J Is For Judgment
Written by Sue Grafton
Narrated by Judy Kaye
3.5/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this audiobook
When Wendell Jaffe, mastermind of a real-estate scam, disappeared at sea, nobody was found. Now, five years later, he's declared legally dead and California Fidelity has to pay up on his life insurance policy . . . to the tune of half a million dollars. Soon after, the tune slides off-key when Jaffe is spotted in Mexico - and Fidelity hires Kinsey Millhone to sort things out. Oddly enough, Kinsey's investigation of the con man's past triggers a surprising inquiry into her own family history,. And, as the two stories intertwine, our favorite P.I. finds herself facing dangerous consequences.
Sue Grafton
Sue Grafton was one of the most popular female writers, both in the UK and in the US. Born in Kentucky in 1940, she began her career as a TV scriptwriter before Kinsey Millhone and the 'alphabet' series took off. Two of the novels B is for Burglar and C is for Corpse won the first Anthony Awards for Best Novel. Sue lived and wrote in Montecito, California and Louisville, Kentucky.
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Reviews for J Is For Judgment
679 ratings23 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Another one of those where I didn’t really like any of the characters, they weren’t as bad as the characters in “D is for Deadbeat” but still kind of unlikable. Given that most of them have some past experience with Wendell Jaffe the reasons for the actions a little more understandable.
The best part of this book was all the insight we gained into how Kinsey thinks and her moral code. I really admire her drive for the truth and the value she places on human life – any human life. She really wanted to know the truth about Wendell Jaffe and couldn’t understand why everyone else was happy with accepting what appeared on the surface.
The one big moment this book gave us and it gave it to us big time was the information on Kinsey’s family. It is hard to review this portion of the book without spoiling it for readers who have not read the series. I will just say that if the book had spent more time on that I would have probably rated it higher. What a revelation and an added aspect to her personality. - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5BOTTOM-LINE:Is it fraud? Is it murder? Is it suicide?.PLOT OR PREMISE:Kinsey's old insurance partners hire her to find a guy who faked his suicide five years before to get out from under a Ponzi scheme indictment..WHAT I LIKED:Kinsey heads off to Mexico to find the guy, spots him, comes back, and starts inserting herself over ten days into the life of his ex-family, all of whom thought he was dead. Add in a current girlfriend, an ex-cop, and an old business partner, and there are lots of things happening at the same time. And just for fun, Kinsey finds out she has family up around Lompoc..WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:There is an almost ridiculous story about one of the sub-characters -- he's introduced initially as a buffoon, and then later as an almost master-criminal, and in neither instance is he either. While Kinsey's new family interactions are a bit of a distraction, the real challenge is with the banal ugliness of the ex-suicider's family interactions, particularly a young pregnant girl with a baby..DISCLOSURE:I received no compensation, not even a free copy, in exchange for this review. I am not personal friends with the author, nor do I follow her on social media.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Kinsey is called back to California Fidelity to go to Mexico to prove that Wendell Jaffe is really alive and they can apply to have money they just paid to his widow returned. While she thinks she did see him there, when she returns home she sets out to get more proof. She contacts his widow and a son. Her sleuthing uncovers his mistress and a number of people who would like to harm Wendall. Then there is his son who has broke out of prison and when recaptured, is accidentally released when someone hacks the police database.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The former Wendell Jaffe is apparently not so former. Kinsey's digging into his "widow"s insurance claims, as well as the fraud that led him believe it would be in his best interests to be believed dead.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5As always, a great read. Never a dull moment. Her books could be read in one seating if one had the time. I never tire of Kinsey Millhone, the main character in Sue Grafton's books. She is an independent young woman, self-employed, doing what she loves to do and is good at it. As a private investigator, she is a minority in her field. If you enjoy suspense, this is book and series for you
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5***This is a project of e-reading Grafton's series -- I started reading these back in the 1980s and would read each release as they came out over the years. To prevent spoilers, I will not attempt to summarize in detail. ***Kinsey is hired to investigate the re-appearance of a man originally declared dead for an insurance payout to the widow. This is also the one where Kinsey discovers she has family other than her deceased parents and the aunt who raised her. Re-reading this also reminded me how dangerous the 1980s could be — if you had car trouble you had to walk miles to the nearest gas station or pay phone, as Kinsey does. I‘ve had to do that too.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Originally seen on my book blog!
I knew from the beginning that this had a great story line and was hopeful that it would be a promising book. It was. From the beginning we are thinking a lot of things, for one, why did he fake his suicide? For two, what is now going to happen to his widows insurance money? And for three, is he going to get caught?
The only thing that doesn’t thrill me about these books is that there are always new characters and it can sometimes be hard to keep track of who is who and how they are related to the story. This one had a few characters, but it never got confusing. I wold suggest to other readers to write down character names and any information that they get about the characters while reading. It’s a lot less confusing. But like I said, J is for Judgement had a good amount of characters to make the story good, but not enough to where I was confused.
