Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Reviews of K is for Killer (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 11)

K is for Killer (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 11)
K is for Killer - Kinsey Millhone, Bk 11
Author: Sue Grafton
ISBN-13: 9780449221501
ISBN-10: 0449221504
Publication Date: 1995
Pages: 320
Rating:
  • Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
 421

3.9 stars, based on 421 ratings
Publisher: Fawcett
Book Type: Paperback
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

45 Book Reviews submitted by our Members...sorted by voted most helpful

FamFatale avatar reviewed K is for Killer (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 11) on + 369 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
You can't go wrong reading a Sue Grafton book. Kinsey Milhone is smart, slightly offbeat, but totally relateable.
compkatthewriter avatar reviewed K is for Killer (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 11) on
Helpful Score: 1
Is it me or are these books starting to lose their originality and freshness?
reviewed K is for Killer (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 11) on + 330 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Asked to investigate the death of 25-year-old Lorna Kepler, which occurred 10 months earlier, P.I. Kinsey Millhone uncovers the young woman's secret life as a high-class call girl, her half a million dollars in blue-chip investments, but no clue as to the murderer. The main plot is strengthened by several subplots including the whereabouts of a $20,000 withdrawal made the day of Lorna's death; the misleading spying antics of her landlord's wife; and the greed and jealousy of the victim's overweight older sister.
Pattakins avatar reviewed K is for Killer (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 11) on + 365 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
This Kinsey Millhone story is a little different than we've seen in the past as there's more humor involved, but Kinsey is showing the personality traits that we've all come to know, love and expect from this character. Kinsey is the same tough, funny, take-no-prisoners private investigator that I missed. I hope Ms. Grafton has learned from the past and won't try to tone down Kinsey's personality again.

In this tale, a mother believes her daughter's death a year ago is the result of anything but natural causes, which is what the police determined after their investigation. Not giving up, she hires Kinsey. Kinsey finally agrees to take the case and we're off on a roller coaster ride through her exploration into the death of a secretary who has more money than she should have given her meager job earnings. This ride resembles the newer coasters out there today - lots of twists, turns, and loops, but above all it's a fast, thrilling adventure.

This book was reminiscent of the old Sue Grafton, the style that made us fall in love with her writing and heroine in the beginning of the alphabet series. I was beginning to wonder if I could continue after the last few books, but with this one as entertaining as it was, I'm looking forward to continuing along the alphabet journey of mystery.
reviewed K is for Killer (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 11) on + 13 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Another great mystery with Kinsey. This series is like candy! Can't stop consuming!
reviewed K is for Killer (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 11) on + 3 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Excellent book. I love this whole Grafton series. Could not put them down!
reviewed K is for Killer (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 11) on + 155 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Kinsey gets better and better...
reviewed K is for Killer (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 11) on + 7 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Wow! What an interesting and fun murder mystery to read. As usual
Kinsey Millhone, PI gets involved in a very unusual case that takes her into the porn/prostitution world.
reviewed K is for Killer (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 11) on + 15 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Loved this book. I am addicted to this series.
reviewed K is for Killer (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 11) on + 10 more book reviews
Another great Sue Grafton mystery with Kinsey.
sapphire80 avatar reviewed K is for Killer (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 11) on + 21 more book reviews
I have to say of all the books in the Alphabet series I've read to date, this is my least favorite. I was sucked in immediately and couldn't put the book down...that is, until the end. What a waste! It left me feeling??? Loose ends galore! I understand what Sue Grafton was trying to do, but I think she could've answered a few questions before just ending it. It felt like to me, it was an "easy" way out. I will start "L" soon and hoping not to be let down this time.
reviewed K is for Killer (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 11) on + 121 more book reviews
Another great Grafton book!
darkcoffeeclouds avatar reviewed K is for Killer (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 11) on + 114 more book reviews
I liked this book. The story kept my attention from start to finish and even though I had some ideas about who did it I wasn't entirely correct. I hate it when a story is too easy to figure out. This story really had me thinking through details and at times questioning everyone. This may actually be my new favorite in this series.
