millhone and the ‘alphabet’ series took off. She lives and writes in Montecito, California, and Louisville, Kentucky.

Customer Reviews

R is for Ricochet, Sue Grafton
Sadly, I was rather disappointed by this book. It's not exactly a bad book, or a bad thriller, either, but I just personally wasn't very interested by it. I find financial chicanery very, very dull, and not even a writer as skilled and realiable as Grafton was able to turn me over to it. For those who follow Kinsey's life avidly, this is still a must, as her character is still excellent, and was the only part of the book which really entertained me (well, Reba Lafferty did as well; but only as a character, not in terms of her plot). There are some very interesting developments, too. But sadly I just can't get excited by this book. Considering that I've loved almost everything she's written in the past (especially the last offering, Q), I'll forgive her this. Besides, the problem's mainly just on my part anyway. After all, every book is someone's award-winner (just look at vernon God Little).

R is for Ricochet, Sue Grafton
Sadly, I was rather disappointed by this book. It's not exactly a bad book, or a bad thriller, either, but I just personally wasn't very interested by it. I find financial chicanery very, very dull, and not even a writer as skilled and realiable as Grafton was able to turn me over to it. For those who follow Kinsey's life avidly, this is still a must, as her character is still excellent, and was the only part of the book which really entertained me (well, Reba Lafferty did as well; but only as a character, not in terms of her plot). There are some very interesting developments, too. But sadly I just can't get excited by this book. Considering that I've loved almost everything she's written in the past (especially the last offering, Q), I'll forgive her this. Besides, the problem's mainly just on my part anyway. After all, every book is someone's award-winner (just look at vernon God Little).

R is for Rather Disappointed
Maybe I just spent too long looking forward to the publication of this book... well, I enjoyed all the others so much... so that when I received the book I began to wonder when Kinsey would actually begin participating in the story.

The story was involving, following Reba Lafferty's release from jail, gradually stumbling and slipping back into the life-style that put her there in the first place. In the meantime, Kinsey played the role of child-minder, trying to keep her on the straight and narrow for the sake of Reba's father. A role that seemed a little at odds to me with Kinsey's character and some of her activities in previous books.

Normally a strong but defensive character, also capable of being mischievous sensible, I felt Kinsey had been altered. While Kinsey warned Reba of the dangers of drinking, drugs and breaking and entering, I felt Kinsey was being made a more pious character than she had been before. Reba had become the adventurer, leaving Kinsey the rather disappointing role of monitor and chaperone.

Perhaps this book serves to mark a developmental change in Kinsey as she becomes more settled, no longer dons her multi-identity boiler suit to carry out illegal searches of offices and takes to frowning at those who leave at a moment's notice for other states in America. Perhaps this is the effect the man in her life has on her, an aspect I found her too eager to embrace! But maybe that's just me!

All in all, I enjoyed the book, but I don't feel it was a Kinsey Millhone adventure. I missed Kinsey, and although she acknowledged sometimes in life we are not the main characters, I had been looking forward to spending some more quality time!