A is for Alibi: A Kinsey Millhone Mystery (Kinsey Millhone Alphabet series Book 1)

Product Information

Somebody I want to spend more time with.” — The New York Times Book Review on the Sue Grafton series and Kinsey Millhone

a b Ellis, Ralph (December 29, 2017). "Sue Grafton, mystery writer who based titles on the alphabet, dies at 77". CNN . Retrieved January 14, 2018. These became the series now known as the "alphabet novels", featuring sleuth and private investigator Kinsey Millhone. The series is set in Santa Teresa, a fictionalized version of Santa Barbara. [17] Grafton followed the lead of Ross Macdonald, who created the fictional version of the city. [18] Grafton described Kinsey Millhone as her alter ego, "the person I might have been had I not married young and had children." [9]Otto Prenzler, "Forward", The Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2021, edited by Lee Child, The Mysterious Press, New York, p. xiv and "Contents", n.p. Look, they needed a conviction. I was it,"she said with the first sign of energy. "I've just spent the last eight years with killers of one kind or another and believe me, the motive isn't apathy. You kill people you hate or you kill in rage or you kill to get even, but you don't kill someone you're indifferent to. By the time Laurence died, I didn't give a damn about him. I fell out of love with him the first time I found out about the other women. It took me a while to get it all out of my system . . ." I thought about Nikki as I drove. I had tossed the manila folder full of clippings on the passenger seat but I really didn't need to look at them. Laurence Fife had done a lot of divorce work and he had a reputation as a killer in court. He was cold, methodical, and unscrupulous, taking any advantage he could. In California, as in many states, the only grounds for divorce are irreconcilable differences or incurable insanity, which eliminates the trumped-up adultery charges that were the mainstay of divorce attorneys and private eyes in the old days. There is still the question of property settlements and custody—money and children—and Laurence Fife could get his clients anything. Most of them were women. Out of court, he had a reputation as a killer of another kind and the rumor was that he had mended many a broken heart in that difficult period between interlocutory and final decrees.

Grafton had been fascinated by mysteries series whose titles were related, such as John D. MacDonald's Travis McGee series, each of which included a color in the title, and Harry Kemelman's Rabbi Small series, each of which included a day of the week in the title. While reading Edward Gorey's The Gashlycrumb Tinies, a picture book with an alphabetized list of ways for children to die, Grafton decided to write a series of novels whose titles would follow the alphabet. She immediately sat down and made a list of all of the crime-related words that she knew. [13] urn:oclc:505877781 Scandate 20100407193735 Scanner scribe2.sanfrancisco.archive.org Scanningcenter sanfrancisco Source Schudel, Matt (December 29, 2017). "Sue Grafton, author of best-selling 'alphabet' mysteries, dies at 77". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on December 30, 2017 . Retrieved December 30, 2017. I had thought her eyes were dark but I could see now that they were a metallic gray. Her look was level, flattened-out, as though some interior light were growing dim. She seemed to be a lady without much hope. I had never believed she was guilty myself but I couldn't remember what had made me so sure. She seemed passionless and I couldn't imagine her caring enough about anything to kill.Access-restricted-item true Addeddate 2010-03-17 19:44:21 Boxid IA115205 Camera Canon EOS 5D Mark II City Toronto Donor Why wait this long? You could have initiated an investigation from prison and maybe saved yourself some time."

Lastly, the final few chapters rush together into intense, edge-of-your-seat action. And the ending is a surprise--sort of. G.P. Putnam's Sons Launches Sue Grafton Memorial Award". publishersweetly.com. February 21, 2019 . Retrieved February 2, 2022. Yeah, so that's the world this is set in. Just think: no technology, lots of germs, and giant hairdos held up with cans and cans of ozone-killing hairspray. a b c White, Claire E. "A Conversation with Sue Grafton". Writers Write . Retrieved February 8, 2007. Grafton died at Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara on December 28, 2017, after a two-year battle with cancer of the appendix. [1] [22] [38] [10]Mystery writer Sue Grafton dies in California". www.msn.com. Archived from the original on December 30, 2017 . Retrieved December 29, 2017. Her father was a municipal bond lawyer who also wrote mystery novels and her mother was a former high school chemistry teacher. [3] Her father enlisted in the Army during World War II when she was three and returned when she was five, after which her home life started falling apart. Both parents became alcoholics and Grafton said "From the age of five onward, I was left to raise myself". [4] [5] A" Is for Alibi is the first mystery novel in Sue Grafton's "Alphabet" series, and was published by Holt, Rinehart and Winston in 1982. Featuring sleuth Kinsey Millhone, it is set in the southern California city of Santa Teresa, the nom de plume for Santa Barbara. She wrote the book during a divorce and admits about her husband that she "would lie in bed at night thinking of ways to kill him". [1] The New York Times gave the book a lukewarm review.