"I" is for Innocent: A Kinsey Millhone Novel (Kinsey Millhone Alphabet Mysteries, 9)

Lonnie Kingman is in a bind. He's smack in the middle of assembling a civil suit, and the private investigator who was doing his pretrial legwork has just dropped dead. In a matter of weeks, the court's statute of limitations will put an end to his case. Five years ago, David Barney walked when a jury acquitted him of the murder of his rich wife, Isabelle. Now Kingman, acting as attorney for the dead woman's ex-husband and their child is trying to divest David Barney of the profits of that murder. But David Barney still swears he's innocent.When Kinsey Millhone agrees to take over for Morley Shine, she thinks it is a simple matter of tying up loose ends. Morley might have been careless about his health, but he was an old pro at the business. So, it comes as a shock when she finds his files in disarray, his key informant less than credible, and his witnesses denying ever having spoken with him. It comes as a bigger shock when she finds that every claim David Barney has made checks out. But if Barney didn't murder his wife, who did?Somewhere out there, a killer waits to see just what Kinsey will find out. Somewhere out there, someone's been getting away with murder, and this time it just might turn out to be Kinsey's.

Another “IRRESISTIBLE” (Baltimore Sun) novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Sue Grafton

I IS FOR IF…

Five years ago David Barney was acquitted of the murder of his rich wife, Isabelle. Now, Isabelle’s ex-husband, Ken Voigt—who is suing Barney for her estate—is claiming the jury made a fatal mistake...

I IS FOR INDICTMENT…

Enter P.I. Kinsey Millhone, who takes the Barney case over from a former colleague…and comes up with more questions than answers. Why are Mr. Barney’s witnesses denying ever having spoken to him? Why did Isabelle have so many enemies—including but not limited to her best friend, Voight’s second wife, and her own twin sister?

I IS FOR INNOCENT

But the most troubling question of all is: Why is it that everything David Barney has to say about his beloved Isabelle still checks out? Now it’s up to Kinsey to figure out who’s getting away with murder….before she courts her own.

“Wry, action-packed [and] exciting.”—The Washington Post Book World

Publishers Weekly

After the pace and invention of ``H'' Is for Homicide, Grafton sets Kinsey Milhone on a quieter, more cerebral path in the ever-appealing PI's newest abecedarian adventure, again set in Santa Teresa, Calif. When fellow PI Morley Shine dies of a heart attack, Kinsey takes over the task of gathering evidence for a local lawyer who is prosecuting architect David Barney. Six years earlier, Barney was acquitted of murder charges in the still-unsolved death of his wealthy estranged wife Isabel, killed by a bullet fired through the peephole of her front door. Now Isabel's first husband, Ken Voigt, hoping to strip the architect of the fortune he inherited, is charging Barney with Isabel's wrongful death in a civil court, where less stringent evidence is required for conviction. Quickly finding holes in Shine's investigation, Kinsey uncovers a slew of suspects in Isabel's murder, including Voigt's second wife, Barney's first wife, Isabel's less attractive twin sister and even her best friend. Kinsey determines that Shine's death was not straightforward, solves the mystery of another years-old death and comes under direct fire herself before she finally, nearly too late, figures out who is the threat. There's much to enjoy here as Kinsey's octogenarian landlord Henry endures a visit from his fastidious older brother and romance blooms for neighborhood tavern owner Rose. But Kinsey may be voicing fans' hopes for ``J'' when she reflects midway through this case: ``I wanted to feel like the old Kinsey again . . . talkin' trash and kickin' butt.'' 300,000 first printing; Literary Guild and Mystery Guild main selections. (May)

California's formidable P.I. Kinsey Millhone (``A'' Is for Alibi, etc.), fired from her comfortable berth with Fidelity Insurance, now rents office space from busy Santa Teresa lawyer Lonnie Kingman. His usual outside investigator Morley Shine has died of a heart attack, and he hires Kinsey to take over the case that Morley was working on. It involves the upcoming trial of David Barney, acquitted of the six-year-old murder of his wife, Isabelle, but now being sued for wrongful death in civil court by Isabelle's first husband, Ken Voigt. Voigt, represented by Lonnie Kingman, is sure that Barney killed Isabelle and wants to keep her considerable fortune out of his hands. Lonnie thinks he has a strong case, buoyed by damning new evidence from drifter Curtis McIntyre. But what Kinsey finds as she begins to probe is a surprising number of people with reasons to hate Isabelle--among them Voigt's second wife, Francesca, and Isabelle's business mentor Peter Weidmann and his overprotective wife, Yolanda. She also uncovers curious gaps in Morley's files and begins to question his ``heart attack,'' as Lonnie's seemingly solid case collapses bit by bit, with her own life on the line in the gritty finale Readers of Sue Grafton's fiction know she never writes the same book twice, and "I" Is For Innocent is no exception. Her most intricately plotted novel to date, it is layered in enough complexity to baffle even the cleverest among us. Lonnie Kingman is in a bind. He's smack in the middle of assembling a civil suit, and the private investigator who was doing his pretrial legwork has just dropped dead of a heart attack. In a matter of weeks the court's statute of limitations will put paid to his case. Five years ago David Barney walked when a jury acquitted him of the murder of his rich wife, Isabelle. Now Kingman, acting as attorney for the dead woman's ex-husband and their child (and sure that the jury made a serious mistake), is trying to divest David Barney of the profits of that murder. But time is running out, and David Barney still swears he's innocent. Patterned along the lines of a legal case, "I" Is For Innocent is seamlessly divided into... Fired by the insurance agency for whom she investigates, Kinsey is forced to take on a last-minute murder investigation in which the ex-husband of a murdered artist claims that David Barney, her current husband, is guilty as sin. Barney gets to Kinsey and insists he's innocent. But if he is, who's guilty? In trying to learn who's been getting away with murder, Kinsey may be courting her own