is for Homicide

I grabbed this one from the paperback rack in front, when a library visit didn't net much else of interest. I couldn't remember which ones the fans rated the highest, and as it turns out, I chose poorly. Amazon.com reviewers didn't have much to say about this one, and H is for Homicide only has 28 comments, with an average score of 3.5/5. That's about the lowest of any of her novels, while the D, F, and G novels have the highest scores, at 4.5/5. I have read G, and while it wasn't much different than Quarry in quality, I gave it a slightly higher score since the plot was more interesting. I certainly didn't like it as much as the Amazon.com reviewers did, though.

How did I feel about Homicide?  Check the scores:

(Click here to see these categories explained.)

H is for Homicide, by Sue Grafton 
Plot: 3
Concept: 4
Writing Quality/Flow: 6/7
Characters: 8
Fun Factor: 5
Page Turner: 6
Re-readability: 3
Overall: 5

Not her best, but not her worst. Of the three of the novels I've read so far, this one had the weakest plot, and the most linear plot. My main complaint about Gumshoe and Quarry was that the two plot threads in them never matched up. In both novels Kinsey (the female PI main character) started working on one case, ran into a bigger adventure, and then spent 80% of the remainder of the book dealing with the second plot thread, while only touching back on the first one every now and then. And then, to my surprise, the plot threads never joined up. I was sure they would, since that's just how stories work; even TV shows usually tie up all the threads into one ending, overly-convenient though it may be.  The lack of an overall plot thread cost the books points from me, but that's not a problem with H, since there is just one plot thread over the last 200 pages of the book.  And it's not a very good one, as my 3 score testifies to.

To briefly sketch out the plot, Kinsey was in San Diego on business for three weeks, and when she returns there's a crime scene around her office and the murder victim lying in the parking lot was a guy she knew at work and was somewhat friendly with.  That's the first plot thread, such as it is, though it's only mentioned again in terms of Kinsey reading in the paper about how the investigation is going nowhere. After that opening, the book fills 20 or 30 pages with Kinsey gossiping with people who work for the insurance company she shares an office with, meeting their new ball-breaking efficiency expert, quickly ducking into her newly-remodeled apartment, eating junk food, taking an early morning jog, etc. All the staples of her character, and it feels very perfunctory; imagine a quick and random scene of Sherlock Holmes lighting up his big pipe, just because the readers expect it of him.

The main plot thread begins when Kinsey starts investigating a woman for attempting insurance fraud, ends up bonding with her and getting arrested with her, and then winds up in LA with her gang banger boyfriend and his spiderweb of insurance fraud.  The final 200 pages of the 280 page novel are one long narrative stretching over three or four days as Kinsey gets involved in the insurance fraud, gets to know the gangster and his girlfriend, and tries to keep from being killed by the Tourette's Syndrome suffering gangster. The opening plot thread murder victim is mentioned again in the short epilogue, but if you had given him a thought in over 150 pages, you have a better memory than me. And if you were surprised to find out who killed him, you have a lot less imagination. Or perhaps more imagination, if you could imagine any other suspects in the very limited character pool of the novel.

As with Gumshoe and Quarry, the other two novels I've read in this series, this one was never, in any way, a mystery. It was a passable adventure, and it flowed quickly and had some interesting characters, but it was just a police action story; there was nothing resembling sleuthing or problem solving or clever investigation. Neither Gumshoe nor Quarry had much of that either, but at least those novels allowed some space for Kinsey to snoop around and hunt up information, and gave you some appreciation for the relatively-tedious nuts and bolts of her job. She does a tiny amount of that early on in this novel, and I enjoyed the story set up and the flow for the first 100 pages, but all detective elements of the story end at that point, and it's just a straight adventure from there on out. It's not a bad adventure, but since you know there's always going to be another Kinsey Milhone mystery, you're never in fear for her life. And since the bad guys always get caught in the end, there's not much suspense about that either.

There is some unknown when it comes to how it will all work out, and how the bit part players will fare, since in both other Grafton novels I've read, there was a pretty harsh body count for the minor characters.  I won't spoil that aspect of this novel, but there are some surprises at the very end, mostly in terms of how things happen, rather than in terms of what happens. The ending of Gumshoe and Quarry were much more suspenseful and surprising than this one, for what that's worth. This one was more enjoyable as it led up to the unsurprising climax, though.

Overall, I enjoyed it and it was a very quick read. Despite having no intention of reading it in one day I ended up plowing through the whole thing in less than 3 hours reading time, which is fast even for me on a novel, especially in these days when my reading is more often an hour here and an hour there. The book is basically junk food; the plot is streamlined, linear, and flows like water down a pipe, there aren't any subplots or long digressions or flashbacks to keep track of, and 98% of the novel is Kinsey narrating exactly what's happening at that moment. If you want thoughtful introspection or sub plots or philosophy, this is not the book for you. On the other hand, if you don't want to think much and just want a quick action story to read on a plane flight, you could do worse than H is for Homicide.

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