Alphabet Series
The Kinsey Millhone Alphabet Series is a series of detective mystery novels by the author Sue Grafton, published from 1982–2017. The series features private eye Kinsey Millhone investigating crimes and other unsavory activities in Santa Teresa, California, a fictional version of Santa Barbara, California.[1] The series produced 25 novels, with a new novel being produced every year to two. Grafton had tentative plans for a final 26th novel, Z is for Zero, but died in 2017. She indicated she did not wish for television or movie adaptations of her work, nor a ghostwriter to finish the series off.
"A" is for Alibi[edit]
| File:A is for Alibi.jpg | |
| Author | Sue Grafton |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | |
| Publisher | Henry Holt and Company |
Publication date | 1982 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 274 |
| ISBN | 978-0-8050-1334-4 Search this book on  . |
| OCLC | 7835758 |
"A" Is for Alibi is the debut novel in the Kinsey Millhone Alphabet Series, first published in April 1982.[2]
According to Grafton, she conceived the story on her own revenge fantasies of murdering her then husband while going through a divorce.[3] She decided that "the next-best thing would be to put said ideas into a book and get paid for it."[4] The choice of murder by substituting the contents of an antihistamine tablet with crushed oleander meant that an alibi held no value because the contents of the tablet could have been switched a considerable time earlier than the victim actually swallowed the tablet. The first printing of "A" Is for Alibi was 7,500 copies,[5] with sales of about 6,000.
Plot[edit]
"A" Is for Alibi introduces Kinsey Millhone, 32, a private detective hired to investigate the death of prominent divorce lawyer Laurence Fife. His murder eight years earlier was blamed on his wife, Nikki Fife, who upon being released from prison hires Kinsey to find the real murderer. In the course of the investigation Kinsey becomes involved with Charlie Scorsoni, Fife's former law partner. She discovers Fife's death has been linked to that of a woman in Los Angeles, his law firm's accountant; both died after taking poisonous oleander capsules which had been substituted for allergy pills. Kinsey tracks down the accountant's parents and former boyfriend. She then goes to Las Vegas to interview Fife's former secretary, Sharon Napier, who is killed minutes before Kinsey arrives. Back in California, Kinsey is mystified that Nikki's son, Colin, recognizes Laurence's first wife, Gwen, in a photograph. Kinsey surmises that Gwen was having an affair with her ex-husband at the time of his death. She accuses Gwen, who confesses. Shortly afterwards, she too is dead, killed in a hit-and-run crash.
Kinsey has solved the case she was hired to investigate, but in a plot twist, she discovers that her previous notions about the accountant's death were entirely wrong: in fact, it was Scorsoni who killed her when she discovered he was embezzling money from mutual accounts. He used the same method that Gwen used to kill Fife, so it would be assumed the same person committed both murders. In a final confrontation, he chases Kinsey across the beach, armed with a knife. Before he can kill her, she shoots him dead.
"B" Is for Burglar[edit]
| File:BIsForBurglar.jpg | |
| Author | Sue Grafton |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Alphabet Series |
| Genre | Mystery |
| Publisher | Henry Holt and Company |
Publication date | 1985 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 229 pp (first edition) |
| ISBN | 978-0-8050-1632-1 Search this book on . |
| OCLC | 11261695 |
| Preceded by | "A" Is for Alibi |
| Followed by | "C" Is for Corpse |
"B" Is for Burglar is the second novel in the Alphabet Series of mystery novels, and was published in May 1985.[6]
"B" Is for Burglar was awarded the 1986 Anthony Award for Best Novel at Bouchercon, a Mystery Convention.[7] The novel also won the 1986 Shamus Award for Best Novel from the Private Eye Writers of America.[7]
Plot[edit]
Private investigator Kinsey Millhone is hired by Beverly Danziger to locate her missing sister, Elaine Boldt, whose name is needed on some paperwork regarding an inheritance. Elaine was last seen getting into a cab with the intention of flying down to Boca Raton, Florida, where she spends her winters, but appears to have disappeared along the way. It seems a relatively straightforward matter, so much so that Kinsey is not sure Beverly needs a PI, but she agrees to take the case.
Things are not as easy as they seem however, as Kinsey can find no trace of Elaine anywhere in Florida, although she does find a woman called Pat Usher, who claims Elaine agreed to let her sublet the Boca Raton apartment where Elaine lived while she was off travelling. This claim rings false to Kinsey, since no one but Pat Usher has received a postcard from Elaine on her supposed trip, so she secures the able detective assistance of Elaine's elderly neighbour, Julia, to keep an eye on things in Florida while she goes back to California. Kinsey suspects there is a link between Elaine's disappearance and the death of her Santa Teresa neighbour, Marty Grice, who was apparently killed by burglars who then set fire to the Grice home a week before Elaine left. Someone breaks into the home of Elaine's Santa Teresa apartment supervisor, Tillie, apparently on the track of some bills of Elaine's which Tillie was holding ready to forward on to her. Someone also searches Kinsey's apartment, and Kinsey realises it is Elaine's passport which the thief is after.
