A is for Alibi

Name: Michelle Sherwin
Grade: 12+
Title: A is for Alibi
Author: Sue Grafton


This book begins with the detective Kinsey Millhone being hired by the wife of a person who was found dead by cause of poisoning. After being in prison for several years for this murder Nikki Fife is free and she is out to find out who did it, but she is going to need Kinsey's help to find out who did it and get revenge for the years that she spent in prison on their behalf. This seems like a pretty tough feat for Kinsley as this case has been sealed and the first time around all the evidence did seem to point straight to Nikki. From the means of having the poison easily accessible to her and the keys to the house available as well to the motive of her having a journal of the times her husband cheated on her and with who. She seemed like the jealous wife who had everything pointing to her and the jury had no problem condemning her. Kinsley is convinced that she should at least give Nikki a chance and look into the case. During this she falls for a charming and dashing man who just so happens to be one of her suspects for the murder. She seem to find that even though one of her rules is not to get involved with the people she is investigating she can not resist this man. The investigation and the romance both grow and both seem to be going well for Kinsey.  Although  the case started out cold it begins to heat up, but once she opens the files to the case again she finds out that there is someone who doesn't want her finding out just what really did happen to Laurence Fife and his last lover Libby Glass. Poisoning may have been the initial method this killer used, but now it is obvious that they will do anything to keep all fingers pointing to Nikki and away from them.  Will Kinsey be able to dodge all the bullets (literally) and find out just who did kill Laurence and Libby or will Kinsey become one of the victims of  the investigation as well? Find out in A is for Alibi!

I liked the story line behind this book. The way that the author was always giving something new for the reader to ponder was very interesting. It was also very interesting to see the pieces as they were falling together. They always seemed to be pointing one way and then they would take a sudden turn and would turn out to be some thing completely different. It was interesting like wise to find out how important little pieces that were over looked in the first investigation came to be in the second investigation. Even things that didn't seem relevant to Kinsey were in the end very important.

The book did get a bit sappy with personal details at times. It seemed like there were a lot of details about Kinsley that were not important to the story that were  a big part of the story. I found that a good majority of these details really did not add anything to the story and kind of detracted from the overall story. 

I picked this book up mainly because it looked interesting and I wanted a good mystery. This seemed to fit the bill.
I finished this book because it was interesting and there were some very interesting plot twists. Just when I was about to condemn one person to having done it there was always another clue that lead up to a different conclusion.

I'd give this book to anyone who enjoyed mystery books and could enjoy the art of solving a good old fassioned who done it. I would particularly give it to someone who enjoyed Janet Evanovich.

I'd rate this book a ***

The Prom Night Murders

Reader: Michelle Sherwin 12th grade
The Prom Night Murders
Carlton Smith
A small town Pastor his wife and two of his children are murder right in the parsonage one Saturday night. His other three children are away so he and his family are not discovered missing until the next morning when he does not show up to church. When the congregation of this small church goes to investigate just why the pastor is missing the parsonage is locked. With the locks having just been changed only one person outside the family had the keys to the house. Sounds like something that came straight out of a Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys book right? But this story is a real story that happened in a small Indiana town.
The three kids that were not home all had valid reasons not to be. The girls were each staying at a respective friends house for the night and their son was on a trip out of town after attending prom with his girlfriend the night before. But as the mystery unravels interesting facts begin to unravel from this mystery about Jeff the son of this respectable pastor and about their fragile family ties. Jeff was not happy about his step mother and step sisters who came into his life after his mother died of cancer and he and his new family move. He was also upset because he had been grounded, according to other church members from taking himself and his girlfriend to prom. His dad said that he would take them and pick them back up. He had also told his son absolutely no to the after prom trip his friends and girlfriend were going on. The morning after prom, however, the car that belonged to Jeff was gone and he was no where to be found. When the detectives came they analyzed the crime scene. They could not find any evidence as to who did it. They tracked down the three kids and brought them home as soon as possible. They continued to search for clues, but found nothing and the case went unsolved. For almost 2 decades they could not discover any evidence to prove anyone guilty. This real life bone chilling cold case comes to show that not all mysteries come from fiction books so beware and get ready to submerse yourself into the cold case come alive.

I picked this book up the week before prom because the title really caught my eye and I was interested in reading a true story mystery.
I finished this book because I was interested to find out how everything fit together.
I'd give this book to someone who like books of the mystery and suspense genre because this book feels like it could be a fiction mystery book. The writing however does get a little dull at times, but after getting past that it is a very good book.

I give this book
***