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Book Reviews of P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16)

P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16)
P is for Peril - Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16
Author: Sue Grafton
ISBN-13: 9780399147197
ISBN-10: 0399147195
Publication Date: 2001
Pages: 352
Rating:
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 244

4 stars, based on 244 ratings
Publisher: Putnam Publishing Group
Book Type: Hardcover
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

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

xmascarol avatar reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 261 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
I loved all the books in this series enough to read each one twice.
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 58 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
This is a great series from A-S. It is also a fast read
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 11 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
I love the alphabet series. Sue Grafton knows how to put you at the scene.
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 27 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Another excellent book by Sue Grafton. Couldn't put it down.
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 84 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Kinsey is on the hunt again! She has been hired by the exwife of a local Dr. to find him or else why he has disappered. Good Read!
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 111 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
The story begins when Kinsey, against her better judgment, accepts an assignment from crusty interior designer Fiona Purcell. Fiona's ex-husband, prominent Santa Theresa physician Dowan Purcell, has been missing for several weeks. Chief administrator for a nursing home called Pacific Meadows, Purcell left work at the usual time one Friday night and has not been heard from since. Local police have made little or no progress in tracing him, and Kinsey finds herself following in their footsteps, futilely attempting to make sense of an elusive, increasingly remote event.

Kinsey's investigation takes her beneath the placid surface of a respected doctor's life, revealing an unexpectedly problematic underside. The Dowan Purcell who gradually emerges is a secret drinker with a propensity for kinky sex. His second marriage -- to former stripper Crystal Muscoe -- has a carefully concealed dark side that manifests itself in the rebellious behavior of his troubled teenage stepdaughter, Leila. Purcell's professional life proves equally problematic: Pacific Meadows is currently being investigated for numerous counts of Medicare fraud. Picking her way slowly through this lethal combination of elements, Kinsey searches, with typical persistence, for the key to Dowan Purcell's disappearance.
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 2 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Good Book - Wished for a better ending.
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 44 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Good book, twists and turns on every page.
Tata avatar reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 135 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
It has been awhile since I read this book as I am now waiting for "T" to come out. I have enjoyed all of her books except "S".
sharrona avatar reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 207 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Kinsey Millhone, Santa Teresa California private investigator, always charms and thrills her fans. What will we do when Sue Grafton runs out of alphabet?
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 143 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Fun-super fast read. But a challenging, exciting case.
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 5 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
I really enjoy all of these Kinsey Millhone mysteries. Excellent read.
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 8 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Grafton's character, Kinsey Milhone, has been a thoroughly entertaining read. The series is great and I'm working my way through them all!
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 216 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
I wish Hollywood would make a movie or two based on Kinsy Millhone. They would be hilarious.
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 8 more book reviews
Great book series. Kinsey Milhone is a likeable character, makes you want to stay up reading!!
txladyrah avatar reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 180 more book reviews
Crackles with suspense and pops with surprises.
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 13 more book reviews
Grafton is amazing. Still going strong with this terrific mystery series.
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 37 more book reviews
Another great installment of the wise-cracking PI. Kinsey. You absolutely have to love a woman who knows how to get by with one basic black dress, make you laugh, and catch the bad guys. Yummy reading. Perfect for summer or anytime.
Chitimacha-Princess avatar reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 586 more book reviews
Back Cover:

