C Is for Corpse (Sue Grafton)

by Sue Grafton

Other authorsJudy Kaye (Reader)

2001

Status

Available

Publication

Random House Audio (2001), Edition: Abridged

Description

Fiction. Mystery. HTML:2 cassettes/ 3 hours Read by Judy Kaye Now available on CD! After a near-fatal car accident, a young man asks Kinsey to protect him. When he is promptly murdered, Kinsey vows to find the killer.

User reviews

LibraryThing member reading_fox

Death threats. Best yet. Bobby (the client) is very well described and the interaction with Kinsey well written. Kinsey investigates California's richest inhabitants, and their quirks and secrets.

Random, unconnected sideplot - Henry, Kinsey's landlord, gets a new girlfriend who tries to con him out

of money. Completely unrelated to this or any other book. Why?. Does not detract from the overall enjoyment of the book, but does not add anything to Kinsey's background or character history.

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24 more

LibraryThing member EmScape

PI Kinsey Millhone is approached at the gym by Bobby Callahan, who thinks someone tried to kill him. Bobby was injured in a car accident in which he believes someone tried to run him off a cliff. Unfortunately Bobby's injuries also damaged his brain and he can't remember many details about what he

was involved in. Kinsey takes the case and begins unraveling the story.
Kinsey is a spunky heroine, not without flaws, and who tends to put herself in more danger than she ought. Grafton sprinkles clues throughout the investigation, but not enough for the reader to identify the killer prior to the climactic ending.

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LibraryThing member eenerd

Another awesome Grafton mystery. I can't see how Kinsey will ever get old to me. Fun fun fun read!

LibraryThing member riverwillow

I like the central idea of the book a potential murder victim with amnesia who then dies suddenly, but I am not sure that it worked for me. Bobby was an interesting character but I am was more engaged with Kinsey's struggles with Henry's (her landlord) new girlfriend.

LibraryThing member celticstar

A very enjoyable read that kept me guessing till the end.

LibraryThing member mahallett

this is my first sue grafton. the reader was excellent. the abridgement was fine. sad story.

LibraryThing member Jim53

Another quick, light read in the Kinsey Millhone series. The interesting twist is that Kinsey is hired to investigate an attempted murder, and the victim is still alive (at first), but can't remember a lot of significant details. I had guessed the murderer before the mid-point of the book, but I

found the memory idea pretty cool.

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LibraryThing member RelaxedReader

This was a fast enjoyable read. I plan to read other books in this series as I enjoy the authors work. Not an outstanding book, however, enjoyable.

LibraryThing member TerriBooks

The third book in the "alphabet" series and I'm learning the format. I gave this one an extra half star because I really enjoyed the secondary story of Henry and Lila --- and Kinsey's second thoughts about her involvement in it.

LibraryThing member samantha.1020

Kinsey is back and investigating one of her most difficult cases yet. Her client, Bobby, has lost a good portion of his memory in a car accident that he is still working on recovering from. Unfortunately, he believes that the crash he was involved in wasn't just an "accident", and he has hired

Kinsey to find out what happened with the hope that she can possibly help him to recover some of his memories. Kinsey has her work cut out for her as everyone in his family is convinced that he's overreacting, and Bobby's memories leave little evidence that anything bad really happened. And then everything changes and Kinsey finds herself over her head once again.

I love, love, love series!! Kinsey is one of those characters that I can just easily relate to even though I'm not a mystery solving private detective :) Sue Grafton has created a character that I want to read about and one that I could see myself being friends with in real life. The mystery was both unique and original. I was constantly questioning Bobby's memories from the very beginning trying to figure out if he was in danger or not. By halfway thru the book, I was completely sucked in and couldn't put it down if I wanted to. Be warned that the summary on the back of the book was very spoiler-ly in my opinion so if you like to be surprised don't read it. I had absolutely no clue who the "bad guy" was throughout the book and the ending was a complete shock! Wow! I also liked that we got to see more of some of the side characters and found the storyline concerning Henry very interesting.

All in all, this was a great read that solidified my love of this series! Grafton has created a series that draws me in, book after book, and leaves me wanting more. I can't wait to read more about Kinsey's adventures and have already picked up the fourth book from the library. I would highly recommend this series to any mystery fan out there!

Bottom Line: A must read series!!! Love it :)

Disclosure: I checked this book out from the local library.

