"H" Is for Homicide

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"H" Is for Homicide
H Is for Homicide.jpg
First edition cover
Author Sue Grafton
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
SeriesAlphabet Mysteries
Genre Mystery fiction
Published1991 Henry Holt and Company
Media typePrint (Hardcover)
Pages256 first edition
ISBN 978-0-8050-1084-8
OCLC 22812747
813/.54 20
LC Class PS3557.R13 H17 1991
Preceded by "G" Is for Gumshoe  
Followed by "I" Is for Innocent  

"H" Is for Homicide is the eighth novel in Sue Grafton's "Alphabet" series of mystery novels [1] and features Kinsey Millhone, a private eye based in Santa Teresa, California. [2] [3] In this novel, Kinsey Millhone goes under cover to help break up an insurance fraud ring in Los Angeles led by Raymond Maldonado. [4] She infiltrates the ring by befriending Maldonado's former girlfriend Bibianna Diaz. In the process she meets up with a former school mate and ex cop, Jimmy Tate.

Contents

This novel earned a place on the New York Times hard-cover best-seller list just two weeks after initial publication. [5]

Plot summary

When insurance adjuster Parnell Perkins is shot and killed, Kinsey is passed one of his case files to investigate for possible insurance fraud. Kinsey assumes a false identity as Hannah Moore in an attempt to befriend the suspect, Bibianna Diaz. She discovers that Bibianna is in a relationship with a former schoolmate of Kinsey's, disgraced police officer Jimmy Tate. Meanwhile, Bibianna's jealous former boyfriend Raymond Maldonaldo is hunting her down. While Kinsey is out drinking with Bibianna and Tate, Raymond's brother Chago and his girlfriend Dawna accost Bibianna. In the fracas that ensues, Tate shoots and kills Chago. Bibianna and Kinsey are taken into custody.

Santa Teresa Police Lieutenant Dolan visits Kinsey in jail and offers her a job. He reveals that Raymond is the head of a huge insurance fraud gang, possibly receiving inside information from a contact within the department. The police want Kinsey to use her new position as Bibianna's confidante to get the evidence they need.

Kinsey goes with Raymond and Bibianna back to their apartment in South Los Angeles, which the couple share with Raymond's associate, Luis. Over the next several days, Raymond teaches Kinsey how he and his gang defraud insurance companies by staging car accidents and reporting fake injuries with the help of cooperative medical professionals and attorneys. Kinsey discovers that Parnell Perkins used to help the gang file their fraudulent insurance claims before fleeing to Santa Teresa. Kinsey eventually establishes that the leak is a clerk at the County Sheriff's office, whose father is a crooked chiropractor involved with Raymond's gang. It is revealed that the same clerk alerted the gang to Perkins' presence in Santa Teresa, where Raymond found and killed him.

Bibianna reveals that while Raymond is determined to force her into marriage, she has just married Tate. Matters come to a head when Bibianna escapes and is pursued almost to her death by one of Raymond's henchmen. Visiting her in the hospital, the doctor lets slip to Raymond that Bibianna's next of kin is her husband, Jimmy Tate, who is already at the hospital visiting his wife. Enraged, Raymond shoots Jimmy. Kinsey sets off in hot pursuit and receives unexpected help from Luis, who turns out to be an undercover officer with the Los Angeles Police Department. Kinsey makes it back to Santa Teresa in time for her friend Vera Lipton's wedding, but is fired from her job by new Vice President Gordon Titus.

Reviews

Publication history

With a first printing of 170,000 copies, this book earned a place on the New York Times hard-cover best-seller list just two weeks after initial publication. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sue Grafton</span> American writer

Sue Taylor Grafton was an American author of detective novels. She is best known as the author of the "alphabet series" featuring private investigator Kinsey Millhone in the fictional city of Santa Teresa, California. The daughter of detective novelist C. W. Grafton, she said the strongest influence on her crime novels was author Ross Macdonald. Before her success with this series, she wrote screenplays for television movies.

<i>"A" Is for Alibi</i> 1982 novel by Sue Grafton

"A" Is for Alibi is the first mystery novel in Sue Grafton's "Alphabet" series, and was published by Holt, Rinehart and Winston in 1982. Featuring sleuth Kinsey Millhone, it is set in the southern California city of Santa Teresa, the nom de plume for Santa Barbara. She wrote the book during a divorce and admits about her husband that she "would lie in bed at night thinking of ways to kill him". The New York Times gave the book a lukewarm review.

<i>"G" Is for Gumshoe</i>

"G" Is for Gumshoe (1990) is the seventh novel in Sue Grafton's "Alphabet" series of mystery novels and features Kinsey Millhone, a private eye based in Santa Teresa, California.

<i>"B" Is for Burglar</i> 1985 novel by Sue Grafton

"B" Is for Burglar is a mystery novel by American writer Sue Grafton. It was published in 1985 by Henry Holt and Company as the second novel in her "Alphabet" series of mystery novels.