I’ll get back to the characters. First I want to talk about the story line. There were a few different ways that this book could have gone. Jaffe could have come back to California and apologized and made up with his family. Jaffe could have never gone back to California and his family never would have found out he was alive. Jaffe’s family could have been behind his “”death”” five years ago and this was all a big scheme to get money from the insurance company (okay, I admit, I was sorta hoping for this one.) We didn’t find out what was going on for most of the book which made it a quick read because I just had to know what was going on. I had tons of questions during the book and once they were answered, I felt like I had even more. The story went the best way that it could have; I wouldn’t have changed any of it.
When Kinsey wasn’t working on the case, her life was far from boring during this book. When she thinks she may have found someone that she is related, she has no idea what to do about it. Does she call them and say “Hi! I’m your long lost family member!” or does she ignore it and continue living her life in solitude. I couldn’t help but think this was purposely put into the same book where a long lost family member “rises from the dead.” When she wasn’t at work, we got to see a new Kinsey that we are not used to- a somewhat vulnerable Kinsey. I’m not sure if this story line will make it into future books, but I would like to see it extended in the later books.
As for the other characters, Henry was not much of a big character in this book. With Kinsey in Mexico trying to find Jaffe and all over different cities, she wasn’t at home all that often. Other than the regular characters, we met Jaffe, his new wife, his “widow”, and his sons. There were some minor characters thrown in as well, but they weren’t there often. I never got confused with the characters because each character was different. His widow was a bitter lady that refused to believe her husband was still alive. The new wife was quiet and compliant. She never wanted to upset Jaffe. The sons were world apart- one a troublemaker and another could only be described as sensitive and forgiving. Every character was important to this story and made the book better.
When there is a series that is going for 26 books, it is hard to not get repetitive with stories while also staying true to character. Kinsey isn’t one day going to pick up knitting or move into a mansion. There has to be a balance between repetition and consistency. Grafton does this with ease (or that’s how it looks to the readers.) Every book has a different plot but Kinsey is still the same Kinsey. She’s still breaking into places with her lock-picking tool, she’s still eating peanut butter-and-pickle sandwiches, and she’s still waking up at 6 am (HOW!?) to run three miles (almost) every morning. For the most part, Kinsey is the same Kinsey that I met in A is for Alibi and I’m sure she’ll be the same Kinsey in the last book of the series.
Kinsey Millhone was introduced in the 1980s and has been an important part in the mystery and crime genre for women authors and for women protagonists since then. I would recommend this book, and this series as a whole, to everyone. - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Seriously dysfunctional family, missing person, missing money -- good story.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5More Kinsey goodness in book 10. This one takes an interesting turn because it is less about what happened and more about how and why. Kinsey is hired by her old firm, California Fidelity, to investigate a case involving insurance fraud. We find out early on that Wendall Jaffe faked his death and is relaxing in sunny Mexico. And in an odd twist of fate, she finds out that she has a family she didn't know about an hour away. In typical Kinsey fashion, she in angry at her "forever alone" state being disrupted. We barely touch on what she will do, so I'm sure we will revisit this issue in later mysteries.
This mystery was well-plotted, and what I thought would happen actually didn't. Grafton surprised me at the ending, yet vaguely dissatisfied that no justice was served. Or at least what I feel would be justice in this case.
Oh, and I loved the whole balcony scene in Mexico. Funny stuff. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Typical boilerplate Kinsey, but we're starting to learn something about her past and her family, That adds an interesting personal touch that brings this book a little above the previous few. A comfortable, familiar series that provides a story worth reading without having to work too hard at it.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This episode in the Kinsey Millhone series was somewhat lackluster in comparison to the rest of the series. I enjoyed the story, but it just wasn't as exciting as I've come to expect from Sue Grafton. The mystery held promise (a man who faked his own death), but the ending was rather plain. Grafton tried to save the ending in the epilogue, but the ploy was very contrived. I did like learning about Kinsey's family story and that saved the book from a 2 star rating. Plus, since I read out of order, I know the series does improve!
