"B" Is for Burglar: A Kinsey Millhone Mystery, Book 2
Written by Sue Grafton
Narrated by Judy Kaye
3.5/5
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Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this audiobook
Finding wealthy Elaine Boldt seems like a quickie case to Kinsey Millhone. The flashy widow was last seen wearing a $12,000 lynx coat, leaving her condo in Santa Teresa for her condo in Boca Raton. But somewhere in between, she vanished. Kinsey's case goes from puzzling to sinister when a house is torched, an apartment is burgled of worthless papers, the lynx coat comes back without Elaine, and her bridge partner is found dead. Soon Kinsey's clues begin to form a capital M -- not for missing, but for murder: and plenty of it.
Winner of the 1985 Private Eye Writers of America Shamus Award and the 1985 Anthony Award for Best Novel.
Sue Grafton
#1 New York Times bestselling author Sue Grafton (1940-2017) entered the mystery field in 1982 with the publication of 'A' Is for Alibi, which introduced female hard-boiled private investigator, Kinsey Millhone, operating out of the fictional town of Santa Teresa, (aka Santa Barbara) California, and launched the bestselling Kinsey Millhone Alphabet Mysteries. In addition to her books, she published several Kinsey Millhone short stories, and with her husband, Steven Humphrey, wrote numerous movies for television, including “A Killer in the Family” (starring Robert Mitchum), “Love on the Run” (starring Alec Baldwin and Stephanie Zimbalist) and two Agatha Christie adaptations, “Sparkling Cyanide” and “Caribbean Mystery,” which starred Helen Hayes. Grafton is published in 28 countries and in 26 languages.
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Reviews for "B" Is for Burglar
1,080 ratings52 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I enjoyed this book, even though I figured it out pretty early on.
Kinsey is trying to come to grips with killing someone, even though it was self defense. Mainly she’s avoiding it. She gets a new case and throws herself into it. I’m not too sure why Jonah was brought into the story - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5BOTTOM-LINE:Stealing someone's identity is one thing, living their life is another.PLOT OR PREMISE:A sister hires Kinsey to find her estranged sister who seems to have gone missing.WHAT I LIKED:The plot is interesting, as it starts to shape up as quite the mystery. The missing sister, Elaine, supposedly flew to Florida but someone else is staying in her condo there. Everybody has opinions, but no facts as to her whereabouts. And there's a link to a burglary / homicide that occurred before she disappeared. Stolen identities, missing cats, firecracker old ladies, multiple clients and Jonah too?.WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:A good portion of the novel is kind of muddy, with Kinsey blundering along, showing no real signs of any insight or deduction, just plodding along, with the mystery having to go at her pace too. None of the "drama" from the secondary characters tends to add any real intensity to the story, and many of the people just come off as lame..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.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I love how Sue gives good descriptions to her characters. Reading the books in order written is also help with the development f getting to know the main people. This book ended with a twisted i had no idea was coming.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Kinsey Milhone is a single, 32-year-old private investigator. A woman named Beverly comes into Kinsey's office to hire her to find her widowed sister, Elaine. Once Kinsey gets on Elaine's trail, she discovers much more than just a missing person.With a host of somewhat quirky characters and an interesting missing person's mystery, Grafton made this a very good read. It's been quite some time since I read A is for Alibi, so it was nice being reintroduced to Kinsey. I like her character and will not wait as long to pick up C is for Corpse. (3.75/5)Originally posted on: "Thoughts of Joy..."