<i>"C" Is for Corpse</i> 1986 book by Sue Grafton

"C" Is for Corpse is the third novel in Sue Grafton's "Alphabet" series of mystery novels and features Kinsey Millhone, a private eye based in Santa Teresa, California.

<i>"D" Is for Deadbeat</i>

"D" Is for Deadbeat is the fourth novel in Sue Grafton's "Alphabet" series of mystery novels and features Kinsey Millhone, a private eye based in Santa Teresa, California. The novel follows the development of Kinsey's relationship with Jonah Robb, the police officer she met in B is for Burglar.

<i>"E" Is for Evidence</i> Novel

"E" Is for Evidence is the fifth novel in Sue Grafton's "Alphabet" series of mystery novels and features Kinsey Millhone, a private eye based in Santa Teresa, California. The premise of the book elaborates on Kinsey's personal history since it involves her second ex-husband, jazz musician and drug addict Daniel Wade, who was only briefly addressed in C is for Corpse.

<i>"I" Is for Innocent</i> Novel by Sue Grafton

"I" Is for Innocent is the ninth novel in Sue Grafton's "Alphabet" series of mystery novels and features Kinsey Millhone, a private eye based in Santa Teresa, California.

<i>"J" Is for Judgment</i>

"J" Is for Judgment is the tenth novel in Sue Grafton's "Alphabet" series of mystery novels and features Kinsey Millhone, a private eye based in Santa Teresa, California. The novel is set in 1984 and features a significant development in Kinsey's personal back-story, as she discovers that she has extensive family living in the Lompoc area.

<i>"L" Is for Lawless</i>

"L" Is for Lawless is the 12th novel in Sue Grafton's "Alphabet" series of mystery novels and features Kinsey Millhone, a private eye based in Santa Teresa, California.

<i>"M" Is for Malice</i>

"M" Is for Malice is the 13th novel in Sue Grafton's "Alphabet" series of mystery novels and features Kinsey Millhone, a private eye based in Santa Teresa, California. The novel is set in 1986.

<i>"N" Is for Noose</i>

"N" Is for Noose is the 14th novel in Sue Grafton's "Alphabet" series of mystery novels and features Kinsey Millhone, a private eye based in Santa Teresa, California, although much of this novel's action takes place elsewhere in California.

<i>"O" Is for Outlaw</i>

"O" Is for Outlaw is the 15th novel in Sue Grafton's "Alphabet" series of mystery novels and features Kinsey Millhone, a private eye based in Santa Teresa, California.

<i>"P" Is for Peril</i> Novel by Sue Grafton

"P" Is for Peril is the 16th novel in the "Alphabet" series of mystery novels by Sue Grafton. The novel focuses on the disappearance of Dr. Dowan Purcell, a nursing home administrator and doctor at Pacific Meadows Nursing Home, and features Kinsey Millhone, a private eye based in Santa Teresa, California. The novel is set in 1986.

<i>"Q" Is for Quarry</i>

"Q" Is for Quarry is the 17th novel in Sue Grafton's "Alphabet" series of mystery novels and features Kinsey Millhone, a private eye based in Santa Teresa, California.

<i>"R" Is for Ricochet</i>

"R" Is for Ricochet is the 18th novel in Sue Grafton's "Alphabet" series of mystery novels and features Kinsey Millhone, a private eye based in Santa Teresa, California.

<i>"T" Is for Trespass</i>

"T" Is for Trespass is the 20th novel in Sue Grafton's "Alphabet" series of mystery novels and features Kinsey Millhone, a private eye based in the fictional Santa Teresa, California.

<i>"W" Is for Wasted</i> 2013 novel by Sue Grafton

"W" Is for Wasted is the twenty-third novel in the "Alphabet" series of mystery novels by Sue Grafton. It features Kinsey Millhone, a private detective based in Santa Teresa, California, a fictional version of Santa Barbara, California.

<i>X</i> (Grafton novel) 2015 novel by Sue Grafton

"X" is the twenty-fourth novel in the "Alphabet" series of mystery novels by Sue Grafton. It features Kinsey Millhone, a private detective based in Santa Teresa, California, a fictional version of Santa Barbara, California.

<i>"Y" Is for Yesterday</i> 2017 mystery novel by Sue Grafton

"Y" Is for Yesterday is the twenty-fifth and final novel in the "Alphabet" series of mystery novels by Sue Grafton. Grafton intended to write a Z novel, but she died before she was able to do so. It features Kinsey Millhone, a private detective based in the fictional city of Santa Teresa, California.

References

  1. ↑ Schuldt, Gretchen (1991-06-22). "'H' is for highly entertaining". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
  2. ↑ "Private-Eye Series Sustains Suspense In 'Homicide'". The Deseret News. 1991-06-16.
  3. ↑ Kelly, Ed (1991-06-09). "Grafton Deserves Top Billing". The Buffalo News. p. G8.
  4. ↑ Mitgang, Herbert (1991-05-08). "BOOKS OF THE TIMES; Feminist Detectives, One Familiar, One New". The New York Times.
  5. 1 2 McDowell, Edwin (1991-05-01). "Book Notes: 'M' Is for Money". The New York Times.
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