Absolutely fantastic!

One of the best. With more insight into Kinsey past, this tales contains lots of action, mystery, and suspense. Artfully pulling together seemingly disparate pieces into a clear picture if something Grafton excels at and this one is quite masterful. A great read.

Audiobook performed by Judy Keye.


Book # 15 in the popular Alphabet series starring private investigator (and former cop) Kinsey Millhone. It starts when a man who buys abandoned storage lockers calls to tell Kinsey he’s found a carton stuffed with personal memorabilia with her name on it. Turns out the storage locker belonged to her first ex-husband, Mickey.

Of course, it’s not so simple as that. Mickey’s been shot and Kinsey looks like a possible suspect. But who would go to the trouble to frame her? And what was Mickey up to that would get him shot?

I love that the series is set in a time before computers and cell phones, when investigators (whether police or private detectives) needed to be both inventive and persistent in tracking down all the leads and possibilities. The plot is suitably intricate but Grafton reveals little bits and pieces of the puzzle, letting the reader try to figure out the solution right along with Kinsey. I confess that I was unsuccessful until I was practically hit over the head with the information.

The ending was satisfying and somewhat touching. That last poignant paragraph was a nice surprise.

Judy Keye does a marvelous job of performing the audiobook. I loved the various voices she used for some of the more colorful characters: neighbor and landlord, Henry; Cordia; Duffy; Porter Yount.

Note: I read about four or five of these books early on and then stopped. A couple of years ago I re-read the first in the series and really enjoyed it. Now, after reading this one, I’m making a promise to myself to go back and read them all.

Kinsey Millhouse got just a tad bitchy with her 87 year old landlord. I'm not sure I liked that. It was interesting that we have now had the backstory of both of Kinsey's ex-husbands.

I was into the Sue Grafton Kinsey Millhone series for a long time ... and then I fell out of reading them. Some were not as good as others (not surprising in a series: not all are equal) and it began to feel repetitive.

But I was looking for books on CD to listen to in the car, and found O for Outlaw ... and very much enjoyed it. Liked the narrator - again, not quite how I imagined Kinsey's voice, but believable. A good choice.

And I enjoyed the story, of anger and redemption, and of coming to terms with the mistakes of the past - your own mistakes, and those of others; and the hubris that accompanies youth and growing out of it (or not).

Kinsey acquires a box of her old papers and documents, in a box that had been in her first husband's storage unit. She finds a letter that changes her perspective on the end of her marriage and sets out to find her ex-husband and sort out their past. But events overtake her search, and her voyage into the past to discover the truth of the present becomes more urgent.

Riveting.