reviewed K is for Killer (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 11) on
A good series, always get sucked into the plots.
reviewed K is for Killer (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 11) on + 93 more book reviews
Good book. Kind of slow moving in some places.
xmascarol avatar reviewed K is for Killer (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 11) on + 261 more book reviews
I hope you'll love the Sue Grafton books as much as I do. I like mysteries that are about a private investigator.. This one is named Kinsey Milhone.. I believe I have all of this series and will be posting more later.
icesk8tr avatar reviewed K is for Killer (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 11) on + 363 more book reviews
Another good Kinsey mystery! Really makes you think!
reviewed K is for Killer (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 11) on + 46 more book reviews
Loved it!
cyndij avatar reviewed K is for Killer (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 11) on + 1032 more book reviews
After it gets moving, there's a few suspects to consider; I ended up guessing the right one but it was just a guess - I didn't have a motive in mind, I just guessed. Since it was a cold case, Kinsey spends a lot of time flailing around trying to come up with any thread to pull on, and I thought that got a bit tedious. I thought her sudden BFF thing with Danielle was odd - was it the haircut? And the ending was...unsatisfactory. I understood the why of the phone call, but I was surprised she then walked right into the lair with no plan. Grafton has shown us that Kinsey is impulsive I guess. but still... Anyway, color me neutral to mid-favorable on this one.
reviewed K is for Killer (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 11) on + 21 more book reviews
Enjoyable series. Light read.
reviewed K is for Killer (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 11) on
Who could not like the tough, independent, yet somehow vulnerable Kinsey Millhone? I have enjoyed every book in this alphabetically-titled series immensely.
reviewed K is for Killer (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 11) on + 6 more book reviews
This is one of my favorite Sue Grafton
reviewed K is for Killer (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 11) on + 9 more book reviews
Another Sue Grafton hit!
reviewed K is for Killer (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 11) on + 13 more book reviews
I love the Sue Grafton mysteries. They are a fun read. I oftentimes dont figure out who the killer is until late in the book.
reviewed K is for Killer (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 11) on + 39 more book reviews
A little slow, but not bad.
reviewed K is for Killer (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 11) on + 3561 more book reviews
The 11th adventure of Santa Teresa, Calif., PI Kinsey Milhone has a dark tone--due in great part to Kinsey's working this case mostly at night. Kinsey agrees to look into the 10-month-old death of Lorna Kepler, a young woman whose decomposed body was discovered in her cabin so long after death that it was impossible to determine the cause. Kinsey's client, Lorna's mother, who works the night shift in a 24-hour diner, suspects murder. So does Kinsey, especially after investigating Lorna's effects and her considerable assets, some unaccounted-for. An anonymously delivered tape adds to the emerging portrait of the dead woman as an intriguingly self-sufficient, ambitious woman of the evening. In nighttime forays, Kinsey talks to an all-night deejay whom Lorna often visited at his studio; she meets--and befriends--a woman who occasionally teamed up with Lorna to party with clients. She also investigates the victim's day job as a part-time receptionist for the water district, where a high-stakes development project is currently raising tempers. A host of suspects includes a filmmaker in San Francisco, members of Lorna's family, her landlord, the water district employees and even a smooth-dressing cop, whom Kinsey talks to at night. But lack of sleep dulls Kinsey's perceptions and it takes two more deaths and the surprise appearance of a deus ex limousine to lead her to a solution.
reviewed K is for Killer (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 11) on + 329 more book reviews
Another good read by Sue Grafton. I never saw this ending coming.
reviewed K is for Killer (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 11) on + 167 more book reviews
Another good one with Kinsey Millhone!
buzzby avatar reviewed K is for Killer (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 11) on + 6062 more book reviews
Not as good as the vowels, but at least better than the fricatives.