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5B is for Burgler by Sue Grafton; (2 1/2*); bk 2I like our lady detective and love the relationship between her and her landlord. I also enjoy the rapport with the bar & grill owner, Rosie.But I found this missing person mystery to be rather convoluted and messy, or at least the telling of it to be. This series will have to improve a great deal within the next couple of books if I am going to continue with it.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I read this once before, so many years ago that I don't remember the exact date. But it's been a while and I didn't recall all the book details, so when I saw a copy for free in a book exchange location, I decided to read it again, knowing that I'd enjoyed the early Kinsey Millhone books.I did find some typos in this this edition, which surprised me. I don't remember noting those the last time I read the book, though honestly, I found I didn't remember much of the storyline. Kinsey takes on a missing persons case--I did wonder how the estate stuff that brought Beverly to Kinsey would end up being resolved if the person she was looking for turned up dead. That question was never answered, nor do we find out what happened with the Danzigers.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5As usual, a great read and an awesome mystery! This time around, Kinsey gets hired to find a missing person. However, there are so many wrenches thrown in along the way plus many many suspects it leaves your head spinning. I did not guess the murderer at all nor the accomplice. All in all a good read and looking forward to reading "C" next!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Kinsey Millhone is hired to track down her client's sister. Is her disappearance linked to the burglary next door? Loved the elderly neighbor who helps Kinsey.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5There's nothing like listening to old favourite books when one is sick. :)
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5After Sue Grafton's recent death I saw a lot of people praising her work. This series, about a private detective based in California, was the main thing she wrote. I don't think this particular entry broke any crazy new ground, but it was an entertaining little mystery with a couple of good twists.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This book is still early in the series, but I am enjoying it. "B" is for Burglar is certainly a product of the 1980s. Kinsey Millhone jogs, eats out at prices that I vaguely remember, and has no cell phone. She is her own woman, though, and I love it. This is a standard mystery, with the author playing fair with the reader. I had thoughts about what was going on, but then I have a suspicious mind when reading mysteries. I thoroughly enjoyed the "reveal" when Kinsey figured it out.Most of all, reading this during the Covid-19 pandemic, I envied the freedom to travel and interact with people. In this much simpler time, before 9/11, it was easy to hop on a plane and fly across the country. People had no masks, no real worries about various diseases. Of course, having no cell phones or portable computers certainly made it more necessary to travel and have "boots on the ground."This book will stand alone but gains from being read in series order. Highly recommended for fans of PI mysteries.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The second book in Grafton's series takes place about two weeks after A is for Alibi concluded and though Kinsey is still reeling from the psychological affects sustained while solving that caseshe is now called upon to find Elaine Boldt the missing sister of Beverly Danzinger. Beverly has been unable to reach Ms. Boldt and suspects she may be staying in one of her two homes in California or Florida or......perhaps she's dead. Around the same time, a fire next door to Boldt's condo has claimed the life of Boldt's friend, Marty Grice. Could these two incidents be related?A characteristically shifty group of neighbors and relatives make this another intriguing and entertaining read.More 1980's jargon include "hose" worn by women, smokers and smoking in public buildings, carbon paper and microfiche, "white out", pay phones and a cheeseburger, fries and a coke all for $1.65.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The second novel in Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone series, 'B' is for Burglar is a great improvement over the first book. Kinsey is hired to find the estranged sister of her client, but when the disappearance suggests murder her client balks and stops the investigation. The missing woman's elderly neighbor, however, becomes delightfully involved in the investigation, and rehires Kinsey to find out once and forever what happened to Mrs. Boldt. The flow of 'B' is for Burglar is more natural than the first book, although Grafton still wanders away from her original story from time to time. The book itself is dated by fashion (and a typewriter!), but in another few years these details will be charming instead of strange.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I listened to this on a road trip. I think B is for Burglar is a better story that A is for Alibi. Really enjoyed it.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5***This is a project of e-reading Grafton's series -- I started reading these back in the 1980s and would read each release as they came out over the years. To prevent spoilers, I will not attempt to summarize in detail. ***The motive behind this whodunnit seemed contrived but yet I tore through this one. I forgot how catty (but vivid) Kinsey could be when describing people and their appearances— at least in the earlier books. I'll have to see if she tones down her observations in later books.This series brings me back to a time and place I‘m very familiar with— California in the 1980s (and where I was living when first reading these). A time when DNA analysis didn‘t exist, and serial crimes were rampant. But hey the weather was usually great!
