J Is for Judgment: A Kinsey Millhone Novel

By Sue Grafton and author photo back DJ by Nick Vaccaro Sue Grafton SIGNED & Inscribed, Light Scuff mark blank free fly

Book Overview

The next in the Kinsey Millhone Alphabet mystery series from bestselling author Sue Grafton.

"J" is for Jaffe: Wendell Jaffe, dead these past five years. Or so it seemed until his former insurance agent spotted him in the bar of a dusty little resort halfway between Cabo San Lucas and La Paz.

"In truth, the facts about Wendell Jaffe had nothing to do with my family history, but murder is seldom tidy and no one ever said revelations operate in a straight line. It was my investigation into the dead man's past that triggered the inquiry into my own, and in the end the two stories became difficult to separate."

Five years ago, when Jaffe's thirty-five-foot Fuji ketch was found drifting off the Baja coast, it seemed a sure thing he'd gone overboard. The note he left behind admitted he was flat broke, his business bankrupt, his real estate gambit nothing but a huge Ponzi scheme about to collapse, with criminal indictment certain to follow. When the authorities soon after descended on his banks and his books, there was nothing left: Jaffe had stripped the lot.

"Given my insatiable curiosity and my natural inclination to poke my nose in where it doesn't belong, it was odd to realize how little attention I'd paid to my own past. I'd simply accepted what I was told, constructing my personal mythology on the flimsiest of facts."

But Jaffe wasn't quite without assets. There was the $500,000 life insurance policy made out to his wife and underwritten by California Fidelity. With no corpse to prove death, however, the insurance company was in no hurry to pay the claim. Dana Jaffe had to wait out the statutory five years until her missing husband could be declared legally dead. Just two months before Wendell Jaffe was sighted in that dusty resort bar, California Fidelity finally paid in full. Now they wanted the truth. And they were willing to hire Kinsey Millhone to dig it up.

As Kinsey pushes deeper into the mystery surrounding Wendell Jaffe's pseudocide, she explores her own past, discovering that in family matters as in crime, sometimes it's better to reserve judgment.

"J" is for judgment: the kind we're quick to make and often quicker to regret.

"J" Is for Judgment: Kinsey Millhone's tenth excursion into the dark places of the heart where duplicity is the governing rule and murder the too-frequent result.

"A" Is for Alibi
"B" Is for Burglar
"C" Is for Corpse
"D" Is for Deadbeat
"E" Is for Evidence
"F" Is for Fugitive
"G" Is for Gumshoe
"H" Is for Homicide
"I" Is for Innocent
"J" Is for Judgment
"K" Is for Killer
"L" is for Lawless
"M" Is for Malice
"N" Is for Noose
"O" Is for Outlaw
"P" Is for Peril
"Q" Is for Quarry
"R" Is for Ricochet
"S" Is for Silence
"T" Is for Trespass
"U" Is for Undertow
"V" Is for Vengeance
"W" Is for Wasted
"X"

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0805019359
• ISBN13: 9780805019353
• Release Date: May 1993
• Publisher: St. Martins Press-3PL
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 1.31 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.2" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

J for Judgment

Sue Grafton done it again in book #10 in her alphabet series 'J is for Judgment". I was actually not able to guess or even have a hint of an idea who was guilty or how the book would end. Which I loved! I really loved Kinsey's family story line. Can't wait to read more about that. Now on to"K is for Killer"

Greeaaat

This series of books is one of the most interesting I have come across. The main character and surrounding characters are very interesting.

No murder

Actually somebody has been killed by the end, and Brian may have been involved in a murder but the core plot is about embezzlement and a man who fakes his own death. This is one of the most psychological and philosophical ones in the series. The con man is trying to re-establish a relationship with his family and Kinsey Milhone's long-lost family is trying to re-establish a relationship with her. Henry's bother William is also trying something. The counterpoint and parallels are pointed out, and even to some extent I would have to say, the point is labored. As usual there are a multiplicity of other sub-plots. All of Grafton's penetrating humor and careful description of every sight and sound and smell and taste. Fans of the classic hardcore hardboiled classics, of Highsmith and of "Double Indemnity" might find it slow, and fans of Hannibal Lecter not bloody enough.

GRAFTON IS GREAT

This was the first Sue Grafton novel I had read. I usually don't like those hard-edged characters (such as Sam Spade in the Maltese Falcon), but I couldn't help but love Kinsey Milhone. Her detecting skills, her mention of her previous marriages and ability to survive on her own, along with the inner struggle she has once she finds out she does have living relatives, made her more human to me. I enjoyed the fact that she went incognito to Mexico to look for Wendell Jaffe, and that she was able to get the members of the Jaffe family as well as other assorted neighbors and friends to trust her. It helped her solve the case, and helped me become a forever fan. I can't wait to read another one!

Keeps yor attention until the end.

For the longest time, I refused to read these "alphabet" mysteries. I thought they would be sappy stories and you'd solve the mystery by page 4. Sorta like a Nancy Drew book. A couple weeks ago, I decided to buy the first book in the series and just see what everyone was talking about. Well, I just finished "J" and I have "K" waiting for me. Kinsey is my kind of girl - a wise cracking, independent, intelligent lady. Funny, too. And I still couldn't figure out who done it until I got towards the end of the book. Susan Grafton is a great mystery writer and I laugh out loud at a lot of the wise cracks.I don't know what I'll do when she gets to "Z"!!! Perhaps, she can start on the numbers...... Buy anyone of these books - you won't regret it!!