"Kinsey Millhone never sees it coming. S is mired in the case of a doctor who disappeared, his angry ex-wife, and beautiful current one--a case that is full of unfinished business, unfinished homes, and people drifting in and out of their own lives. Then Kinsey gets a shock. A man she finds attractive is hiding a fatal secret--and now a whole lot of beauty, money and lies are proving to be a fatal distraction from what Kinsey should have seen all along; a killer standing right before her eyes..."
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 106 more book reviews
I really enjoy the witty dialog and keeps-you-guessing suspense in Sue Grafton's novels, and this one doesn't disappoint.
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 57 more book reviews
Ongoing series of mysteries with private detective, Kinsey Milhone. Set in southern California. Good plot, suspensful, and a fun read.
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 170 more book reviews
This was a great story to listen to on a recent trip I took by car... it keeps you guessing and certainly made the trip fly by!!! Great "listen to" novel!!!
rettaliny avatar reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 60 more book reviews
Ecellent story. Love the alphabet series.
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 56 more book reviews
Just another good book in a good detective series.
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 44 more book reviews
A typical Kinsey Millhone detective mystery!! Grafton is still a master at keeping you glued to the book until the very end!
DsuzieC avatar reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 159 more book reviews
I enjoy the Kinsey Millhone series.
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on
Kinsey Milhone is such fun to follow, book to book!
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 12 more book reviews
I read this right after reading "O" is for Outlaw. Sue Grafton is never boring, and neither is Kinsey Millhone for that matter. Good twist in this one.
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 6 more book reviews
Honestly, not her best work but still worth the read.
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 275 more book reviews
Grafton is always good read.
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 102 more book reviews
I must be getting old...This book seemed to be so slow moving. I wanted it to get to the point!
mpontalba avatar reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 43 more book reviews
The 19th Kinsey Milhone mystery finds her distracted from her current case by a fatally attractive man
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 8 more book reviews
I love the entire Sue Grafton series.... murder mysterys with a human possible twist.
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 47 more book reviews
Kinsey Millhone is trying to find out what happened to a doctor that has disappeared. He has an ex-wife & a current wife. Another book that keeps you guessing until the end.
FamFatale avatar reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 369 more book reviews
A most satisfying read.
DameEdna avatar reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 149 more book reviews
The Sue Grafton books helped open up the world of "hard-boiled" detectives to women. Her protagonist, Kinsey Milhone, is smart, tough and thoroughly believable.
maurac23 avatar reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on
excellent installment of the Kinsey Millhone series.
mysteryfan avatar reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 43 more book reviews
I just finished this book and reallyy enjoyed it. Grafton is an excellent novelist that keeps you in suspence. I know anyone that enjoys mystery, suspense and drama will really enjoy this boo.
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 20 more book reviews
Great read
Pattakins avatar reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 365 more book reviews
P is for Peril is the another of Sue Grafton's quests to cover the entire alphabet with Kinsey Millhone mysteries. It's a very good mystery, but G is for Gumshoe still has to be my favorite!

P is for Peril has Kinsey hired by a bitter ex-wife to try to find a missing doctor. Dr. Dowan Purcell disappeared leaving many unanswered questions and speculation of fraudulent Medicare claims at the nursing home he runs. There seem to be many questions and no answers, so it's Kinsey's job to try to find him and get those answers.

Seems like a simple cookie-cutter type mystery plot, right? Not on your life! Throw in the current wife, a former stripper, with a teenage daughter whose sole purpose in life is to annoy adults and despise any and all authority. This current wife, Crystal, is rumored to be having an affair with her personal trainer. Then there's Crystal's ex-husband who still believes she's coming back to him.

When Kinsey finds the good doctor's body, murder and not suicide is the outcome and these characters each have their own motives for wanting him dead. Even though she's off the case, Kinsey can't let it go and digs even deeper to find the identity of the killer
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 114 more book reviews
Another great entry in this series.
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 11 more book reviews
Sue Grafton's character, Kinsey Millhone, is a tough chick with a soft inside. You get so engrossed in the story, you're sad when it ends.

The book jacket is a bit ruffled, but the book itself is in fine condition.
carlamo avatar reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 269 more book reviews
Another good one by Grafton
wss4 avatar reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 389 more book reviews
SYNOPSIS
Dr. Dowan Purcell had been missing for nine weeks when Kinsey got a call asking her to take on the case. A specialist in geriatric medicine, Purcell was a prominent member of the Santa Theresa medical community, and the police had done a thorough job. Purcell had no known enemies and seemed content with his life. At the time of his disappearance, he was running a nursing care facility where both the staff and the patients loved him. He adored his second wife, Crystal, and doted on their two-year-old son.
It wasn't Crystal who called Kinsey. It was Purcell's ex-wife, Fiona. Everything about their meeting made Kinsey uneasy. Fiona's manner was high-handed and her expectations unrealistic. Kinsey's instincts told her to refuse the job, yet she ended up saying, "I'll do what I can, but I make no promises."
robinmy avatar reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 2097 more book reviews
Good mystery.
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 99 more book reviews
P is for peris. Crackels with suspence and pops with surprises.
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 19 more book reviews
Kinsey Millhone is investigating the case of a missing docotr, his angry ex-wife and the beautiful current wife. Grafton is able to come up with new ideas for this format. You want to keep reading to the conclusion of the case.
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 144 more book reviews
Kinsey is at it again. Great!
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 3561 more book reviews
Beautiful gift copy.
She's every lover's feisty girlfriend.
She's every father's courageous daughter.

She's every woman's tough, vulnerable, and spirited alter ego.

She's Kinsey Millhone, familiar to millions of readers around the globe, and she's back in full stride in P is for Peril, her latest venture into the darker side of the human soul. Mordant, mocking, and deceptively low-key, hers is a voice we know we can trust, from a character we've come to love.

Through fifteen novels, Sue Grafton has gone from strength to strength, never writing the same book twice. So it's no surprise that she has taken on new territory in her sixteenth, this time entering the world of noir. It's a world cast in shades of black amid shafts of steel and silver, a shadow land in which the mysterious disappearance of a prominent physician leads Kinsey into a danger-filled maze of duplicity and double-dealing as she taps into the intricacies of a cunning Medicare fraud.