ShareBear avatar reviewed K is for Killer (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 11) on + 159 more book reviews
11th in her alphabet series. Another great mystery.
reviewed K is for Killer (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 11) on + 58 more book reviews
Love Sue Grafton!!
reviewed K is for Killer (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 11) on + 21 more book reviews
"Another Sue Grafton gem..the most ambitious and perhaps the best yet." (Wall Street Journal). Another superb read.
reviewed K is for Killer (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 11) on + 9 more book reviews
Sue Grafton's alphabet books are the best. Love reading them all.
reviewed K is for Killer (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 11) on + 367 more book reviews
When Kinsey Millhone answers her office door late one night, she lets in more darkness than she realizes. Janice Kepler is a grieving mother who can't let the death of her beautiful daughter Lorna alone. The police agree that Lorna was murdered, but a suspect was never apprehended and the trail is now ten months cold. Kinsey pieces together Lorna's young life: a dull day job a the local water treatment plant spiced by sidelines in prostitution and pornography. She tangles with Lorna's friends: a local late-night DJ; a sweet, funny teenaged hooker; Lorna's sloppy landlord and his exotic wife. But to find out which one, if any, turned killer, Kinsey will have to inhabit a netherworld from which she may never return.
reviewed K is for Killer (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 11) on + 14 more book reviews
Sue Grafton is always good.
Handlebars avatar reviewed K is for Killer (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 11) on + 153 more book reviews
The 11th adventure of Santa Teresa, Calif., PI Kinsey Milhone has a dark tone--due in great part to Kinsey's working this case mostly at night. Kinsey agrees to look into the 10-month-old death of Lorna Kepler, a young woman whose decomposed body was discovered in her cabin so long after death that it was impossible to determine the cause. Kinsey's client, Lorna's mother, who works the night shift in a 24-hour diner, suspects murder. So does Kinsey, especially after investigating Lorna's effects and her considerable assets, some unaccounted-for. An anonymously delivered pornographic tape adds to the emerging portrait of the dead woman as an intriguingly self-sufficient, ambitious woman of the evening. In nighttime forays, Kinsey talks to an all-night deejay whom Lorna often visited at his studio; she meets--and befriends--a prostitute who occasionally teamed up with Lorna to party with clients. She also investigates the victim's day job as a part-time receptionist for the water district, where a high-stakes development project is currently raising tempers. A host of suspects includes a porn filmmaker in San Francisco, members of Lorna's family, her landlord, the water district employees and even a smooth-dressing cop, whom Kinsey talks to at night. But lack of sleep dulls Kinsey's perceptions and it takes two more deaths and the surprise appearance of a deus ex limousine to lead her to a solution. Even sleep-deprived, Kinsey shows spunk and appeal, but she is not at her sharpest here.
reviewed K is for Killer (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 11) on + 130 more book reviews
Lorna Kepler was beautiful and willful, a loner who couldn't resist flirting with danger. Maybe that's what killed her. Her death had raised a host of tough questions. The cops suspected homicide, but they could find neither motive nor suspect. Even the means were mysterious: Lorna's body was so badly decomposed when it was discovered that they couldn't be certain she hadn't died of natural causes. In the way of overworked cops everywhere, the case was gradually shifted to the back burner and became another unsolved file. Only Lorna's mother kept it alive, consumed by the certainty that somebody out there had gotten away with murder. In the ten months since her daughter's death, Janice Kepler had joined a support group, trying to come to terms with her loss and her anger. It wasn't helping. And so, leaving a session one evening and noticing a light on in the offices of Millhone Investigations, she knocked on the door. In answering that knock, Kinsey Millhone is pulled into the netherworld of unavenged murder, where only a pact with the devil will satisfy the restless ghosts of the victims and give release to the living they have left behind. Eleven books into the series that has won her readers around the world, Sue Grafton takes a darkside turn, pitching us into a shadow land of pain and grief where killers still walk free, unaccused, unpunished, unrepentant. With "K" Is for Killer she offers a tale that is dark, complex, and deeply disturbing.