Gravely concerned for Elaine's safety, Kinsey suggests to Beverly that Elaine's disappearance should be reported to the police, but Beverly objects so violently that Kinsey terminates their relationship and starts working for Julia instead. Kinsey reports the disappearance and meets Jonah Robb, a recently separated cop working on missing persons - but despite her attraction to him she is reluctant to get involved. A visit from Beverly's husband, Aubrey, complicates matters further, as it turns out he was having an affair with Elaine, which Beverly had discovered, and Kinsey begins to wonder if Beverly herself could have had a hand in Elaine's disappearance.
Kinsey becomes increasingly convinced that Elaine is dead, and that Pat Usher is involved. Pat has now disappeared, after totally trashing the Boca Raton apartment. Eventually, she discovers that Pat Usher has applied for a driving licence in Elaine's name, thus proving Pat's involvement. Marty's nephew Mike, a teenage drug dealer, confesses that he was at the Grice home the night of the murder, and from the discrepancy in times between his account and what was told to the police, Kinsey realises that it was Elaine who died in the Grice fire, not Marty. Marty and her husband killed Elaine to steal her identity (which Marty assumed) and her money. They then passed Elaine's dead body off as Marty's by switching the dental records. Marty departed for Florida as Elaine, and arrived as Pat Usher, with some cosmetic surgery to help. Having been unable to find Elaine's passport, she and her husband have been forced to wait for a new one to come through before they can skip the country. Kinsey returns to the Grice home to look for the murder weapon, but while she is there, the Grices find her. Marty Grice is shot in the left arm during the fight that ensues, but Kinsey manages to detain the two criminals, and calls for help.
"C" Is for Corpse[edit]
| File:C Is for Corpse.jpg | |
| Author | Sue Grafton |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Alphabet Series |
| Genre | Mystery |
| Publisher | Henry Holt and Company |
Publication date | May 15, 1986 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 243 pp (first edition) |
| ISBN | 978-0-03-001888-6 Search this book on . |
| OCLC | 12665496 |
| Preceded by | "B" Is for Burglar |
| Followed by | "D" Is for Deadbeat |
"C" Is for Corpse is the third novel in the Alphabet Series, and was published in May 1986.[8][9]
"C" Is for Corpse was awarded the 1987 Anthony Award for Best Novel at Bouchercon, a convention of Mystery novel fans.[10]
Plot[edit]
The novel begins with Kinsey at the gym, rehabilitating herself from injuries sustained at the end of B is for Burglar. There she meets Bobby Callahan, a twenty-three-year-old who was nearly killed when his car went off the road nine months before. Bobby is convinced that the road accident, which killed his friend Rick, was an attempt on his life. He suspects that he may still be in danger, so he hires Kinsey to investigate: Bobby had lost his memory after the crash. He can't even explain why he thinks someone wants to kill him.
Kinsey takes the case despite little information, having taken a liking to Bobby. She meets his rich but dysfunctional family: Glen, his mother is an heiress on her third marriage to Derek Wenner, whose daughter Kitty is a 17-year-old drug-user seriously ill with anorexia. Glen has spared no expense in seeking treatment and counselling for Bobby, Rick's death, his own injuries and the loss of his prospects at medical school increase his depression. A few days later, Bobby dies in another car accident. Kinsey thinks this too is a murder attempt. Kinsey investigates several people: Kitty stands to inherit 2 million dollars from Bobby's will; Derek insured Bobby's life for a large sum without Glen's knowledge; and Rick's parents blame Bobby for their son's death.
However, Kinsey looks elsewhere for the solution: a friend of Bobby's gives her Bobby's address book, which shows Bobby searching for someone called Blackman. Bobby's former girlfriend thought Bobby ended their relationship because he was having an affair with someone else, and thinks Bobby was helping a woman who was being blackmailed. Kinsey eventually finds out that the woman with whom Bobby was involved was his mother's friend, Nola Fraker, who confesses to Kinsey that she was being blackmailed by someone who knows that Nola accidentally shot her husband, a well-known architect called Dwight Costigan, during a supposed struggle with an intruder at their home years before. The blackmailer has the gun with Nola's fingerprints on it.
