My Max in a Million is gone.  I woke up yesterday morning and he had died during that night.  No more suffering for the big guy.  I sure do miss him though.

 

 

 "H" is for Homicide (1991) by Sue Grafton

     ISBN:  0449219461

 

     Kinsey Millhone is working on a case involving the death of a claims adjuster for a California Insurance company.  The story takes her into the Los Angeles barrio in pursuit of a violent criminal, into jails and hospitals, and into a grungy bar named the Meat Locker…..Count on Millhone not only to corner the murderer but also to make a statement against the foibles of the insurance game.  (From the New York Times)

 

     This eighth novel in Grafton's best-selling series is perhaps the wildest ride yet.  The story begins with the violent end of Parnell Perkins…..Kinsey is determined not to get involved in Perkins' homicide, even if they had been drinking buddies and he seemed like a truly nice guy.  After all, his case is unrelated to Kinsey's current one, the suspicious claims filed by one Bibianna Diaz.  If Kinsey can crack the Diaz case---maybe she can keep her job---Grafton's skill with dialogue, her vivid characterizations and California scenery are priceless…There are moments when the tension becomes so unbearable that you are tempted to skip paragraphs out of self-preservation.

Finished on: 2/29/2008

 

G is for Gumshoe (1990) by Sue Grafton

     ISBN: 0312946201

 

     G is for Game….. When Irene Gersh asks PI Kinsey Millhone to locate her elderly mother Agnes, whom she hasn't heard from in six months, it's not exactly the kind of case Kinsey jumps for.  But a girl's gotta pay her bills, and this should be easy money---or so she thinks.  Kinsey finds Agnes in a hospital.  Aside from her occasional memory lapses, the octogenarian seems fine.  And frightened.

 

     G is for Gun… Kinsey doesn't know what to make of Agnes's vague fears and bizarre ramblings, but she's got her own worries.  It seems Tyrone Patty, a criminal she helped put behind bars, is looking to make a hit.  First, Kinsey's car is run off the road, and then days later, she's almost gunned down, setting in motion a harrowing cat-and-mouse game…..

 

     G is for Gumshoe…  So Kinsey decides to hire a bodyguard.  With PI Robert Dietz watching her 24/7, Kinsey is feeling on edge….especially with their growing sexual tension.  Then, when Agnes's fatal heart attack turns out to be a homicide, Kinsey realizes the old lady wasn't so senile after all--and maybe she was trying to tell her something.  Now Kinsey's determined

 

Agatha Raisin and the Day the Floods Came (2002)

     ISBN: 031298586X

 

     Crankier than ever, Agatha Raisin wants to forget that her husband left her to enter a monastery--a turn of affairs more humiliating than when she caught him with a mistress.  She feels abandoned, fat, frumpy, and absolutely furious.

 

     What are her options?  She takes an island vacation and joins a Pilates class.  But what finally lifts her spirits is finding a corpse.  The dead girl is a member of Agatha's exercise class, afloat in a rain-swollen river, dressed in a bridal gown, and clutching a wedding bouquet.  Agatha's policeman friend Bill Wong suggests she leave this macabre murder to the Worcester CID.  Pah!  What do they know?  Once she enlists the aid of the bachelor mystery writer next door, puts on a disguise, and interviews some likely suspects, Agatha will be her brash, redoubtable self again--unless she becomes the killer's next victim…..

Finished on 2/5/2008

 

The Highly Effective Detective(2006) by Richard Yancey

    ISBN: 031236900X

 

     Meet Teddy Ruzak.  After his mother dies, Teddy quits his job as a night watchman to fullfill his childhood dream of being a detective.  With little planning and even less foresight, he hangs up his shingle and hires his favorite waitress from the local diner to be his Girl Friday.

 

And his first case?  Bringing to justice the thoughtless driver who mows down six baby geese.  Not the most exciting assignment--until Teddy's "wild-goose chase" quickly evolves into an investigation of a vicious murder.

Finished reading on 1/31/2008

 

 

 ISBN: 0-312-93904-3

 

     F is for Flight….. When Kinsey Millhone first arrives in Floral Beach, California, it's hard for her to picture the idyllic coastal town as the setting of a brutal murder.  Seventeen years ago, the body of Jean Timberlake--a troubled teen who had a reputation with the boys--was found on the beach.  Her boyfriend, Bailey Fowler, was convicted of her murder and imprisoned, but he escaped.

 

     F is for Fear … After all this time, Bailey's finally been captured.  Believing in his son's innocence, Bailey's father wants Kinsay to find Jean's real killer.  But most of the residents in this tight-knit community are convinced Bailey strangled Jean.  So why are they so reluctant to answer Kinsey's questions?  If there's one thing Kinsey's got plenty of it's persistence.  And that's exactly what it's going to take to crack the lid on this case.

 

     F is for Fugitive….As Kinsey gets closer to solving Jean's murder, the more dirty little secrets she uncovers in a town where everyone has something to hide--and a killer will kill again to keep the past buried…..

Finished reading on 1/22/2008

 

 

  ISBN: 0553586

 

     When full-time vet and part-time sleuth Jessica Popper is asked to treat a billionaire's ailing horse, she gets a deadly glimpse into the lifestyles of the rich and felonious.

 

Murder gallops after Jessie when an emergency call sends the traveling vet to a posh Long Island estate with her one-eyed Dalmation, Lou, and her tailess Westie, Max.  A prized Arabian steed needs minor medical care--but it's the rider who grabls Jess's attention.  The handsome young horseman exudes plenty of animal magnetism as he canters across the field…and then takes an inexplicable, fatal fall.

 

     The dead man was one of the finest polo players in the world, but it was no accident that killed him.  The culprit was poison.  And as Jess soon discovers, a number of people had the means, motive, and opportunity for foul play, from the hostile barn manager to the billionaire's disgruntled wife.  But Jess will have to temper her feline instinct with good old-fashioned horse sense if she's going to stop a killer from leading a certain sleuth to her death…………

I actually finished this one at the beginning of the year.  I just don't have them in here yet.  Very slow I am.....