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LibraryThing member tjsjohanna

The mystery was well thought out and suitably complicated, but I didn't feel like there was much sense of tension. Kinsey unravels the clues, but the ending seems like it is just the requisite "put the hero in a tight spot" scene. Still haven't really connected with Kinsey ...

LibraryThing member Sarah_Buckley

This is the third book in the "Alphabet Mystery" series. I have been pretty hard on the last two books. They were weirdly written, poorly characterized (in my opinion), and not well plotted. Does this book change those thoughts?

Um, kind-of? I guess. I found this book to be better at hiding the

mystery. By that I mean I didn't guess the bad guy five seconds after starting the book. I even liked Kinsey more. She came across better in this book. He internal monologs are still kind of tedious to read about though, since she often focuses on the strangest things. Maybe I have a it of Stockholm Syndrome going on, but I might actually get some other books to see if they get better as they go along.

So, all-in-all bot a bad book. I still only think it is worth a 2 (maybe 2 1/2) star rating as i still think its pretty average and not great.

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LibraryThing member Mrsbaty

One of the things I love about the Kinsey Milhone series is that they are anything but formulaic. Every story is new and fresh.

The case Kinsey has taken on is brought to her by a young man who was nearly killed in a automobile accident. Everyone believes it was just an accident except the boy

himself. He's sure he was being targeted by a murderer. And sure enough, a few days later he is dead. Kinsey is determined to find the killer she was hired to find, even if the client his dead. His family, which she become very involved with, is a cast of sad and needy characters.

The side story of Kinsey dealing with a new member of their neighborhood is a nice way of making Kinsey something more than just a private detective. She's a person in a neighborhood and a community with friends and connections. There is nice continuity with her lunch with a former love interest. The main mystery is interesting and different, the side stories have lots of complex characters and settings. This is one I'll read again.

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LibraryThing member ChrisWeir

Was a fun experience. Liked that Kinsey the main character keeps searching for the killer even after her client is deceased. Had lots of twists and turns throughout the book and kept me guessing towards til the end of the book.

LibraryThing member DreamingInFiction

I really enjoyed the story, but still not so thrilled with the characters attitude towards many things... which is why, once again, I had to give a 3 star rating.

I'm going to take a break from this series for a while.

LibraryThing member whybehave2002

I can't believe it took me so long to start reading this series. I'm hooked. I expected this to be darker and discovered it to be much like reading Janet Evanovich. I started with this book only because I checked it out from the library and the first two were not available.

LibraryThing member martensgirl

I think this book was better than the first two, although not by much. I thought the plot was better (yet still a bit ridiculous) and I found some of Kinsey's thoughts quite witty. I found the ending a little tiresome- is it possible for Kinsey to solve a crime without nearly dying in the process?

LibraryThing member BookConcierge

Book on CD read by Mary Peiffer

Book three in the series starring private investigator, and former police officer, Kinsey Millhone, has her investigating two cases simultaneously. For one, she’s hired to look into the attempted murder of Bobby Callahan. The problem is that there is no proof that

someone purposely drove him off the canyon road, and the result of his injuries is some brain damage and memory loss, so he can’t remember what information he had that put his life in danger. And then there is her landlord’s new girlfriend. Henry is smitten with Lila, who has just moved to town and seems to have quickly wormed her way into Henry’s life, and his bank account.

I love Kinsey; she’s smart, determined, hard-working, loyal to her friends, and strong in mind and body. I also like that Grafton occasionally gives us a little humor to ease the tension of some very dark situations. But make no mistake, she can craft a suspenseful scene where the outcome is not at all certain, and she kept me guessing for quite a while.

I also like that Grafton has set these books in a time period where Kinsey has to do quite a bit of old-fashioned leg work – going to the library or city hall to comb through old records, calling a friend to find out about a license plate, etc. Sure, today’s detective would rely more heavily on a computer and state-of-the-art technology, but I like watching Kinsey use her brain.

Mary Peiffer does a fine job narrating the audio version. She has good pacing, and tries to give each character a unique voice. I wasn’t a fan of the voice she used for Bobby, but that’s a small quibble.

It’s an entertaining series, and I’ll keep reading it.

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LibraryThing member lamour

Kinsey meets Bobby Callahan, a scarred young man at a local gym. He thinks someone is trying to kill him because someone pushed his car over a cliff killing his friend. Everyone thinks Bobby was drunk driving off the cliff as a result and is trying to escape punishment. Kinsey agrees to investigate

but before she gets very far Bobby is killed in another car accident.