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Kinsey is asked to locate Elaine Boldt so she may sign a legal document. Elaine had left for Florida to stay at her condo there but Kinsey soon learns she did not arrive there and there is a very strange woman living in her apartment. Then the case becomes more dangerous as the house of a friend of Elaine's is burned, another apartment burgled, Elaine's fur coat is lost then found plus more strange events including murder. This is another crackling mystery that pushes Kinsey to the edge including her own death.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I think my favorite thing about the series so far is the detailing Grafton employs. It's like a more cynical breed of an Agatha Christie/Nancy Drew caper crossover. I'm still not entirely sold on the main character but it'll be interesting to see her fleshed out in the remaining books.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5I hope that these books get better. I may just have to give up on them. This book wasn't so much bad as it was pointless and boring, at least to me. I didn't care about anyone in this book, at all. No one grabbed my attention, and the mystery was just so-so.
Kinsey (the main character) is really weird to me. I feel like we are supposed to think she is this cool,quirky, bad ass but she comes across to me pretty much the opposite. She is unnecessarily rude to people, she seems weirdly oblivious at times, and she weirdly sexualizes everyone she meets...Well, at least the men. And I mean everyone. Last book it was a bunch of guys including a 12-year-old deaf kid and in this book it includes a 16 (or 17?) year-old punk, and her geriatric landlord. It is just really off-putting. I'll admit this may just be me, but i don't think so.
Also bad, I guessed what was going on pretty early in the book. Now, if the rest of the plot is well written and engaging it doesn't matter, but if it is slow and boring it is like pulling teeth to get through.
I know that these books start out written in the 80s before cell phones and other tech advances, but i don't mind that in the book. It actually makes me smile a bit.
I am going on the the third book in the hopes that as Sue Grafton goes along she gets better. I certainly hope so. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Don't know why I've been avoiding reading this series for so long, but glad I finally picked one up - excite writing - a bump up from a lot of the cozy mysteries I read. Great, another series to read! Starting with "A"
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Hilariously bad. The overall plot is passable, but the protagonist is one-dimensional and the murder weapon plain daft.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The author seemed to be more in control of her protagonist and the plot in this the second book in the series. The action moved on faster and Kinsey Millhone came across as a more rounded character this time. There were some lamentable lapses though; the policeman to whom she goes to reveal the killer's name isn't there ... so she says she'll return the next day! I'm no detective but I think I'd know to tell someone else and get the baddie arrested immediately! And going alone without a gun to where the baddies are headed doesn't seem like the action of a sensible person to me! Those inconsistencies apart, I still enjoyed this book and didn't guess the end as there were so many suspects to choose from. A good, light read.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Book on CD performed by Mary Peiffer
Book two in the mystery series featuring private investigator Kinsey Millhone of Santa Teresa, California. Beverly Danziger is expensively dressed and much more nervous than she should be considering her problem. She needs to find her sister to get some papers signed. Kinsey figures this will be fairly routine, so she takes the job. But a trip to Boca Raton, Florida only raises more questions about the missing woman, and Mrs Danziger is upset when Kinsey suggests filing an official missing persons report with the police.
I like this series. Kinsey is a smart, resourceful woman who takes her job seriously and doesn’t rely on some strong handsome type to come along and save her. If she gets into a jam, she gets herself out. The action is fast, the characters entertaining and Grafton includes enough twists and red herrings to keep this reader guessing right along with the characters. I figured it out only a couple of pages ahead of Kinsey.
Mary Peiffer does a fine job performing the audio version. She has good pacing and I enjoyed the way she brought the characters to life. - Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Another interesting mystery solved by Kinsey. It's a shame she's turned into such a damn fool by Grafton at the end. Just like the first one, I really liked everything up until she winds up confronting the bad guy. Then Grafton feeds her an idiot pill & ties one hand behind her back just to make sure there is a big suspenseful ending. Is this a trademark of the series? With only 2 books listened to, it seems unfair to pass judgement yet, but a third might just finish me.