Trying to investigate further, Kinsey realizes that 'Blackman' is code for an unidentified corpse in the morgue. She finds the gun concealed in the corpse. However, while she is at the hospital, she finds the recently murdered body of the morgue assistant, and realizes the killer is on her track at the hospital. It is Nola's current husband, Dr Fraker, a pathologist from the hospital, who is the blackmailer and killer. Bobby found out what Fraker was up to, but Fraker rigged the first car accident before he could do anything about it, and then cut the brake lines on Bobby's car when Bobby put Kinsey on the trail. Fraker traps Kinsey and gives her a disabling injection but she manages to cosh him and escapes to a phone to call the police.
"D" Is for Deadbeat[edit]
| File:DIsForDeadbeat.jpg | |
| Author | Sue Grafton |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Alphabet Mysteries |
| Genre | Mystery |
| Published | January 1987 (Henry Holt and Company) |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 229 pp (first edition) |
| ISBN | 978-0-8050-0248-5 Search this book on . |
| OCLC | 14413876 |
| 813/.54 19 | |
| LC Class | PS3557.R13 D2 1987 |
| Preceded by | "C" Is for Corpse |
| Followed by | "E" Is for Evidence |
"D" Is for Deadbeat is the fourth novel in the Alphabet Series, first published in January 1987.[6][11][12] The novel follows the development of Kinsey's relationship with Jonah Robb, the police officer she met in B is for Burglar.
Plot[edit]
"D is for Deadbeat" begins as Kinsey receives a contract from ex-con Alvin Limardo to deliver a check for twenty-five thousand dollars to a fifteen-year-old boy named Tony Gahan. According to Limardo, Tony helped him through a tough time in his life, leaving Limardo indebted. However, when the retainer check Limardo made out to Kinsey for four hundred dollars bounces, she learns that Alvin Limardo is actually John Daggett, a man known by all and liked by few, recently released from a local prison. He is also a bigamist. His first wife Essie's fanatical religious views have kept her married to Daggett, while Daggett, in disregard of his marital status, underwent a second marriage to Lovella on his release from prison, but has subjected her to repeated violence.
In her search to find Daggett and get her money back, she discovers that he was found dead on the beach only a few days after hiring her. Through Daggett's daughter Barbara, Kinsey learns that Tony Gahan was the sole survivor of a family killed in a car accident caused by Daggett, for which he received a conviction on charges of vehicular manslaughter. Tony's been a wreck since the death of his family, rarely sleeping and doing poorly in school. He now lives with his uncle and aunt, Ramona and Ferrin Westfall. Also killed in the accident was a friend of Tony's young sister, and a boy called Doug Polokowski, who had hitched a ride in the car. Kinsey tracks down an ex-con friend of Daggett's, Billy Polo, now living in a trailer park with his sister, Coral. Billy is the one who introduced Lovella to Daggett. Kinsey finds out that Doug Polokowski was Billy and Coral's brother. There's no shortage of people with a motive for Daggett's death, but the police are classifying it as an accident.
Kinsey discovers that shortly before his death Daggett was staggering about drunk at the marina in the company of a blonde woman in a green outfit. She sets out to discover which of the numerous blonde women in the case might be the killer. She also suspects that Billy Polo is not giving her the full truth about his involvement with Daggett, a suspicion confirmed when Polo is also murdered at the beach, shot with Kinsey's own gun, stolen from her car a few days earlier. Coral finally levels with Kinsey: she, Billy, and Lovella were plotting together to rob Daggett of money he had come by illicitly in prison, not knowing that Daggett had given the money to Kinsey to pass on to Tony.
The police investigating Billy's murder discover a home-made silencer used in the killing. Kinsey immediately recognizes the toweling used as padding as coming from the Westfall household, and Ramona jumps to the top of her suspect list. This means confronting Tony, who has given Ramona an alibi for the time of Daggett's death. In pursuing Tony, Kinsey realizes Tony himself, dressed as a woman in his aunt's wig, was actually the killer. He was also the one who stole her gun, and killed Billy Polo, who had recognized Tony at Daggett's funeral. Killing the man who killed his family has done nothing to ease Tony's torment, however, and he commits suicide by throwing himself off a building in front of Kinsey, who has been unable to talk him down.
