N IS FOR NOOSE

Sue Grafton is back with her fourteenth alphabet mystery. Kinsey Millhone, private investigator extraordinaire, vacillates over the job she's accepted this time. Hired by Selma Lindquist, widow of a well-liked and much-respected small-town detective, Kinsey is in search of the reason for Tom Lindquist's troubled behavior just before his sudden death. Mary Peiffer is a convincing Kinsey; she matter-of-factly extols the virtues of staying single, junk food and dropping this case. Peiffer effectively differentiates the other characters with her pitch or pace, but she can't make them likable. Peiffer conveys their disdain for each other and their reluctance to help the intrusive P.I. Listeners may want to leave the town of Nota Lake even more than Millhone, but loyal fans will wait for the answer. R.N. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/NOV 98]