Review 10: 'A is for Alibi'

This has always been one of those books that sat on my parents bookshelf and I thought to myself "At some point I might try that series." It just never happened. A is for Alibi is a Detective/Crime novel set in California (well, mostly) and revolves around Kinsey Millhone, a tough, gun-toting PI. For her first case in the "Alphabet Mysteries", Kinsey is hired by Nikki Fife, who has just been released from prison after doing 8 years for the murder of her husband, to find the real killer.

The first thing that stuck me about this book was how it was structured. It really manages to capture the way Kinsey thinks about the world, everything was dry and precise. Few books I have read, even in this genre, manage to capture the essence of the characters so fully. A is for Alibi also surprised me with how fast paced it was, Kinsey followed leads across the state, meeting contacts and gathering information almost nonstop, gradually bringing together the pieces of the puzzle. A number of times she arrives just to late, to find that a crucial witness murdered, or files missing, and you know someone is one step ahead (At this point I figured out whodunit, although I almost changed my mind later, good storytelling there).

While I did enjoy this book, I'm not sure if I would read more, for a number of reasons:

1. While the writing style was novel, well executed, and even fitted the book well; it did at times irritate me, although I'm not entirely sure why. 
2. There just weren't enough explosions. (Or any Magic)
3. I don't like starting a series which I seriously doubt I'll ever [get to] finish. I've heard that the later books in the series aren't quite as good, and let alone that, I dont really want to read 24 books about a character with whom I have no real emotional attachment (Oh yeah, I found Kinsey hard to relate to).

 So yeah.. To sum up: A is for Alibi is a good book, written well; but isn't really my favourite type of read, so I probably wont come back to it in the near future.. later however, I may be running out of things to read.