"E" Is for Evidence[edit]
| File:E Is for Evidence.jpg | |
| Author | Sue Grafton |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Alphabet Mysteries |
| Genre | Mystery |
| Published | May 15, 1988 (Henry Holt and Company)[13] |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 227 pp (first edition) |
| ISBN | 978-0-8050-0459-5 Search this book on . |
| OCLC | 16901295 |
| 813/.54 19 | |
| LC Class | PS3557.R13 E2 1988 |
| Preceded by | "D" Is for Deadbeat |
| Followed by | "F" Is for Fugitive |
"E" Is for Evidence is the fifth novel in the Alphabet Series of mystery novels, first published in May 1988.[13][14] The novel's plot develops Kinsey's personal backstory. It features her second ex-husband, jazz musician and drug-user Daniel Wade, previously mentioned briefly in "C" is for Corpse.
According to Grafton in an interview, she prefers to pick a title early in the writing process because that helps to direct her storytelling. "For one book I had thought of "E" Is for Ever. I loved the play on words but I had to figure a better title. So I picked "E" Is for Evidence. If I know the title I can make sure the story I'm telling is pertinent."[15] "E" is for Evidence was nominated for the 1989 Anthony Award for Best Novel, but did not win.[16]
Plot[edit]
The novel opens just after Christmas, with Kinsey discovering that five thousand dollars has mysteriously been credited to her bank account, and flashes back a few days when she was asked to investigate a fire claim at a factory in Colgate as part of her informal office space rental arrangement with California Fidelity Insurance. The business in question, Wood/Warren, is owned and operated by the Wood family, whom Kinsey has known on a personal level since high school. Company founder Linden Wood is dead, but his son Lance now runs the company, and his four other children, Ebony, Olive, Ash and Bass all have a stake. Ash is Kinsey's former schoolmate, and Bass was an acquaintance of her second ex-husband, Daniel Wade. Olive is married to Terry Kohler, Lance's second-in-command at the company. After a solitary Christmas, with Henry away visiting relatives, and Rosie's Tavern shut down till the new year, Kinsey writes off the fire as an industrial accident, but upon submitting her report to her boss, she finds that significant papers have been removed from the file and others substituted, giving an appearance that Lance Wood has bribed Kinsey not to label the fire as arson. In the middle of protesting her innocence, the five thousand dollar credit takes on a sinister significance.
Temporarily suspended from California Fidelity, Kinsey takes up her own investigation to prove her innocence, aided (unwillingly at first) by CFI administrator Darcy. Darcy's united with Kinsey in her dislike of claims manager Andy Motycka, who is Kinsey's chief suspect in the set-up, although she's at a loss who he could be working for. Kinsey reconnects with the Wood family, and learns some of their dark family secrets: that Ebony, the oldest sister, wants control of the business and that Lance was practically a criminal in high school. She also learns that a former Wood/Warren employee, Hugh Case, committed suicide two years before, but the suspicious disappearance of all the lab work on Hugh's body seems to support his widow Lyda's claim that it was murder rather than suicide. Kinsey remains unconvinced by Lyda's conviction that Lance was Hugh's killer but can't seem to find any other leads. Her spirits are at a low ebb and it's the worst possible moment for Daniel to show up, eight years after leaving without a word. Kinsey finds it hard it cope with but eventually agrees to store a guitar for him while he sorts himself out.
On her way to a new year party at Olive and Terry's home, Kinsey is almost killed when a bomb, disguised as a gift left on the doorstep, explodes. Olive is killed and Terry is badly injured. Kinsey does her best to resist Daniel's attempts to nurse her, and her distrust is proved right when she finds out the guitar she has been storing for Daniel is bugged, and he has been reporting on her investigation to Ebony and Bass Wood. She discovers Daniel and Bass are lovers - Bass is the person Daniel left her for. Shortly afterwards, Kinsey finds Lyda Case's dead body in a car outside her apartment. Forcing answers from the Wood family, Kinsey learns an even darker family secret: that Lance had an incestuous affair with Olive when they were teenagers leaving Olive emotionally and sexually scarred for the rest of her life. Kinsey's suspicions immediately jump to Terry Kohler, and when the police identify fingerprints on the car Lyda was found in as belonging to an escaped convicted bomber called Chris Emms, she realizes Terry and Emms are the same person.
Unfortunately, Emms has anticipated her solving the case and is waiting at her apartment with another bomb. Before it explodes he explains he killed Hugh Case because Hugh had realised his true identity, and Lyda because she had belatedly found Hugh's records of that. He engineered the fire at Wood/Warren and set up Kinsey (with the aid of Andy Motycka) to get revenge on Lance, after Bass spilled the family incest secret to him. Kinsey manages to shoot Emms and disables him sufficiently to get out of the bathroom window just as the bomb explodes, killing Emms and destroying her garage apartment. After Daniel leaves with Bass, the only loose end is the five thousand dollars Emms put in her account, and on the advice of Lieutenant Dolan, Kinsey keeps it.