reviewed K is for Killer (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 11) on + 11 more book reviews
Featuring Kinsey Millhone, P.I., the star of the "alphabet novels".
reviewed K is for Killer (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 11) on + 199 more book reviews
Kinsey's latest case has her looking for the killer of her client's daughter.
reviewed K is for Killer (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 11) on + 144 more book reviews
When Kinsey Millhone answers her office door late one night, she lets in more darkness than she realizes. Janice Kepler is a grieving mother who can't let the death of her beautiful daughter Lorna alone... great series!
reviewed K is for Killer (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 11) on + 711 more book reviews
When Kinsey Millhone answers her office door late one night, she lets in more darkness than she realizes. Janice Kepler is a grieving mother who can't let the death of her beautiful daughter Lorna alone. The police agree that Lorna was murdered but a suspect was never apprehended; the trail is now ten months cold. Kinsey pieces together Lorna's young life: a dull day job at the local water treatment plant spiced by sidelines in prostitution and pronography. She tanles with Lorna's friends: a local late-night DJ; a sweet, funny teenaged hooker; Lorna's sloppy landlord and his exotic wife; her all-business boss; the wealthy nurse whose house and elderly father Lorna baby-sat. But to find out which one, if any, turned killer, Kinsey will have to inhabit a netherworld from which she may never return...
HowieB avatar reviewed K is for Killer (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 11) on + 72 more book reviews
When Kinsey Millhoneanswers her office door late one night, she lets in more darkness than she realizes. Janice Kepler is a grieving mother who can't let the death of her beatiful daughter Lorna alone. The police agree that Lorna was murdered, but a suspect was never apprehended: the trail is now 10 months cold. Kinsey pieces together Lorna's young life: a dull day job at the local water treatment plant spiced by sidelines in prostitution and pornography. Sje tangles with Lorna's friends: a local late-night DJ; a sweet funny teenage hooker; Lorna's sloppy landlord and his exotic wife; her all-business boss; the wealthy nurse whose house and elderly father Lorna baby-sat. But to find out which one , if any , turned killer, Kinsey will have to inhabit a netherworld from which she may never return.
Chitimacha-Princess avatar reviewed K is for Killer (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 11) on + 586 more book reviews
When Kinsey Millhone answers her office door late one night, she lets in more darkness than she realizes. Janice Kepler is a grieving mother who can't let the death of her beautiful daughter Lorna alone. The police agree that Lorna was murdered but a suspect was never apprehended; the trail is now ten months cold. Kinsey pieces together Lorna's young life: a dull job at the local water treatment plant spiced by sidelines in prostituition and pornography. She tangles with Lorna;s friends: a local late night DJ; a sweet funny teenaged hooker; Lorna;s sloppy landlord and his exotic wife; her all business boss; the wealthy nurse who house and elderly father Lorna baby sat. But to find out which one, if any, turned killer, Kinsey will have to inhabit a netherworld from which she may never return.....
reviewed K is for Killer (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 11) on + 19 more book reviews
Another excellent story! When Kinsey Milhone answers her office door late one night, she lets in more darkness than she realizes. Janice Kepler is a grieving mother who can't let the death of her beautiful daughter Lorna alone. The police agree that Lorna was murdered but a suspect was never apprehended; the trail is now ten months cold. Kinsey pieces together Lorna's young life: a dull day job at the local water treatment plant spiced by sidelines in prostitution and pronography. she tangles with Lorna's friends: a local late-night DJ; a sweet, funny teenaged hooker; Lorna's sloppy landlord and his exotic wife; her all-business boss; the wealthy nurse whose house and elderly father Lorna baby-sat. but to find out which one, if any, turned killer, Kinsey will have to inhabit a netherworld from which she may never return.
mahuff avatar reviewed K is for Killer (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 11) on + 41 more book reviews
Has a different cover on it