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B Is for Burglar

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B Is for Burglar

By: Sue Grafton
Narrated by: Mary Peiffer
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About this listen

 A wealthy woman needs to find her sister to settle a will. It looks routine... boring. Still, business is slow and even a private investigator has bills to pay, so Kinsey Millhone takes the case.

But this is not routine and the deeper Kinsey digs the trickier things get. The client tries to call Kinsey off, an accusing husband surfaces and a double murder turns the case sinister. Kinsey feels adrift in a fog of distortion, where nothing - except danger - is quite what it seems.©1985 Sue Grafton; (P)1993 Books on Tape Detective Fiction Mystery Private Investigators Women Sleuths Women's Fiction Suspense

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I am an avid fan of Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone novels and have been reading them for many years. B is for Burglar is typical fayre, encompassing an intriguing story well told, and richly portraid characters, with Grafton's usual attention to detail enabling the listener to really identify with the characters by her succinct descriptions of their physical selves, the myriad quirks and personality traits and mannerisms that define a human being. (In later novels this skill is applied with great effect to dogs and cats also, usually eliciting a tear or two of sentiment from me.)
Unfortunately, I found Mary Peiffer's narration did little to bring this story to life. Ms Peiffer gives wonderful performances of the female protagonists and puts alot of feeling and expression into the ladies' voices but when narrating dialogue from men she (generally) drops her voice very low and speaks really slowly, to the point where each man who speaks seems on the verge of a coma with no apparent distinction between any of the men in this novel. This lack of passion and animation is also evident in all the dramatic passages of the book - it literally sounds as though Ms Peiffer is describing a basic and routine domestic chore rather than an important moment of enlightenment or an exciting, near-fatal physical tussle. There is simply no evident tension at all and as such- for me at least- deflected greatly from the overall credibility of the novel and my enjoyment of it. By direct contrast, Judy Kaye's superb narration of Y is for Yesterday imbues that wonderful novel with depth and feeling and I would advise any listener who considers themself practically a friend of Kinsey's who has not already done so, to download Sue Grafton's latest book without delay; in my humble opinion, it is simply her best so far and Judy Kaye brought that book to full-on technicolour life with such rich character performances that I felt I had watched a movie instead of listening to a book.
However, despite my criticisms, I still think the other Grafton novels narrated by Mary Peiffer are enjoyable and definitely worth a listen, for established Grafton fans and newcomers alike.

Enjoyable despite disappointing narration.

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This is the 2nd book in the series that I have listened to; I have also listened to A is for Alibi. I really like the character of Kinsey Millhone, I think she's no nonsense and extremely likeable. I bought this and binge listened to it over a couple of days. It wasn't my intention to binge listen, but the descriptions are so vivid, that it is very easy listen and the story is so propulsive, that I couldn't help myself.
I know people dislike the narrator Mary Peiffer, but I think her voice reflects the slightly cynical world view of Kinsey. I really like it when they keep the same narrator for a whole series, because that then becomes part of the character's identity for me. I'd like to know why the whole series isn't available on audio?

Great follow up.

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I don't know how I managed to listen to the whole book this narrator is monotone and annoying.

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