P is for Peril: the novel in which Millhone stakes her life on a thin thread of intuition because the facts glint elusively out of reach and only guesses offer any shot at the truth.

"Unlike many detective series, Grafton's seems only to get better each time out," wrote Entertainment Weekly, and P is for Peril is a case in point. Pushing herself, reaching further with each new book, Sue Grafton delivers every time.
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 6 more book reviews
Sue Grafton...my favorite author. Always a good read!
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 4 more book reviews
Grafton delievers - always a good hot chocolate read!
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 157 more book reviews
great book
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 46 more book reviews
Kinsey Millhone at her best!
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 79 more book reviews
16 in series
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 42 more book reviews
Grafton is an excellent writer!
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 210 more book reviews
A great read!
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 75 more book reviews
Another book in the Kinsey Millhone series. She is doing her usual sleuthing, involving a doctor who has disappeared, his angry ex-wife and his beautiful new one. Ms. Grafton does a great job in keeping her stories individual and always interesting. I really enjoyed this one!
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 16 more book reviews
Kinsey Millhone's investigation into the investigation of the disappearance of Dr. Dowan Purcell. Sue Grafton as always satisfies one's desire for a good read.
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 329 more book reviews
I love all the alphabet books but this has been the best one I have read so far. Enjoyed the mystery, characters and the humor in this book.
alaskanbat avatar reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 72 more book reviews
I love this series. This is a duplicate, it's the only reason I would get rid of this author!
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 27 more book reviews
In her latest adventure, Kinsey Millhone enters the world of noir. A shadowland in which the mysterious disappearance of a prominent physician leads Kinsey into a danger-filled maze of duplicity and double-dealing... It is now nine weeks since Dr Dowan Purcell vanished without trace. The sixtynine-year-old doctor had said goodnight to his colleagues at the Pacific Meadows nursing home, had climbed into his car and driven away - never to be seen again. His embittered first wife Fiona is convinced he is still alive. His second wife, Crystal - a former stripper forty years his junior - is just as sure he is dead. Enter private investigator Kinsey Malone, hired by Fiona to find out just what has happened to the man they loved. Enter also Tommy Hevener, an attractive flame-haired twenty-something who has set his romantic sights on Kinsey. And Tommy is a man with a very interesting past
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 8 more book reviews
love grafton
freeverse071681 avatar reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 609 more book reviews
Dr. Dowan Purcell had been missing for nine weeks when Kinsey got a call asking her to take on the case. A specialist in geriatric medicine, Purcell was a prominent member of the Santa Teresa medical community, and the police had done a thorough job. Purcell had no known enemies and seemed contented with his life. At the time of his disappearance, he was running a nursing care facility where both the staff and the patients loved him. He adored his second wife, Crystal, and doted on their two-year-old son.

It wasn't Crystal who called Kinsey. It was Purcell's ex-wife, Fiona. Everything about their meeting made Kinsey uneasy. Fiona's manner was high-handed and her expectations unrealistic. Kinsey's instincts told her to refuse the job, yet she ended up saying, "I'll do what I can, but I make no promises."

It was a decision she'd live to regret.

Pursuing the mysterious disappearance of Purcell, Kinsey crashes into a wall of speculation. It seems everyone has a theory. The cops think he went on a bender and is too ashamed to come home. Fiona is sure he ran off to get away from Crystal, and Crystal is just as sure he's dead. The staff at the nursing home is convinced he's been kidnapped, and one of his daughters, having consulted a psychic, is certain that he's trapped in a dark place, though she doesn't know where. Kinsey is awash in explanations and sorely lacking in facts. Then pure chance leads her in another direction, and she soon finds herself in a dangerous shadow land, where duplicity and double-dealing are the reality and, with the truth glinting elusively out of reach, she must stake her life on a thin tread of intuition.

"P" is for Peril: Kinsey Millhone's latest venture into the darker side of the human soul.
galnsearch avatar reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 143 more book reviews
Typical Sue Grafton. Dr. Dowan Purcell was running a nursing care facility when he disappeared. It wasn't his current wife who called Kinsey, it was his ex-wife.

Donna V.
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 367 more book reviews
When Dowan Purcell, a respected physician who operates a nursing home, disappears, his ex-wife hires Santa Teresa PI Kinsey Millhone to look into it. Fiona Purcell is still seething over Dow's affair and subsequent marriage to Crystal, a former stripper, yet they're still friends, and she seems worried. But when his body is discovered, she's among the suspects. Both of Dow's wives, at least one of his business partners, and perhaps even Crystal's teenage daughter had motives to kill.

