Sue Grafton was born on April 24, 1940 in Louisville, KY. She received her BA in English Literature from The University of Louisville in 1961. She has been divorced twice and has been married to Steven F. Humphrey since 1978. She has three children from her previous two marriages and two grandchildren. Ms. Grafton won a Christopher Award in 1979 for the television movie, "Walking Through the Fire". She has written other TV movies, "Sex and the Single Parent," "Mark, I Love You," and "Nurse." With her husband, Steven Humphrey, she adapted two Agatha Christie novels, "Caribbean Mystery" and "Sparkling Cyanide." Ms. Grafton has two non-mystery novels to her credit, Keziah Dane, 1967, and The Lolly Madonna War, 1969. She has won four Anthony awards - "A" is for Alibi, "B" is for Burglar, "C" is for Corpse, and "G" is for Gumshoe - and three Shamus awards - "B" is for Burglar, "G" is for Gumshoe, and "K" is for Killer.
Kinsey Millhone is the hard-boiled private detective created by Sue Grafton. Kinsey is a loner, very independent, and strong-willed. Her parents were killed in a car accident when Kinsey was 5 years old. Kinsey survived the accident. An unmarried aunt raised her after that, with no contact with the rest of Kinsey's relatives. She's an ex-cop. She has been married and divorced twice. She lives alone. When the series begins, Kinsey has no living relatives whom she is aware. For a complete Kinsey Millhone biography, click here.
Kinsey's character develops intricately as the series progresses. Start with the first book and go on from there to totally appreciate Kinsey.
The next book, "P" is for Peril is due out on June 4, 2001 per Sue Grafton's website. She is currently working on "Q" is for Quarry, to be released in 2002.
If you like Sue Grafton, try Sara Paretsky, Karen Kijewski, Kathy Hogan Trocheck (Callahan Garrity), Barbara D'Amato, Linda Barnes (Carlotta Carlyle), and Sharon Zukowski.
Reading List
- "A" is for Alibi - Laurence Fife was a slick divorce lawyer and slippery ladies' man. Until someone killed him. The jury believed that it was his pretty young wife Nikki, so they sent her to prison for eight years. Now, Nikki's out on parole and Kinsey Millhone's in for trouble. Nikki hires Kinsey to discover who really killed her husband. But the trail is eight years cold, and at the end is a chilling twist even Kinsey doesn't suspect -- a second eight-year-old murder and a brand new corpse.
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