Book
"O" is for outlaw
Record details
- ISBN: 0805059555 (acid-free paper)
- ISBN: 9780805059557 (acid-free paper)
- ISBN: 0449003787
-
Physical Description:
318 p. ; 24 cm. : ill.
print - Edition: 1st ed.
- Publisher: New York : Henry Holt, 1999.
Content descriptions
| General Note: | "A Marian Wood book." |
Search for related items by subject
| Genre: | Mystery fiction. |
Available copies
- 19 of 21 copies available at BC Interlibrary Connect. (Show)
- 1 of 1 copy available at Chetwynd Public Library.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 21 total copies.
Other Formats and Editions
Show Only Available Copies
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Holdable? | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chetwynd Public Library | Fic Gra (Text) | BCHE031563 | Adult Fiction | Volume hold | Available | - |
- Booklist Reviews : Booklist Monthly Selections - #1 June 1999
/*Starred Review*/ Kinsey Millhone, a legend in the overcrowded world of female detectives, returns in her most gripping adventure to date. Until now, Grafton has allowed readers only meager glimpses into Kinsey's past, but this time the curtain is drawn, and the story of her impetuous, long-ago marriage to vice cop Mickey Magruder is told. Only months after the ill-fated marriage took place, Kinsey's infatuation with the hard-living, hard-drinking, philandering Magruder took a nose dive when he was accused of murder and asked Kinsey to fabricate an alibi for him. Now Mickey, whose life has taken a long downhill slide into joblessness, alcoholism, and bankruptcy, is in a coma after being shot by an unknown assailant. The usually unsentimental Kinsey is consumed by guilt, wondering if her uncompromising refusal to believe in Mickey's innocence years earlier contributed to his downfall. Maybe she owes him something . . . like finding out who tried to kill him. She learns Magruder was hot on the trail of a decades-old case of murder, deceit, and betrayal--a case that could ultimately endanger Kinsey's life, too. For the most part, Grafton's 15 Millhone novels have remained fresh and endearing, although many longtime fans detected a leveling off, if not an outright decline, in the last few episodes. That trend is abruptly reversed here, with a novel of depth and substance that is, in every way, the class of the series. ((Reviewed June 1 & 15, 1999)) Copyright 2000 Booklist Reviews - BookPage Reviews : BookPage Reviews 1999 October
October 1999 Crystal Williams Anyone who has followed the sleuthing of Kinsey Millhone won't be surprised to hear that Sue Grafton, in this 15th installment of what many people call the Alphabet Murder series, has been successful again. What will surprise readers is the journey into Kinsey Millhone's past, something that until now, Grafton has withheld (well, save for some tidbits here and there). In fact, "O" Is for Outlaw is solely about Kinsey's past. And because it is, readers are treated to aspects of Kinsey's personality that make the character more real, more fallible, infinitely more interesting.The book begins when a shifty character contacts Millhone claiming to have a box full of Millhone's personal documents. This event pulls Kinsey into a web of intrigue that forces her to confront some very real demons, some her own making, some the making of others. Thus, Millhone reassesses choices she made regarding her ex-husband and their marriage and sets out to right wrongs before it's too late. In sum: She's on the case, tracking a 20-year-old murder, navigating the very tricky path of memory, while, at the same time, trying to come to grips with choices she made long ago.
One of the reasons "O" Is for Outlaw is so intriguing has less to do with the actual mystery and everything to do with Kinsey Millhone's moral dilemma - and it's a doozy of a dilemma. In the interim, readers are treated to Grafton's expert storytelling abilities, coupled with her subtle sense of humor. Kinsey is still funny, quick-witted, and charmingly self-reflective. It's Kinsey's honesty that makes her so endearing.
This isn't the normal whodunit. Rather, this book is about the wonderful details of Kinsey's former life. Grafton has opened a new door, but what next? "O" Is for Outlaw makes you want more: more Kinsey, more information, more mysteries being solved by this tough cookie, who isn't as tough as she thinks.
Crystal Williams is a poet pursuing her M.F.A. at Cornell.