"F" Is for Fugitive[edit]
"G" Is for Gumshoe[edit]
"H" Is for Homicide[edit]
"I" Is for Innocent[edit]
"J" Is for Judgment[edit]
"K" Is for Killer[edit]
"L" Is for Lawless[edit]
"M" Is for Malice[edit]
"N" Is for Noose[edit]
O Is for Outlaw[edit]
P Is for Peril[edit]
Q Is for Quarry[edit]
R Is for Ricochet[edit]
S Is for Silence[edit]
T Is for Trespass[edit]
U Is for Undertow[edit]
V Is for Vengeance[edit]
W Is for Wasted[edit]
X[edit]
Y Is for Yesterday[edit]
Other works[edit]
Kinsey and Me is a collection of short stories set in the same setting as the Alphabet Series along with other short stories about Grafton's own mother, and a few non-fiction essays. It was originally published in 1991 in a limited edition of only 326 copies.[17] It was re-published in January 2013 as a collection of the Kinsey short stories (including The Lying Game) plus stories depicting "Kit Blue", which involve a fictionalized version of Grafton's mother.
"The Lying Game" is a Kinsey Millhone short story which appeared in the September 2003 special 40th anniversary Lands' End catalog. It also appeared as a separate pamphlet given to attendees at Malice Domestic 2011 conference, where Grafton was recognized for Lifetime Achievement. It is included in the 2013 version of Kinsey and Me.
References[edit]
- ↑ "Biography: Sue Grafton". Penguin Random House. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
- ↑ Morris, Anne (May 13, 1994). "Mystery author working her way through the alphabet". Austin American-Statesman. p. D1.
- ↑ Brantingham, Barney (July 1, 2008). "W Is for Writers Conference; Sue Grafton Is Kinsey Millhone". Santa Barbara Independent. Retrieved August 2, 2011.
- ↑ "Remembering 'Alphabet Series' Author Sue Grafton, And Her Alter Ego Protagonist : NPR". npr.org. Retrieved January 1, 2018.
- ↑ Paul, Steve (May 11, 1992). "'N Is for Novelist,' not mystery writer; Sue Grafton has arrived, thanks to Kinsey Millhone". The Kansas City Star. p. D1.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Stassel, Stephanie (April 3, 2000). "Southern California's Intrepid Alphabet Sleuth; Sue Grafton's bestselling mysteries--each titled with a different letter--feature her smart-alecky but down-to-earth alter ego, Kinsey Millhone". Los Angeles Times. p. E1.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Swift, Harriet (October 15, 1986). "Riddle of the Bouchercon Is No Enigma Writers of Mysteries Convene in Baltimore". Los Angeles Times. p. V1.
- ↑ "Hardcover bestsellers/fiction". Publishers Weekly. December 19, 2005.
PW's first review Of Grafton's alphabet mystery series was for C Is for Corpse. Back in 1986, PW said: "Kinsey Millhone is nobody's fool; she's also sensitive, funny and very likable. Writing with a light, sure touch, Grafton has produced a fast-moving California story about quirky, believable people."
- ↑ "Women of Mystery; How two U of L alumnae became top 'whodunits'". U of L Magazine. Spring 2002.
- ↑ Hawkes, Ellen (February 18, 1990). "G IS FOR GRAFTON Instead of Killing Her Ex-Husband, Sue Grafton Created a Smart-Mouthed, Hard-Boiled (and Incidentally Female) Detective Named Kinsey Millhone". Los Angeles Times Magazine. p. 20.
- ↑ Morris, Anne (May 13, 1994). "Mystery author working her way through the alphabet". The Austin American-Statesman. p. D1.
- ↑ "Women of Mystery; How two U of L alumnae became top 'whodunits'". U of L Magazine. Spring 2002.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 "E is for Evidence (Kinsey Millhone, book 5)". Fantastic Fiction. Retrieved March 5, 2012.
- ↑ Johnson, George (May 14, 1989). "New & Noteworthy". The New York Times. Retrieved March 5, 2012.
- ↑ Faller, Mary Beth (December 7, 2005). "With 'Silence' in the stores, writer faces next in series". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved March 5, 2012.
- ↑ "Anthony Awards Nominees". Bouchercon World Mystery Convention. October 2, 2003. Retrieved March 5, 2012.
- ↑ "Kinsey and Me: A Collection of Short Stories by Sue Grafton". PBA Galleries.
Further reading[edit]
- "'A' Is for Alibi". Library Journal. 107 (7): 747. April 1, 1982.
- Vicarel, Jo Ann (April 1, 1986). "'C' Is for Corpse". Library Journal. 111 (6): 164.
External links[edit]
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