Sue Grafton

Sue Grafton was an American mystery writer best known for her Kinsey Millhone "alphabet" series, twenty-five novels following a wisecracking, fiercely independent private investigator in fictional Santa Teresa, California, that ran from "A" Is for Alibi (1982) through "Y" Is for Yesterday (2017). Along with contemporaries like Sara Paretsky, Grafton helped establish the modern female hard-boiled detective as a genre staple, giving Millhone a believably ordinary life — money troubles, a diet heavy on fast food, and a healthy suspicion of romance — alongside the genre's expected toughness. Grafton died in December 2017, shortly after completing "Y," without having begun work on a final "Z" novel; her family confirmed she left no notes or outline, and, honoring her lifelong refusal to let anyone else write in her voice, the series was declared permanently unfinished rather than handed to a ghostwriter. She was equally protective of the books on screen, consistently declining film and television offers throughout her career, so the series exists only on the page. New readers should start at the true beginning with "A" Is for Alibi, since Millhone ages and develops in something close to real time across the series, even though most entries can also be read as self-contained mysteries.