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I think the thing I liked most about this book was that we see Millhone struggle with the intro of her family. It wasn't "enter long lost cousin, stage left, *happy happy joy joy*." Instead she feels the lash of it but ends up working on it in her terms. She's honest with her cousin and she wants to be taken as she is, that's her standard for dealing with the sudden arrival of family and all that it infers. I think there's a lot of people out there that would like to be taken "as is" by family members; I believe that it was one of the most relatable moments in the books so far. The mystery itself had me a little disappointed. It just seemed to drag and fall flat in some areas. I found myself wishing there was more to work with concerning Dana and the boys. It seems like the mysteries in the books where Millhone is confronted by personal issues fall to the background when they could end up having much more punch to them in areas. So, as a whole, it was adequate; on the personal front, it was wonderful.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Sue Grafton is my go to author for vacation reads. The dry humor and the 1980's setting with big macs and walkmans just makes me grin. Not to mention phone books and answering machines. well thought out, IGrafton gives you clues along the way but doesn't shout out "here's the bad guy". a+reading
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I usually enjoy my visits with Kinsey and the trips back in time courtesy of Grafton's attention to detail. This story was no exception, although it did have its slow bits where my mind would wander. Even the introduction of previously unknown family members into Kinsey's life had a bit of a "ho-hum" effect on me. As far as the mystery goes, this one was okay. Enough missing pieces, questions and suspicious characters to give the plot some depth, but still, not one of my favorite Kinsey reads so far. The last hour of the audiobook did grab my attention, as did the the rather surprising reveal of the guilty party at the end. Overall, I am looking forward to the next book in the series as they are always a fun way to escape from reality. I am also curious to see if the new characters introduced in this story will reappear and be built upon in future stories.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5In "J" is for Judgment, Sue Grafton's Kinsey Milhone is hired to find a man who supposedly committed suicide several years earlier. She locates the scoundrel in Mexico in the company of a woman whose husband had died several years previously, and her subject is using the dead man's name. Millhone manages to dig up plenty of dirt in her search for the truth behind the obvious. It's a good story for a long trip, although being abridged, much of Grafton's caustic writing has been lost. Interestingly, this is the first mystery I remember reading (with the exception perhaps of some of George Simenon's Maigret mysteries) in which there is no murder. I'm also curious to find out what Grafton is going to do when she arrives at the end of the alphabet.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I always enjoy Kinsey Millhone stories, some better than others. This one was middle of the pack for me. There isn't much mystery involved since Kinsey is to find out if someone is alive or not and we know that answer to that in the first few pages. The rest of the story is the consequences of knowing that. Kinsey doesn't do as much of the day-to-day detective work that I enjoy reading about. She does do a lot of talking to the people involved in the whole affair and so our answers come mainly from those conversations. I enjoy this entry into Kinsey's world but it's not as gripping as some of the others.
Other reviews, mainly negative, mention that there is an excessive amount of detail and that is probably true but it doesn't change my enjoyment of the book. I find her turn-by-turn driving descriptions a little tedious at times but never enough to make me want to put the book down.
If you've just getting to know Kinsey, start with A is for Alibi. If you're already a fan, you'll enjoy this one. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wendell Jaffe, died 5 years ago, but when he is spotted in Mexico, the insurance company that paid out on his death assumes they’ve been defrauded. He disappeared after a scheme he ran lost dozens of people’s savings. Kinsey is hired by California Fidelity to track him down. His wife and two troubled sons have finally received $500,000 from insurance money and are shocked to hear he might me alive. On top of all of that, Kinsey’s landlord and friend, Henry, is dealing with his elderly brother’s recent proposal to Rosie, a local restaurateur My favorite part of this one was finding out that Kinsey has a few long-lost relatives. The prickly P.I.’s parents died in a car wreck when she was only 5-years-old. She was raised by her aunt who has since passed away and she always thought she had no living relatives. I’m interested to see how this plays out in future books. She can be such a loner, I think the thought of having a big family is intimidating to her.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This is quite an interesting instalment in this series, Kinsey learns that rather than being alone in the world she has an extended family and learns more about her mother's rift with the family. This is unresolved at the end of the book, which is a little frustrating. The mystery is also quite interesting. Kinsey is rehired by California Fidelity to investigate the alleged sighting of a man whose recently been declared dead. As always things are not as simple or straightforward as expected. The theme of family runs through this book, and after ten books, I think I may be finally warming to Kinsey.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Not bad. I wish she'd gone a little further into the family stuff, however. I was expecting a little more closure on that before the end of this book.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5My least favorite of all the Kinsey Milhone - seemed depressed
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I like Kinsey's dry humour. I wish the book had explored Kinsey's long lost family a bit more, but I guess that will happen in future novels.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5J is for Judgment is the 10 book in the Kinsey Millhone series. This is where Kinsey learns of and meets some of her long lost relatives. It came about by chance while Kinsey was working on a case for her old firm Fidelity. She was asked to look for a man who disappeared 5 years previously and presumed dead, and had possibly shown up in Mexico. It turns out Fidelity has just paid the widow the insurance for the mans death and would like the money back if hes still alive.I think this was one of the better ones in the series and its a fun read. These books are never very taxing and usually go pretty quick. Worth the time.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Missing person. Kinsey is tasked to track down a "dead" man who had defrauded the life insurance company and hundreds of investors in his business. A warning to everyone out there looking to get rich quick. Another good read. Random Subplot: Kinsey finds she still has family in the area after all, some cousins based in LompocThe books are getting thicker and this leads to more complicated plots and a better read. The only book (so far) which deliberately leaves loose ends to the story.