Rating: 
Summary: Look into the past adds some fun to the Alphabet series.
Review: Its hard to keep things fresh after 15 Alphabet mysteries, but this book does have a lot to offer fans of the series. We get a look into Kinsey's past as she gets a chance to make up for a past mistake. We learn more of the background and situations that made her the private detective she is. The alphabet mysteries are kind of a fun read and though Grafton doesn't have the depth of other writers the stories are usually interesting.
Rating:
Summary: Ms. Grafton should take a bow
Review: In "O is for Outlaw," Ms. Grafton once again demonstrates her unique talents for keeping an on-going series fresh and immensely readable. In this chapter of the Kinsey Milhone: Alphabet series, the author gives us fans a little more insight into Kinsey's very personal and mysterious past life, while at the same time offering us yet another intriguing and very satisfying mystery/thriller. There is so much to admire about the author's wonderful prose, and her ability to tell a flat-out great story with each novel, but, I must pin-point her most valuable gift to her fans....and that would be her absolutely unbeatable sense of humor, which she so wonderfully injects in the entire series. When writing Kinsey's views and thoughts of the world and it's inhabitants, this author will have you rolling on the floor.....as her perceptions are so dead-on and down to earth, surely, everyone should and could relate. Applying this level of humor into very serious and dangerous cases can not be an easy task, but Ms. Grafton does it brilliantly. These books are so well written, one has to constantly remind themselves that Kinsey (and all her escapades) are a work of fiction. I look forward to each new novel, and all past 15 are highly recommended. A truly great author that should appeal to any avid reader.
Rating:
Summary: Best in a long while
Review: I was captivated when I "discovered" Kinsey Milhone at the beginning of the alphabet, but by the time "H" rolled around, somehow the zing of the first seven novels was gone. " "O" is for Outlaw" recaptures the spirit that has been missing for much too long.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing, Boring
Review: This time Sue Grafton made a mistake big time. Large portion of the book is taken up by her boring daily life goings: Driving VW, Eating bad food, Talking about her past. Characterisation is bad and the climax is hardly related to the main problem set at the beginning. Besides, I don't understand how obliged one would be to a spouse(whose marriage short-lived and fraught with infidality) divorced 14 years ago? Her whole motive is not believable. Having read many of her other novels, I always have known that she would be, at best, a distant third to the James hadley Chase and the famous Nero Wolfe mysteries written by Rex Stout. But this book does not even justify her being in "third" in my list. He must be downgraded fast. To sum up, I really had hard time finishing it.
Rating:
Summary: "O" is for okay
Review: I love this series and this book provides interesting insight into Kinsey's past. I am a bit disconcerted by the timeframe of these books, however. Although they are years apart in their release, the storyline continues without a time lapse. That sets the most current book still in the 1980's. Sue Grafton does explain that in a forenote, but it's a bit odd because I think that Kinsey matures emotionally and changes sociologically at a rate that is out of sync with the series. Still, Grafton is a talented writer, and I look forward to reading "P is for Peril" as soon as it comes out.
Rating: 
Summary: I AM HOOKED
Review: This was the first out of the series that I read and boy am I hooked. I couldn't read fast enough to get to the end. I am slowly starting my collection of A-Z and am reading out of sequence. That is the great thing about these books. You don't have to read sequentially!I would recommend to anyone who enjoys a good mystery!
Rating:
Summary: Thoroughly enjoyable addition to Grafton's series!
Review: I have not read Grafton for about a year. I think I caught up on all her books years ago, and was starting to get a little bored with the series. This particular addition was a fresh start though. Like the reviewers said, Kinsey opened up her personal life a little in this one and it made all the difference as far as making the protagonist seem more three dimensional and lifelike. Grafton's plots are usually well done. I enjoy her comments about California, the descriptions of the area in which Kinsey lives and also the descriptions of her landlord and his brothers, but I've never felt that Kinsey herself was described fully. This book gave a lot more character to her and I thought the story line and ending were...well, sweet (I know men hate that word, but the readers are mostly female). All of us have people we have judged wrongly, who have hurt us when they did not mean to. Sometimes we do get a chance to rectify the situation, and this was what Kinsey was trying to do with her life and her ex-husband. I agree with another reviewer who remarked on the title not being appropriate. I guess having started using the alphabet for the title, it kind of ropes you in to a limited amount of possibilities. I hate to be in Grafton's shoes if she makes it to X and has to come up with a title for that particular letter! Karen Sadler University of Pittsburgh
Rating:
Summary: Prefer three and a half stars
Review: I never overlook any installment in the Kinsey Millhone series and have now probably read all of them. However, I came away from this book with a feeling of disappointment. The author has retained her page-turning skills but I found I wasn't as satisfied having reached the end of this book as I have with others in the series. The climax appeared not to have had much of a relationship to what went on before and none of the characters, or their circumstances, aroused any sympathy. Also, Kinsey is becoming quite a pain with the over-emphasis on her wise-cracking humour and her end-justifies-the-means attitude to life. Kinsey has become what seems to be a self-parodying, two-dimensional caricature of herself. I would look forward to a return to the Kinsey of old.
Rating:
Summary: O is for Oh Yes!
Review: I think this book maybe have the wrong title. Instead of O is for Outlaw it might be best titled O is for Obligation. It Kinsey's obligation to her former husband that drives the plot of this book. Mickey Magruder was a cop who was a bit of a lone wolf. He is the outlaw in the title. Now he is in trouble and Kinsey is driven to help him. It seems she may have left him for all the wrong reasons. His problems lead Kinsey to solve an old murder for which Mickey was the prime suspect. This is one of Sue Grafton's best. It fills in the gaps in Kinsey's early professional life. It provides insight into her character. I found I understood Kinsey better after reading this book. I love the series but even if I had never read A-P I would have enjoyed this detective novel.
Rating:
Summary: Kinsey Karma
Review: I have read the entire Kinsey Millhone series and have enjoyed them all. Kinsey has a flair for drama that tends to bring her more trouble than she knows what to do with. I speak of Kinsey as if she were real. That speaks highly of Sue Grafton's marvelous writing ability, which has only gotten better in "O" is for Outlaw. The narrative is much more mellow, as if we, as readers, have become friends of Kinsey. "O" is fast, witty and a great read right up to the end. Reading a Sue Grafton book is like reading a letter from a somewhat errant, but nonetheless favorite friend. You miss the character at the end of the book, and look forward to living vicariously through the next installment of their much more interesting life.
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