O is for Outlaw – Background

I read O is for Outlaw a few weeks ago, back at the start of the year. I already can’t remember what it was about which I guess does not speak too well of the story.  After heading over to Goodreads, I’m reminded that book revolves around Kinsey’s first husband and the murder investigation that broke up their marriage.

Still, I’m sitting here trying to remember how did it end? And that inherently is the problem when you read a lot of mysteries. Or when you read a series of mysteries by the same author over a short period of time. The stories blur together and details get lost. I’m never sure if that’s a function of the author’s storytelling or a basic fact of reading in this manner. Since in many of the series I read, there are some stories or scenes within a story that stick with me, I think it’s more the former than the latter.

O is for Outlaw – The Story

O is for OutlawThat doesn’t speak well for O is for Outlaw, the fourteenth book in the Kinsey Millhone series. In it we learn that Kinsey’s first husband, now an out of work security guard in Los Angeles has been shot. At first a suspect, Kinsey begins to investigate the shooting which quickly leads to the past. There we find Kinsey’s husband, accused of committing a murder of his own, quits the force. When asked to cover for him, Kinsey quits the marriage and their lives part.

Now all these years later, Kinsey realizes while quitting the marriage may not have been bad, but quitting the belief that her husband was a basically good guy, might have been premature. As she unravels the mystery of his current life, it ties to the past murder and current shooting. This leads our heroine in sticky and dangerous situations.

O is for Outlaw – My Thoughts

Okay – once I started to remember the story, the details did come back to me. While I did enjoy learning a bit about Kinsey’s past, I have to say this one just didn’t do it for me as much as some of the others. Plus, I can never stand when the heroine enters life-threatening situations which you’d think at this point, she’d know better to avoid.


Though, I have to admit, it was while reading this book that I found out Sue Grafton had passed away and that Y is for Yesterday is the last alphabet book. And that alone will bump this from 2.5 stars to a 3-star (I liked it) rating.