P is for Peril by Sue Grafton

 I am already to P! This one was different in two ways. First, there was a whole lot of technical detail about Medicare and Medicaid funding and its relationship to care homes. It was boring! And I kept thinking there must be a reason for this, but I'm still going to skim it because it's entirely too detailed. The other difference is that this story ends without an epilogue. Typically, Grafton ties up about 80% of my questions in an epilogue that comes after the final action in the story. This one had no such epilogue, and the exciting "ending" to the side-story of Kinsey's almost-romance came well before the end of the book. So this "soft" ending with Kinsey chatting on the patio over a glass of wine with the two murderers was surprising. Also, that these two are the murderers is only implied, not spelled out. Like many other readers, I thought maybe the epilogue had been torn out of my used copy! But as I thought about it, I realized Grafton was giving me the hints of the ending and letting me figure it out. Which I did. 

It isn't one of my favorites; there isn't enough of Henry or William or Rosie, but the Havener brothers are rather intriguing characters. It was interesting to experience Kinsey's initial attraction to Tommy Havener turn to distaste and fear. I was totally unprepared for Mariah's character to turn out to be an imposter... So there was a lot to manage in this story. Still, the characteristic Kinsey humor made this an enjoyable read, although her penchant for descriptive detail got a bit tedious. 

It was a good airport read as Len and I flew in from Bozeman, Montana to Denver and had HOURS to await our delayed flight to St. George. It made that time enjoyable, even though it was late and frustrating! The de-icing took over an hour!!! It's always good to have a diversion that is engaging, and this series always is!

I read some reviews of this book mostly to test my theory of who the murderer was, and many fans were disappointed in this installment in the series. One reviewer recommended J.D. Robb instead of Grafton, so I'm considering trying her out after I get to Y.