B Is for Burglar

This book is the second in a series of mystery novels written by Sue Grafton.

Kinsley Millhone is a single young woman who has a private detective agency. Business is often quite slow for her and she has to pay her bills even though she doesn't always like the cases that she has taken on for investigation.

In "B is for Burglar," Kinsley is approached by a rich woman named Beverly Danziger who wants Kinsley to find her sister, Elaine Boldt. Ms. Danzier claims that she is motivated by the fact that she needs her sister's signature on some documents in order to claim a small inheritance.

Kinsley begins her search by talking with Ms. Boldt's neighbours. She finds out that the last time Ms. Boldt was seen was when she was on her way to the airport. It was believed that she was travelling to Boca Raton when she left.

So, Kinsley decides to travel to Boca Raton but cannot find Ms. Boldt once she arrives there. The number of questions that Kinsley has increases while the number and types of answers she gets to her questions are puzzling.

As the search continues, Kinsley discovers that one of Ms. Boldt's former bridge partners had been murdered before the disappearance of Mrs. Boldt and she begins to wonder if there was a connection between the murder and disappearance.

When one of Mrs. Boldt's neighbours has her place vandalized and another neighbor is found murdered there are even more questions in Kinsley's mind.

Kinsley is becoming more and more uncomfortable with the situation and the fact that things just keep getting worse for the people who knew or were associated with Mrs. Boldt. She is, however, determined to solve the mystery and her commitment to this leads her into situations where her own life is put in risk.

The author, Sue Grafton, has written this book as part of a series. Her plot has many twists and turns that the reader could not predict were coming and this keeps the whole storyline interesting. The characters are portrayed in easily understandable fashion. In fact, they are presented in a way that makes them seem to be people who each of us might actually know in our personal lives. There are also, of course, people who are motivated to do evil who stop at nothing to get their own selfish needs met. And their actions are what turn everyday life into a situation that includes murder and deception.

This is only the second book that I have read in the Kinsey Millhone series. As of this date there are a total of twenty-three that have been written, each of which begins with a letter of the alphabet.

These novels are rather short and can be read rather quickly. "B is for Burglar" is three hundred and ten pages in paperback format.

Since entering the mystery field of writing in 1982, Sue Grafton has created a number of novels, short stories and movies for television. She is a number one New York Times Bestselling Author.