by Roger Johns
Few would argue that Sue Grafton created an iconic (classic, definitive, infinitely appealing…insert your superlative of choice, here) crime fiction character when she brought Kinsey Millhone to the page, way back in 1982, with the publication of “A is for Alibi”. Well, okay, some may argue, but I ain’t listening. For my money, Kinsey Millhone is one of the finest PI creations of the modern era, and I return to these novels for entertainment and as inspiration for my own writing. Has it really been 42 years—nearly half a century—since Grafton introduced us to Kinsey Millhone and the endlessly inventive mysteries in which her character played the starring role?
Who is this character, and where did she come from, and how did Grafton feel about her? All good questions, and for those interested in answers, a great place to start is with “Kinsey and Me”, the 2013 volume from Grafton in which she shares a wealth of detail about herself, her character, and the Alphabet Mystery franchise (as her books came to be known, because the title of each begins with the phrase “__ is for …”, with successive letters of the alphabet occupying that initial blank).
This book is rare look at the origins of Grafton’s development of and relationship
with her main character. In the beginning, it’s a collection of short stories about Kinsey Millhone. It is also part memoir in the form of essays and introductory material, and part memoir (in the back half of the book) in the form of stories featuring a lesser-known character of hers, Kit Blue, whom the flyleaf copy tells us is “a younger version of Sue herself.”
Over my years of attending mystery conferences and conventions, and all my bookstore (and other) appearances in between, during which I’ve had countless conversations with fellow mystery readers and writers, I’ve discovered that relatively few are even aware of “Kinsey and Me”.
As a fan of the series and the character, I find the book nothing short of fascinating. As a writer of fiction, I find the book nothing short of essential. As a writer of crime fiction, I find it indispensable, in terms of how it so judiciously illuminates Grafton’s fiction with the facts her life. The book is a moving testament to how one can use fiction as a route to gracefully coming to grips with a having been dealt a challenging hand early in life, as well as an excellent look at how a skilled author can adapt a character and a concept to long form and short form fiction. This book delivered, for me, on several levels, and is part of my go-to library of books that keep my imagination stoked and my love of crime fiction (as a reader and a writer) running in high gear. I highly recommend it.
ROGER JOHNS is a former corporate lawyer, retired college professor, and the author of the Wallace Hartman Mysteries from St. Martin’s Press: Dark River Rising and River of Secrets. His short fiction has been published by, among others, Saturday Evening Post, Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, the Mystery Weekly Magazine, Dark City Crime & Mystery Magazine, Yellow Mama, After Dinner Conversation: The Philosophy & Ethics Short Story Magazine, and Black Petals Science Fiction. He is the 2018 Georgia Author of the Year (Detective·Mystery Category), and a two-time finalist for the Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Award. Along with Kim Conrey, he authors the quarterly column If You Only Have An Hour: Time-Saving Tips and Tricks for Managing Your Writing Career for Page Turner Magazine, published by the Georgia Writers Museum and the Atlanta Writers Club.
Murder Books 
Great review of this book and your own personal experiences with Sue Grafton’s novels. I, too, have read many of them and always thought Kinsey was the model character mystery series authors should study when creating their own. I’ll have to pick up this book.
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