Rating: 
Summary: Not among the better efforts
Review: After thoroughly enjoying "O is for Outlaw" and "P is for Peril," I expected that this would be another great entry in the series. Sadly, it isn't. The "mystery" doesn't mystify us at all -- about halfway into the story, the identity of and motivation for the killer are obvious to everyone but Kinsey. (In fact, I wondered why Grafton didn't spend more time justifying why Kinsey didn't see the obvious, since she's usually at least the reader's equal in figuring out the case. Here, she's several steps behind all the way through.) Although I agree that most cases that a private detective would work on would be this simple and require just legwork (in contrast to the stories in "O" and "P" that required some top-notch deduction skills), that doesn't mean I have to like it or want to read it.In the absence of a mystery, we have a character study. OK, I can live with that, because I'm fascinated with Kinsey's complex character, and this book opens with the prospect that we may get real development on that front. Her investigation causes Kinsey to interact with her family, and she learns things that Aunt Gin never told her ... but, halfway through the book, this storyline simply disappears. I found it very hard to believe that Kinsey isn't even thinking about this any longer, especially when she has so many discussions with others about their families and choices. In many ways, this is the least-believable part of the story. The other character study is of the two aging police officers who hired Kinsey for this job: recurring character Con Dolan, now on medical disability following two heart attacks, and retired country sheriff's detective (and cancer survivor) Stacey Oliphant. These two characters are the real focus of the book, and Sue Grafton has gone out of her way to provide us with their backstory. Perhaps she intends for them to be recurring characters, since developments in Henry's life (following a cruise) may lead to Kinsey needing a new place to stay. If not, she certainly has wasted a lot of energy on these two for this to be their only appearance. (By the way, I remember LOTS of controversy in this time period about both smoking and fast food, so I think the book is pretty accurate on that count.) Overall rating: mystery: 1 star, Kinsey's development: 2 stars, supporting characters: 4 stars. 7 divided by 3 is less than 2.5, but I still gave the book 3 stars. Nevertheless, this is one of the weaker books in this series. I hope they solve the Jane Doe murder that inspired this book, but I hope even more fervently that Sue Grafton doesn't use any more "real" stories for her inspiration.
Rating: 
Summary: Slower then most but good none-the-less
Review: Good-Typical Grafton. Although a little slow in parts. Interesting to find out that it was 'based' on a true unsolved crime.
Rating:
Summary: Q is worth reading, despite Quibbles
Review: Grafton has crafted a tightly written novel around some real life facts that differs from her other "Alphabet" mysteries. Q is for Quarry is based upon a real life murder victim, whose identity has never been established. Kinsey is working with two retired cops in trying to resolve this 18 year old case. (The novel is set in 1987) Numerous characters fill the pages as the story line slowly unfolds, old secrets are uncovered, and the clues pile up pointing to a few likely suspects. The suspence is hardly spine tingling, but the story line is well written and the characters are believable. Most of the action takes place in the far southeast corner of California, unlike most of the other novels is this series. And quite a bit is written about Kinsey's long ignored relatives early in the book, who are familiar with the crime scene's quarry, only to be mostly forgotten in the last half of the book.(R is for Reunion?) Grafton also spends a lot of time on people doing every day chores - ironing, dusting, washing dishes, even grocery shopping. This seems odd to me. Anyway, I enjoyed reading the book!
Rating: 
Summary: Q Was Great! I Thought it Was One of the Best!!
Review: I couldn't believe some of the negative reviews on this book as I thought it was one of Grafton's better ones.
This time, Kinsey is doing some investigating for two old and ill friends of hers, Dolan and Stacey. They are retired cops and never were able to solve a mystery of a "Jane Doe" that happened so many years back. Who was the girl, and above all, who killed her? Kinsey of course gets involved in this whole scenario, and pulls out all of the stops investigating every little corner.
She starts with schools and dentists to try to find out who "Jane Doe" really was. As her probing continues, she gets more and more concrete facts together, and then becomes suspicous of people during her travels for these facts.
