Sue Grafton
Behind the Scenes with the author of the A-B-C Murder Series
Sue Grafton is the best selling author of what has been dubbed the popular Alphabet Murder Series. To date, her 17 mystery novels have been gobbled up by eager readers in 28 countries. What do all of these Grafton fans have in common? They can't seem to get enough of the series' heroine, Kinsey Millhone.
Kinsey Millhone, as created by Grafton, is a hard talking, wise cracking female private eye who operates a barely successful investigation company in the mythical beach town of Santa Teresa, California (a thinly disguised Santa Barbara). Kinsey is, in many ways, a quirkier, more human version of an old fashioned gumshoe detectives like Raymond Chandler's Sam Spade. On case after case, from A is for Alibi through Q is for Quarry, Kinsey struggles to make ends meet as she pursues mystery and murder in her old VW bug. And try as she may, her tough cookie veneer simply crumbles as she reveals the softer and more poignant side of her own life.
Kinsey's parents were both killed in a car accident when she was just a little girl. Raised by her well-meaning Aunt Gin, she may have received food, shelter and clothing, however, it is obvious that she did not receive enough physical love and nurturing to allow her to grow up feeling very secure. Kinsey is, by her own accounts, a perpetual outsider. She kept herself at a distance from school classmates and later, as an adult, stayed just outside of any meaningful, close relationships with friends and lovers.
Kinsey was married twice and, not surprisingly, both were big mistakes. Not unusual for someone who really doesn't want to reveal much about herself. It's hard to judge another person's true intentions when you won't open up much about yourself. Kinsey became a policewoman and even married a cop. But both her law enforcement career and her marriage were doomed to failure. It's hard to succeed when you just won't follow anyone's rules or come clean with your own emotional needs.
Kinsey is both complex and intriguing. Living in a small apartment above a garage and eating mostly thrown together meals or unhealthy doses of greasy fast food, Kinsey is also addicted to exercise. In fact, her passion for running and working out in the gym are probably substitutes for putting any real energy into developing meaningful relationships. Her only friend seems to be her octogenarian landlord, Henry, with whom she sometimes, every so slightly, lets her guard down. Most of the time, Kinsey seems content to solve other people's life problems and then goes off, not unlike the aloof heroes of old time Westerns, into the sunset turning in her investigative reports with a "Respectfully submitted" written closure.
Grafton has surely created a classic character in Kinsey. Like most female mystery writers, Grafton claims that her detective is NOT her alter ego. In fact, there is little real resemblance between Kinsey and Grafton. Kinsey is a cynic, and at times, an emotional basket case with two failed marriages behind her. Grafton, on the other hand, has been happily married for 28 years, has three children and two grandchildren and loves puttering in her garden and petting her cats. Can you even imagine Kinsey thinking of possibly owning cat? The differences between author and character don't stop there. While Kinsey would almost commit murder herself for a Quarter Pounder and fries from a McDonald's drive through window, Grafton would prefer dining in posh restaurants in Santa Barbara, where she lives part time when she is not residing in her hometown of Louisville, Kentucky.
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