While in her most recent adventures (N Is for Noose, O Is for Outlaw) Kinsey has acquired new digs, an extended family, and a few more gray hairs, in this one (which takes place some time in the mid-'80s), she's 36, still living in the remodeled garage that was blown up in an earlier novel. Easier than a facelift, and while Sue Grafton is a solid enough writer to pull it off, dedicated Kinsey fans will miss the more complex and multidimensional character who aged so ruefully and interestingly in the '90s. This isn't Grafton's strongest case; it's hard to care about any of Purcell's women or his associates. More exciting is the secondary plot, which involves a handsome landlord who offers Kinsey the new office space she's been seeking and turns out to be a lot more trouble than she bargained for. Despite its somewhat plodding pace and the echo of a more evolved heroine that rings through its pages, Grafton's many fans will probably shoot P Is for Peril right to the top of the bestseller list.
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 16 more book reviews
"Book for book, this may be the most satisfying mystery series going." --The Wall Street Journal
doatylucky avatar reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 23 more book reviews
Dr. Purcell is missing. His ex-wife calls Kinsey to find him. She blames the new wife and her affair. The office thinks it's Medicare Fraud.
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 65 more book reviews
Not my kind of book.
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 17 more book reviews
Kinsey Millhone never sees it coming. She is mired in the case of a doctor who disappeared, his angry ex-wife, and beautiful current one-a case that is full of unfinished buisness, unfinished homes, and people drifting in and out of their own lives.
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 711 more book reviews
Kinsey Millhone never sees it coming. She is mired in the case of a doctor who disappeared, his angry ex-wife, and beautiful current one---a case that is full of unfinished business, unfinished homes, and people drifting in and out of their own lives. Then Kinsey gets a shock. A man she finds attractive is hiding a fatal secret---and now a whole lot of beauty, money, and lies are proving to be a fatal distraction from what Kinsey should have seen all along: a killer standing right before her eyes...
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 6 more book reviews
Didn't read this one. I picked it up at a paperback exchange and was waiting to read the previous books but never got around to it.
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 373 more book reviews
Kinsey Millhone never sees it coming. She is mired in the case of a doctor who disappeared, his angry ex-wife, and beautiful current one - a case that is full of unfinished business, unfinished homes, and people drifting in and out of their own lives. Then Kinsey gets a shock. A man she finds attractive is hiding a fatal secret - and now a whole lot of beauty, money, and lies are proving to be a tatal distraction from what Kinsey should have seen all along: a killer standing right before her eyes...
CraftyTJ avatar reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 381 more book reviews
Amazon.com
When Dowan Purcell, a respected physician who operates a nursing home, disappears, his ex-wife hires Santa Teresa PI Kinsey Millhone to look into it. Fiona Purcell is still seething over Dow's affair and subsequent marriage to Crystal, a former stripper, yet they're still friends, and she seems worried. But when his body is discovered, she's among the suspects. Both of Dow's wives, at least one of his business partners, and perhaps even Crystal's teenage daughter had motives to kill.
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 24 more book reviews
Dr. Dowan Purcell had been missing for nine weeks when Kinsey got a call asking her to take on the case. A specialist in geriatric medicine, Purcell was a prominent member of the Santa Teresa medical community, and the police had done a thorough job. Purcell had no known enemies and seemed contented with his life. At the time of his disappearance, he was running a nursing care facility where both the staff and the patients loved him. He adored his second wife, Crystal, and doted on their two-year-ole son. It wasn't Crystal who called Kinsey. It was Purcell's ex-wife, Fiona. Everything about their meeting made Kinsey uneasy, Fiona's manner was high-handed and her expectations unrealistic. Kinsey's instincts told her to refuse the job, yet she ended up saying, "I'll do what I can, but I make no promises." It was a decision she'd live to regret.
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 711 more book reviews
Dr. Dowan Purcell had been missing for nine weeks when Kinsey got a call asking her to take on the case. A specialist in geriatric medicine, Purcell was a prominent member of the Santa Teresa medical community, and the police had done a thorough job. Purcell had no known enemies and seemed contented with his life. At the time of his disappearance, he was running a nursing care facility where both the staff and patients loved him. He adored his second wife, Crystal, and doted on their two-year-old son. It wasn't Crystal who called Kinsey. It was Purcell's ex-wife, Fiona. Kinsey's instincts told her to refuse the job, yet she ended up saying, "i"ll do what I can, but I make no promises." It was a decision she'd live to regret.
reviewed P is for Peril (Kinsey Millhone, Bk 16) on + 112 more book reviews
I have not read this book it was given to me by a friend.Grafton seems to be a popular author though.