Of course, toward the end, (I don't want to spoil it), Kinsey gets too close to the real killer, and just might get herself into a bad situation she may not be able to get out of without a struggle.
The question is, did Justine, an old friend help in the murder? Or was it Pugee, Johnny Miracle, or Cornell? Kinsey knows it's one of the three. And one of these guys are chasing Kinsey toward the end.
Rating:
Summary: Very Interesting Mystery
Review: I got the book-on-tape of Q is for Quarry. And I really enjoyed it. This is the first Sue Grafton novel I have listened to or read.
I really liked the fact that the story if built on a real unsolved murder mystery. For me that makes the story all the more interesting. And it is wonderful to think that a novel would do a good deed by helping to solve a murder.
I totally enjoyed the character of Kinsey. She is an interesting character as she goes about investigating her leads. I enjoyed how she shows concern for the people she interviews about the musrder. And how she shows a caring attitude toward the murder victim. The two grouchy older cops she works with, Dolan and Oliphant make for interesting characters. The humor tidbits added in about all the fast food they eat really add alot to the story. All in all, I find Sue Grafton's characters very true to life.
I really enjoyed this novel, and will be reading more of Sue Grafton's writings.
Rating: 
Summary: Boring
Review: I have read and loved almost all of the alphaget mysteries (with the exception of "P is for Peril"). This one was excruciatingly boring. I agree with the reviewers who've complained about too much mention of fast food. The book should have been named "Q is for Quarter Pounder."
Rating: 
Summary: Not a good book; the mystery is....umm boring.
Review: I'm a big fan of the series, but I think it ran out of gas after "H." I've struggled through all of the books from "I" and beyond, but this one was the worst. Why? For 350 pages, it's a thin book - thin on plot, thin on story, and thin on characters. I can't figure out why the book needed 350 pages to tell this story. Maybe if she had a better editor (or better story)?
By the end of the book, I could not have cared less about the unfortunate victim or any of the characters. Kinsey is the same (which is fine), but the mystery was so uninvolving, it took me three weeks to read this book. I have no idea where this series is going, but after all these years, it can only get better. Right?
Rating:
Summary: Big Sue Grafton fan
Review: I'm a big Sue Grafton fan having read all of her books but I had a difficult time getting into this one. Took over 1 year to complete Q - partly my fault but also found this to be slow moving with too many characters with little interest to me. Still, I've always enjoyed her stories and I can't wait to read "R".
Rating:
Summary: not great, but typically entertaining
Review: I've read all of these except the new one, "R", at this point. Obviously, I like them. I think "Q Is For Quarry" is a perfectly respectable specimen of the series, if not one of the best. As is happening more and more often, Kinsey spends most of the book far from Santa Teresa, this time in a small town near the Arizona border. This location is better executed than the small California town in "N Is For Noose," I think, though there seems to be less of an effort to produce a sense of local colour. There's more just a feeling of isolation, of being stranded in the desert, which works for these characters. As also often happens in these books, the last few pages, in which there is a sudden outbreak of action and danger and the perpetrator stands revealed, are not really satisfying or convincing. And there are a few scenes involving Kinsey's landlord Henry, who has a new girlfriend, and his sister-in-law the Hungarian cook Rosie, apparently intended as comic relief, which I didn't like at all. Luckily, Grafton abandons this stuff early on. The meat of the book, as far as I'm concerned, consists of Kinsey's interactions with a variety of ordinary unhappy people in ordinary American settings, credibly described. I get the feeling that Grafton can write this stuff in her sleep, but I enjoy reading it. Her friends and co-workers the unhealthy older ex-cops also provide some reasonably interesting interaction that doesn't detract from the story.
Rating:
Summary: Like Kinsey Milhone
Review: It's taken me a while to cozy up to Kinsey, but I'm there now. Kinsey is sharp, but has a definite edge to her personality. I haven't always been sure I like her, but she's a great detective and, though she often finds herself in a bind while solving a crime, she manages cleverly to get herself out of what ever fix she's in. Haven't read R is for Ricochet yet, but have it on my Christmas list.
|
