This was the best entry in the series so far, in my opinion, more than making up for the festival of meh that was F is for Fugitive. It started out with a delightful little moment where Henry unveils Kinsey's new studio apartment, where the reader is treated to the full understanding of how much he loves Kinsey.

Authors are exhorted to show and not tell, and this entire scene exemplifies that maxim. Neither Henry nor Kinsey are very articulate about their friendship to one another, and Henry creating, and reveling in the creation, of a space that is absolutely perfect for his friend Kinsey shows the reader just how important she is in his life. It was adorable and warm and refreshing to have Grafton create this wonderful friendship and show us how much these two people mean to each other. Kinsey, after all, is an orphan, so she operates in the world with a chosen family only, as there seems to be no biological family at all.

From there, the book really takes off. Someone is trying to kill Kinsey in a murder for hire plot at the same time that she becomes involved in a rather strange investigation into the disappearance of a woman named Agnes Grey. I recognized the name right away - although Kinsey (not being a fan of Victorian literature, I presume) did not, but I didn't make much of it, so it was actually completely delightful to learn late in the book that the name was in fact significant.

The Agnes Grey mystery was absolutely wonderful and I loved everything about it. I love mysteries where the past and the present intertwine or intersect in interesting ways, and this one really successfully accomplished that goal. The murder for hire plot wasn't quite so well done, in my opinion, but I loved Dietz, her "bodyguard," who ends up being a bit of a love interest for Kinsey before he heads off to Germany on a job. There was also a storyline with one of Kinsey's friends, Vera, who is trying to set Kinsey up with the perfect man. Unfortunately, he's the perfect man for Vera, not Kinsey. It was extremely cute.

With that terrific read, I'm re-energized to continue on with the series. Plus, I've now caught up to Obsidian, so the K is for Kinsey buddy read can truly begin! Huzzah!

Hey, Obsidian - I just started this one! Almost caught up to you. 

I really loved this one. Kinsey is excited. She moves back into her newly renovated apartment that sounds fabulous. She just celebrated her birthday with friends. She's realizing Jonah is not what she wants. And she is then told she and several others are on a hit list. Kinsey trying to investigate a missing woman realizes she can't investigate and watch her back at the same time. She hires Robert Dietz, a private investigator she hired on an earlier case in A is for Alibi. 

This was great. Besides running for her life. Kinsey is dealing with her friend Verna trying to set her up with a doctor, telling herself she's not really into Dietz, and coming to terms with her own mortality. 

The hitman was something out of a cartoon it felt like sometimes too. We have to get into that man's backstory and his family dynamics. No spoilers, but it was odd. 

The writing was really good as was the flow. I was not expecting the ending we get and it took me by surprise. Kinsey and Dietz end up living together for a couple of months after the end of this case before he leaves to go work in Germany.

I think this book was a turning point in Kinsey's development. She finally goes and falls in love again after her wariness about getting too heavily involved with anyone. 

I chose this cozy mystery for the Ghost square because the MC (Oliver Tucker) is a ghost who helps his former (still living) police partner solve crimes. In this particular story, Tucker is not the only ghost - there is his ghost mentor/great-granddad Doc and two other ghosts that are specific to the house that the murder took place in. I didn't like any of the characters and the plotline was overly complicated and tried to tackle too many big topics into one mystery. No real police work was done by the living cops, more so done by the ghost and his still living wife (a professor at a nearby college). It was a slog to get through and I won't be trying any of the other books in the series.

So bored and uninterested in this book. Going to try another book this afternoon in the hopes of re-gaining my reading mojo.