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Genre: Mystery Main characters: Kinsey Millhone Time and place: 1980-something, Santa Teresa Summary: The deadbeat in the title is a guy, Alvin Limardo, who came to Kinsey one day to hire her to find a certain 15 years old boy and give him something. He paid in advance but the check bounced, so Kinsey is forced to go look for him and settle things through (as she says, one cannot afford this when working on one’s own as the word gets out fast). She only manages to find out a few basics about the guy (for starters that his name was actually John Daggett and he only recently got out of jail) — when the police find his body on the beach, dead, looking like an accident. Nevertheless Kinsey has a feeling there is more to the story and, when Daggett’s daughter hires her to find out more details, she starts following each possible thread, with all the skill and the patience we’ve come to know and love. |
Kinsey is… well, the same old Kinsey: a tough little thing, a loner, trying to be the best person she can and living up to her principles. One thing I really like about her is that she’s built a nice life around her, and she is happy with it and never complaining. I was amused to see that in this book she gives up her defenses and actually starts a relationship with Jonah — a good thing for both of them although I do wonder how it will all work out in the long run. I was amused to meet in passing some other characters from the previous books (such as Mike the pink-haired teenage drug dealer from B Is For Burglar).
As usual I am wowed by Kinsey’s way to conduct her investigations: her patience in following all the possible leads and, of course, her smarts in finding those leads in the first place. As I have probably said before, watching Kinsey at work is like watching a jigsaw puzzle being solved — you never know what will come off it in the end but it’s sure to encompass all the bits and pieces found scattered along the way :)
Another thing I found interesting in the book was the questions it arose: John Daggett was in jail for “vehicular murder”, having killed five people in a drunk driving accident. While he was always a no-good fellow, does that mean his death was a reason for joy? It is perhaps interesting to notice how in front of death we all are equals: Kinsey doesn’t hesitate to search for Daggett’s murder (to avenge his death in a way), despite his (perhaps) unworthiness. It made me feel sad reading about it, the accident, the emptiness it left behind in the lives of people involved, and most of all the fact that it could not be repaired, not even by the very death of the guilty part.
What I liked most: the very idea of having a collective name for a whole building (a.k.a. when any of the tenants needed to use a fake name he used Alvin Linardo :P ). Like a very original insider joke.
Also, I was happy that the very last paragraph was included as without it the whole ending would have seemed perhaps a wee bit forced :)
What I liked least: Nothing — I love these books (the ABC series) on the whole.
Recommend it to? Anyone who enjoys mystery books and/or courageous heroines :) Although it’s part of a series the book can be very well read as a standalone.
This book is a sequel to:
A Is For Alibi
B Is For Burglar
C Is For Corpse
This book is followed by:
E Is For Evidence
F Is For Fugitive
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I am so glad you continue to like this series. :-)
These are all great books. I am up to P is for Peril at the moment. Nearly finished the series up to now.