photo by Mark Coggins |
Sue Grafton (1940-2017) began writing the "Alphabet Series," after a fairly successful career as a screenwriter. The books are usually categorized as hard-boiled PI thrillers. However, Kinsey Millhone brings a softer touch between the adventurous parts. They are set in the fictional Santa Teresa, which is a thinly disguised verson of Santa Barbara, California.
Recurring Characters of Note:
Kinsey Millhone, policewoman and then private investigator
Henry, her neighbor
Rosie, Henry's Hungarian sister-in-law who runs a small restaurant
Con Dolan, a cop
Cheney Phillips, a cop
"A" Is for Alibi (1982)
"B" Is for Burglar (1985)
"C" Is for Corpse (1986)
"D" Is for Deadbeat (1987)
"E" Is for Evidence (1988)
"F" Is for Fugitive (1989)
"G" Is for Gumshoe (1990)
Kinsey returns to her renovated home (after it was destroyed by a bomb), and takes on a job to locate an elderly woman who has lived most of her life as a recluse in a desert "community" populated by people considered homeless. But the woman is missing, and someone seems to be trying to kill Kinsey!
She becomes so alarmed that she hires a bodyguard, but working with him presents issues of a different kind. The woman is located. She is suffering from dementia and her daughter brings her to a nursing home nearby. Then the mother escapes. Relationships get complicated.
"H" Is for Homicide (1991)
I think this is one of the best books in the series. Kinsey begins with being only peripherally involved in the investigation of a network of insurance fraud where the perpetrators file small claims that can't be disproven. The number of claims adds up to significant losses for the insurance companies.
While trying to track down Bibianna, who may be involved in these scams she ends up being picked up and sent to jail with the woman. She doesn't dare blow her cover, so she plays along. Bibianna's boyfriend, Raymond, has Tourette's Syndrome. Most of the time, he's just odd, but when he has a full-blown attack he's unpredictable and scary. Kinsey ends up having to participate in the racket until she can make contact with anyone in the lawful world.
"I" Is for Innocent (1992)
"J" Is for Judgment (1993)
"K" Is for Killer (1994)
"L" Is for Lawless (1995)
"M" Is for Malice (1996)
"N" Is for Noose (1998)
"O" Is for Outlaw (1999)
"P" Is for Peril (2001)
Kinsey is asked to investigate what happened to Dr. Purcell who disappeared nine weeks earlier. The doctor's ex-wife is her client. The doctor's current young wife is very much a part of the investigation. It turns out that Purcell was about to be investigated for Medicare fraud as he is the administrator for a nursing facilty. That, coupled with a couple of disappearances in the past have made the authorities less interested in suspecting that something happened to the doctor. There have been no bodies matching his that turned up and no hospitals treating anyone matching his description.
Meanwhile, Kinsey is trying to find new office space. She finds a nice remodeled duplex half that is perfect for her needs. The brothers who are renting it seem fine at first, but before long, there seems to be something off about them.
"Q" Is for Quarry (2002)
Year is 1987. Millhone has just moved to new offices after years of sharing space in the Kingman building. Her friend, Con Dolan, is on medical leave after suffering a heart attack. He wants to privately look into a cold case with an old cop friend Stacey, who is being treated for cancer. Kinsey agrees to work with them.
This book is based on an actual case of an, even yet, unidentified body of a young girl who was murdered in 1969. Other than the basic facts of the body, the rest of the story is complete fiction.
Kinsey, Con, and Stacey travel to Lompoc to see where the body was found, and Kinsey is stunned to find it has connections to her estranged biological family. We learn how Kinsey's parents died when she was five.
"R" Is for Ricochet (2004)
"S" Is for Silence (2005)
"T" Is for Trespass (2007)
"U" Is for Undertow (2009)
"V" Is for Vengeance (2011)
"W" Is for Wasted (2013)
"X" (2015)
"Y" Is for Yesterday (2017)