I like Kinsey & the other female characters she meets. The men aren't quite as well done, but they're passable. The actual mystery was quite well done, except for the murder weapon which was a window sash weight. Who the hell is going to take a window apart to get to a sash weight to bludgeon someone to death with & then put it back afterward? Then retrieve it just before fleeing the country? WTF?!!! You have to pull the window trim off to get to the damn things & this was a well planned murder. Why not use a baseball bat & let it burn when you set the fire? Who cares anyway? They knew someone had been murdered & had the body. There was no value in having them except to get Kinsey & the murderer into the house together for the blow out.
To top it off, Kinsey goes into the house with a crowbar & uses it to uncover the murder weapon, then puts it in a plastic bag & stashes it out of reach. She winds up using a car key to try to break open the cellar doors & leaves herself defenseless. Have you ever put a crowbar into a plastic bag? Silly. The whole ending sucked & lost the book a star, probably should have been 2.
Judy Kaye did a good job of reading this. I like her voice. - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The climax was one of a kind here, but I couldn't understand how a seasoned sleuth like the heroine could jeopardize her strategic advantage that ineptly. If someone has read enough Agatha Christie books, he would have solved the murder pronto. Did I? Did I hell! I went in with a too relaxed mind, expecting to be mildly cheered, when in fact, the language took me unawares. Since that moment I read on dutifully, without exercising the god given grey little cells. If you've read The Body In the Library, A Murder Is Announced, or Nemesis, you can piece the puzzle and connect the dots by yourself.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The story was a good one with twists and turns - but I just didn't "take a shine to" Kinsey. Generally, if I'm going to read an on-going series, there's got to be some attraction to the main protagonist and it didn't happen for me in this novel.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5"B" is my third read (I've read "S" and "A") of Sue Grafton's Kinsey Milhone. The plot was OK, though not to hard to connect some of the 'mystery dots' as one reads.
I thought Grafton over does metaphoric descriptions but her style is patterned after Ross McDonald creator of gumshoe PD Lou Archer, but if you like that style you like the alphabet series.
If your a Kinsey Millhone fan "B" won't disappoint - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I love Kinsey Milhone and one of the things I love about this book is not only is there a very interesting puzzle to solve, but we get a glimpse of all the details it takes for the detective to solve them. I like seeing the mundane little efforts she makes because so often we're just told answers without knowing how they were obtained. This book is very satisfying. Kinsey takes on a missing persons case which looks pretty straight-forward but of course, nothing is as easy as it seems. Kinsey ends up having to take several trips to Boca Raton, FL where she meets a very interesting old lady who wants to help her with her investigation. Along with the characters she meets in Santa Teresa, Kinsey always has quite a cast of minor characters. Another win for Sue Grafton.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Took me awhile to read because I kept setting it down. A typical mystery story. Good to pass the time or to read in-between other, possibly better, books.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5It's always interesting to listen to a mystery I've previously read years ago, because I think I remember things, but then I'm not sure. I also find that already knowing the ending somehow actually can increase my reaction in suspenseful parts because I know what's coming so I'm even more worried about the protagonist. Listened to the Books on Tape recording narrated by Mary Peiffer. Peiffer really works for me as the voice of Kinsey; her narration is very matter-of-fact but still holds plenty of emotion. Previously read years ago.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5I've read another of Sue Grafton's novels, and just like the previous one, this did nothing for me. Between the plot, the characterization, the writing style, there's nothing about it that stands out as being anything above mediocre. In this novel, Kinsey goes looking for an eccentric wealthy woman. This leads her to Florida and a woman posing as the missing woman. The red herrings were weak. The villain was not very believable and the story was a bit dull. This isn't worth the read.Carl Alves - author of Two For Eternity