R is for Ricochet

A Kinsey Millhone Mystery

By: Sue Grafton

Narrated by: Judy Kaye

Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

Reba Lafferty was a daughter of privilege, the only child of an adoring father. Over the years, he quietly settled her many scrapes with the law, but he wasn't there for her when she was convicted of embezzlement and sent to the California Institute for Women. Now, at 32, she is about to be paroled, having served 22 months of a four-year sentence. Nord Lafferty wants to be sure she stays straight, stays at home and away from the drugs, the booze, the gamblers.

It seems a straightforward assignment for Kinsey: baby-sit Reba until she settles in, make sure she follows all the rules of her parole. Maybe all of a week's work. Nothing untoward, the woman seems remorseful and friendly. And the money is good. But life is never that simple, and Reba is out of prison less than 24 hours when one of her old crowd comes circling around.

Readers have come to expect the unexpected from Sue Grafton, and R is for Ricochet is no exception. In it, a complex and clever money-laundering scheme is just a cover for a novel that is all about love: love gone wrong, love betrayed, love denied. And love avenged. For Reba Lafferty, its moral is clear: Sometimes what you hand out in life comes back to bite you in the ass. Sometimes the good guys win, even when they lose.

Don't miss the other titles in the Kinsey Millhone Alphabet Mystery Series.

©2004 Sue Grafton (P)2004 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Sexy adventure....Grafton as usual creates believable and enduring characters and a strong sense of place in her town of Santa Teresa circa 1987." (Publishers Weekly)

Lost respect for Kinsey

Why an adult with Kinsey's reputation and experience would continually follow an immature ex con is beyond me. Yes it made for some exciting scenes but Kinsey should have stopped agreeing with this woman's antics after the first mistake, especially since most of the time she was doing what this woman wanted without even knowing why or how things were supposed to turn out.
I lost a lot of respect for the Kinsey in this book. I hope future books are more mature and responsible otherwise it is just filling up space hoping to get to Z.

great

another great sue Grafton mystery to keep you guessing till the end and wanting more.

good addition

I like the story but am still getting used the Kay's performances. I'll continue with the series.

A good read!

I have read all of this series, and this is my first Audible version. I enjoyed it thoroughly. The narrator fit perfectly for Kinsey's character and attitude, and the other characters came through well also. The plot was a little different than her previous stories, and I enjoyed that change-up as well. Very readable, and I wanted to hear it all.

enjoyed her style...again

keep reading her books...was a late starter...hope audible get more to keep me rivoted while driving...different from her other books...but the change in topic(than the usuable murder) was worth it...

Awesome!

Great storyline and character development. It keeps you riveted to the end. I've driven around the block just to finish a chapter

Good story.. parts,not so believable

I have read all her books, I have always enough fear for her life other than that I liked it

Another absolute love in all aspects.

My favorite ever series. I have read these books multiple times and now listen to them as I have lost most of my sight.

Kinsey in Love?

I have listened my way through Sue Grafton's alphabet and been rewarded with better and better tales. This is no exception.

This is a nice listen ~ an exciting story with engaging characters we can grow to care about.

Grafton is particularly successful in "maturing" Kinsey ~ the irreverence is still present, but it is less overpowering. Instead, we meet a more grown-up Kinsey, someone capable of really caring about others (even a cat!), of intense self-examination, of emotional growth and of committed romance. This is not the Kinsey of the early alphabet ~ this is a much more real character and one it is much easier to care for.

It is especially welcome to see Kinsey begin to develop friendships (romantic and otherwise). Such relationships have never seemed quite real in the past, in part because Grafton crafted Kinsey as a loner. Now the shell is cracking a bit, and a new Kinsey seems to be emerging.

The other characters are equally well developed. We can empathize with them, become frustrated by them, or disapprove of their behavior. We learn a bit more about the regulars (Henry, William, Rosie) and we meet some very well drawn episodic characters.

Grafton does an especially good job with the "villains" ~ both great and small. They are certainly bad enough, but Grafton gives them credible motivations for their behavior. No one likes to admit they are evil and these "bad guys" all have their own motivations and explanations that leave them less blameworthy, less evil (at least in their own eyes). This is how the real world works, and it is refreshing to see it reflected so aptly in fiction.

I've read through some of the other reviews and I do not understand the thoroughly negative ones. Grafton has never rushed her stories, and the extra details she offers help round out her characters and the world they inhabit. This leads to longish (11 hour) but certainly not overly long tales and, importantly, a series that develops and matures. Too long for you? Speed up your playback or shift to an abridged version.

For me, and happily for most other reviewers, this is just the right length and a creditworthy addition to the Kinsey Millhone series. With it, Sue Grafton is coming into her own. It almost makes you sorry the alphabet has only 26 letters.

Laughed out loud

I've read all of Grafton's series, and I think I enjoyed this one the most so far. Her wry humor is really just clicking in this book, and I found I was giggling to myself in my car on the way to work.
It was also nice that Kinsey finally got to go shopping, and get out of those jeans and black turtlenecks! I liked the love story part of this, and I say it's about time she got to do some fun stuff.