"J" Is for Judgment

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"J" Is for Judgment
J Is for Judgment.jpg
First edition cover
Author Sue Grafton
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
SeriesAlphabet Mysteries
Genre Mystery fiction
Published1993 Henry Holt and Company
Media typePrint (Hardcover)
Pages288 first edition
ISBN 978-0-8050-1935-3
OCLC 26854030
813/.54 20
LC Class PS3557.R13 J2 1993
Preceded by "I" Is for Innocent  
Followed by "K" Is for Killer  

"J" Is for Judgment is the tenth 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] 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.

Contents

Plot summary

Kinsey Millhone's former employer, California Fidelity Insurance, hires her to investigate the alleged reappearance of Ponzi schemer Wendell Jaffe. Jaffe was assumed to have died five years previously when his boat, the Captain Stanley Lord, was found drifting off the Baja coast. He left behind a suicide note, a number of angry investors, and a family: a wife, Dana, along with sons Michael and Brian. With no body to prove death, CFI made Dana wait the full statutory five years to presume death before paying out on Jaffe's half-million insurance claim. She has been making ends meet by working as a wedding planner. Michael, now 22, has coped reasonably well with suddenly being the man of the house and is a new husband and father himself. Eighteen-year-old Brian, on the other hand, is currently residing in juvenile hall. Two months after the insurance payout, a former CFI employee has spotted a man he is convinced is Jaffe in Viento Negro, Mexico.

In Mexico, Kinsey finds Jaffe is now known as Dean DeWitt Huff. Huff/Jaffe is traveling with a woman named Renata Huff, who has a residence on the quay in Perdido, near Santa Teresa, as well as a boat of her own. Before Kinsey can prove his identity, they vanish. That same day, Brian is arrested in the middle of a botched escape attempt, but is just as suddenly released on a technicality. Kinsey is convinced Jaffe arranged Brian's escape and is heading back to California to reconnect with his son.

Renata catches Kinsey searching on her property, but admits Wendell is visiting Michael. Kinsey tracks Jaffe down, but someone begins firing shots at them both and he escapes once more. The next day, the Captain Stanley Lord is found drifting a few miles off-shore just as it was the first time Jaffe vanished.

Kinsey has proved Jaffe didn't die and therefore the insurance money can be reclaimed from Dana. Though her job is done, Kinsey goes in search of the full story. She finds Brian, and also finds out from Jaffe's former business partner Carl Eckert that there was three million dollars from their fraudulent business scheme on board the missing boat. Renata confesses that she killed Wendell, dumped his body at sea, and then set the Lord adrift, making her way back to shore in her own dinghy. She then wades out into the sea to kill herself, and Kinsey is unable to stop her. Jaffe's body washes up on the shore, but Renata's never does, leaving Kinsey to wonder if, like her husband, she has managed to fake her own death.

In a subplot, Kinsey discovers she has long lost family living in nearby Lompoc. Her cousin Liza tells her the family scandal: Kinsey's mother was cut off from her family for marrying Kinsey's father. Kinsey is aghast that no one has tried to track her down in the 29 years since her parents were killed and is resentful of any intrusion into her solitude at this late date.

Characters

Reception

"J" Is for Judgment was a New York Times best-seller and had an initial press run of nearly half a million copies. [4]

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>"H" Is for Homicide</i> Novel by Sue Grafton

"H" Is for Homicide is the eighth novel in Sue Grafton's "Alphabet" series of mystery novels and features Kinsey Millhone, a private eye based in Santa Teresa, California. In this novel, Kinsey Millhone goes under cover to help break up an insurance fraud ring in Los Angeles led by Raymond Maldonado. 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.

<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>"F" Is for Fugitive</i>

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

<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>"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>"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>"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>"V" Is for Vengeance</i> 2011 novel by Sue Grafton

"V" Is for Vengeance is the 22nd novel in Sue Grafton's "Alphabet" series of mystery novels and features Kinsey Millhone, a private eye based in Santa Teresa, California, a fictional version of Santa Barbara, 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. ↑ Rogers, Jay (May 30, 1993). "'Judgment' No. 10 in alphabetical series "J" is for Judgment". San Antonio Express-News . p. 5L.
  2. ↑ Robertson, William (April 25, 1993). "And 'P' is for page-turner, a dip into detective fiction". Miami Herald . p. 3I.
  3. ↑ Kelly, Ed (1993-05-02). "Kinsey hits her stride". The Buffalo News .
  4. ↑ "Letter-Perfect: When it comes to mystery writing, Sue Grafton knows her ABCs better than anyone". The Sacramento Bee . April 20, 1993. p. D1.


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