"P" is for Peril

Abridged
Author: Sue Grafton
Narrator: Judy Kaye
Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller
Publisher: Random House (Audio)
Date: June 2001
Length: 6 hours
Ratings:
  • Book Rating: 4/5
Formats:
  • CD

Overview

Dr. Dowan Purcell had been missing for nine weeks when Kinsey got a call asking her to take on the case. A specialist in geriatric medicine, Purcell was a prominent member of the Santa Theresa medical community, and the police had done a thorough job. Purcell had no known enemies and seemed content with his life. At the time of his disappearance, he was running a nursing care facility where both the staff and the patients loved him. He adored his second wife, Crystal, and doted on their two-year-old son.

It wasn’t Crystal who called Kinsey. It was Purcell’s ex-wife, Fiona. Everything about their meeting made Kinsey uneasy. Fiona’s manner was high-handed and her expectations unrealistic. Kinsey’s instincts told her to refuse the job, yet she ended up saying, “I’ll do what I can, but I make no promises.”

It was a decision she’d live to regret.

Pursuing the mysterious disappearance of Purcell, Kinsey crashes into a wall of speculation. It seems everyone has a theory. The cops think he went on a bender and is too ashamed to come home. Fiona is sure he ran off to get away from Crystal, and Crystal is just as sure he’s dead. The staff at the nursing home is convinced he’s been kidnapped, and one of his daughters, having consulted a psychic, is certain that he’s trapped in a dark place, though she doesn’t know where. Kinsey is awash in explanations and sorely lacking in facts. Then pure chance leads her in another direction, and she soon finds herself in a dangerous shadow land, where duplicity and double-dealing are the reality and, with the truth glinting elusively out of reach, she must stake her life on a thin thread of intuition.

P Is for Peril: Kinsey Millhone’s latest venture into the darker side of the human soul.

Reviews (2)

Snooze Fest

Written by Disappointed from Montague, MI on July 26th, 2008

  • Book Rating: 2/5

The story never really takes off and the ending is terrible. Really disappointing.

P is for Peril

Written by Nanette on July 12th, 2005

  • Book Rating: 4/5

I am a big fan of Sue Grafton and her alphabet series. P is for Peril had 2 good mysteries for Kinsey to solve. Looking forward to Q!

Author Details

Author Details

Grafton, Sue

"New York Times bestselling author Sue Grafton is published in 28 countries and 26 languages?including Estonian, Bulgarian, and Indonesian. Books in her alphabet series, begun in 1982, are international bestsellers with readership in the millions. And like Raymond Chandler, Ross Macdonald, Robert Parker, and John D. MacDonald?the best of her breed?Sue Grafton has earned new respect for the mystery form. Her readers appreciate her buoyant style, her eye for detail, her deft hand with character, her acute social observances, and her abundant storytelling talents.

Sue divides her time between Montecito, California and Louisville, Kentucky, where she was born and raised. She has three children and two grandchildren. Grafton has been married to Steve Humphrey for more than twenty years. She loves cats, gardens, and good cuisine."