Copyright 1999 BookPage Reviews
- Kirkus Reviews : Kirkus Reviews 1999 July #1
Fans hungry for details of Kinsey Millhone's well-guarded past will give thanks for Teddy Rich, the storage-locker scavenger who's come up with a box of old documents about herself that he's willing to sell for $30 (Kinsey gets him to take $20). Most of the stuff harvested, as it turns it, from a locker rented by Kinsey's first husband, ex-cop Mickey Magruder is no more interesting than your own grade-school photos and report cards. But a letter to Kinsey implicitly confessing an affair between Mickey and the letter-writer, Honky-Tonk bartender Dixie Hightower, a letter Kinsey never received because she'd left Mickey the day before, reminds her why she left Mickey because he'd asked her to back up his phony alibi for the killing of Benny Quintero, a drifter he'd been in a shoving match with the night before and convinces her that Mickey's in trouble. Wrong. Mickey's already out of trouble, deep in a coma after getting shot himself days before Kinsey started digging into the past she shared with him. So Kinsey dusts off her p.i's license and digs deeper herself, dredging up a trail of deception that goes back to the jungles of Vietnam, all the while trying to convince the LAPD that, no, she didn't get a half-hour call from Mickey before he died, no matter what the phone company's records say. Lying, snooping, rifling drawers, following oblivious suspects, rarely taking time to sit and think, Kinsey keeps you blissfully in the dark about what's happened and what's coming up till the magician tips her hand at the denouement and shows you how simple it all was in Grafton's best since 1992, when I was for Innocent.(Literary Guild/Mystery Guild main selection; $500,000 ad/promo; author tour) Copyright 1999 Kirkus Reviews - Library Journal Reviews : LJ Reviews 1999 June #1
Oh, oh, Kinsey Millhone is back, and this time her story gets really personal. A stranger who scavenges defaulted storage units has found personal effects belonging to Millhone, including an unopened letter that leads her back to her first husband and a long-unsolved murder. Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information. - Library Journal Reviews : LJ Reviews 1999 August #1
An unopened letter discovered in an abandoned storage locker is delivered, 15 years late, to P.I. Kinsey Millhone. It provides a possible alibi for Kinsey's first husband, Mickey, a cop who was accused of beating a man to death. The accusation ended Kinsey's marriage, and now guilt pangs lead her to reexamine her judgment of Mickey. When Mickey is shot with Kinsey's gun, Kinsey is only one step ahead of the police as she tries to solve the shooting and the crime attributed to Mickey. Kinsey's search for the killers takers her back to the 1960s and the Vietnam era as she unearths secrets that may exonerate Mickey but cost her her life. In Grafton's latest of the series (after N Is for Noose), Kinsey is sassier than ever, the supporting characters are amusingly eccentric, and the mysteries, both past and present, are intriguing. Grafton's fans will love this one. Highly recommended for public libraries. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 6/1/99.]AKaren Anderson, Superior Court Law Lib., Phoenix Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information. - Publishers Weekly Reviews : PW Reviews 1999 August #5
Grafton's fans will be thrilled with this knockout 15th Kinsey Millhone mystery, which deals with Kinsey's first marriage. In a complex story that zigzags between past and present, the California PI gets involved again with her first ex-husband, former cop Michael "Mickey" Magruder, who initially reappears in her life by chance when she comes across memorabilia he kept after their separation 14 years earlier. The mementos include an undelivered letter addressed to Kinsey, providing Mickey with an alibi for the beating death of Vietnam vet Benny Quintero, the unproven charge against Mickey that prompted Kinsey to leave him. Conscience-stricken, Kinsey looks up acquaintances from her early marriage, questioning her judgment and values at the time. Then two Los Angeles police detectives inform her that Mickey has been shot and is in a coma, and Kinsey decides to investigate. As usual in Grafton's novels, the PI encounters a string of offbeat characters who lead or mislead her in a gyre of confusion; here, many of them had motive and opportunity to shoot Mickey. In time, Kinsey stumbles on a clue at first bewildering that leads back to the Vietnam War and, eventually, points the way to Benny's killer and Mickey's assailant. In addition to her distinctive humor, sharp sense of place and crisp dialogue defining character, Grafton adds depth to this outing through unexpected details of Kinsey's past. Meanwhile, Kinsey's examination of her youthful self-righteousness and na vet initiates a provocative contemplation of guilt, morals and loyalty that graces one of the very best entries in a long-lived and much-loved series. Agent, Molly Friedrich at Aaron Priest. $500,000 ad/promo; Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club main selection; author tour. (Oct.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information. - School Library Journal Reviews : SLJ Reviews 2000 March
YA-The alphabet series that features Kinsey Millhone, a former cop turned private investigator, continues in this fine mystery with lots of suspense. The story begins with a phone call from Teddy Rich, who offers to sell Kinsey a box of personal items that he bought at a repossession auction. The contents of the box had been stored for years by Kinsey's ex-husband, Mickey Magruder. While searching through it, she discovers an unopened letter addressed to her. This letter establishes an alibi that he needed 14 years earlier when a murder case ruined his career as a policeman and prompted the demise of their marriage. Kinsey hopes to find him but, as fate would have it, two L.A. police investigators enter the story at this point to inform her of Mickey's "accident." A fast-paced, intriguing set of circumstances and dangerous turns make this tale a page-turner. The story is well crafted and the characters are believable. Grafton's fans will love it.-Linda A. Vretos, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Alexandria, VA Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.