Bobby's mother is a rich socialite who is married to a user and taker. Her step-daughter is a drug addict. Kinsey searches to find out who knows what and did what.

Meanwhile she notices her landlord, Henry, has a new girlfriend who Kinsey takes an immediate dislike to. She starts to investigate who this woman is is and what she is up to with Henry's money.

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LibraryThing member JenniferRobb

I read this book in the past, but so long ago that I don't remember when. I read this series in order along the way after someone (I no longer remember who) recommended it. With the recent passing of Sue Grafton, when I saw this book at a book exchange, I decided to reread it. And I found that I

didn't remember the particulars of the plot (though I do remember overarching facts of the series).

Kinsey Millhone is rehabbing an arm hurt in "B is for Burglar" and meets Bobby Callahan at the fitness center. Bobby hires her to find out who tried and/or is trying to kill him. Kinsey is hampered by the fact that Bobby's accident created memory loss.

There is a subplot with Kinsey's landlord Henry meeting a woman whom everyone else seems to dislike.

I liked Bobby as a character and was sad when he died. He had a lot of heart and determination and was facing long odds to have even a fairly normal life but he kept working at it day after day--trying to improve the things he could. I hope that in the end his example inspired his stepsister Kitty.

I did notice the similarity of plot between "B is for Burglar" and this book--in both Kinsey gets hired and then keeps working the case after the initial client is no longer in the picture. I did wonder if Bobby remembering the name Blackman was perhaps his brain remembering the idea of blackmail (though no one in the book seemed to wonder that).

I liked that Kinsey tried to look out for her landlord, an octogenarian who is usually more on the ball than he seemed in this book. However, her action comes almost too late. Henry's already given the lady twenty thousand dollars! Luckily, Kinsey manages to recover this money for Henry as well as keeping it out of the knowledge of the police. I'm not sure I agree with that action overall since it is hiding evidence, but I do appreciate her wanting to protect Henry from a potentially embarrassing situation of lots of people knowing he'd been duped.

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LibraryThing member DocWalt10

As always, a great read. Never a dull moment. Her books could be read in one seating if one had the time. I never tire of Kinsey Millhone, the main character in Sue Grafton's books. She is an independent young woman, self-employed, doing what she loves to do and is good at it. As a private

investigator, she is a minority in her field. If you enjoy suspense, this is book and series for you.

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LibraryThing member laytonwoman3rd

I started a re-read of this series early in 2018,after Grafton's death. In this 3rd installment, Kinsey Millhone saves her landlord from being swindled and takes a young man's death (was it murder?) personally. She also handles an encounter with an ex-lover she still finds dreadfully attractive

without going all stupid or doing anything embarrassing for either of them. These books are even better than I remember; I think Kinsey is who I imagined myself growing up to be when I was 13 or so. It never occurred to me then that I couldn't be lady-like, sexy, smart and kickass all at once, despite the absence of females like that in the stuff I was reading at the time. Even when I met Kinsey in my 30's, I don't think I quite realized what a ground-breaker she was. Thirty-five years later, she is still worth emulating, and one of the most interesting characters in genre fiction.
December 2018

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LibraryThing member StarKnits

Good story.
l did figure it out early

LibraryThing member polywogg

BOTTOM-LINE:
A decent story, but not a home run
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PLOT OR PREMISE:
Kinsey meets an accident victim in physical rehab, and he wants her to find out who ran him off the road and why
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WHAT I LIKED:
Kinsey gets to know Bobby in the early stages of the case, and the mystery of the case is intriguing. It takes

a while for the pinball to hit enough buzzers to do anything, particularly as his only real evidence is that he remembers knowing "something" and that he was in danger, but not what it was or from whom. The further developments of Kinsey's character and her sense of justice are awesome.
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WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
One of the sub-characters, his step-sister, is a caricature and a wasted distraction. Equally, another sub-story with someone trying to take advantage of Henry is both obvious and boring.
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DISCLOSURE:
I received no compensation, not even a free copy, in exchange for this review. I am not personal friends with the author, nor do I follow her on social media.

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LibraryThing member danhammang

A nice, gentle, we'll sort of gentle ... not quite a cozy, read...Kinsey Millhone is an easy to like private eye. It's a hoot to read the time capsule descriptions of this tale published in 1986. Table top PCs lined up on the desk next to IBM Selectrics... May Ms. Grafton Rest In Peace. She has

left a trail of the alphabet to sort through at your leisure. If your looking for a good suspense novel with no footing in noir this series is not a bad bet.

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