Alex Delaware
mystery
Series · hardboiled mystery
Kinsey Millhone
The Kinsey Millhone series by Sue Grafton has 25 known books (25 published) and is best read in publication order, starting with A Is for Alibi (1982).
- Books
- 25 known books (25 novels)
- Published
- 25
- First published
- 1982
- Status
- completed
- Shelved under
- Mystery & Crime
- Last checked
Start here: A Is for Alibi (1982) — then read straight through in publication order.
Reading order
The date order of published books and any announced future entries — the default way to read the series.
- Book 1:
A Is for Alibi
A Is for Alibi (1982) opens Sue Grafton's alphabet series, introducing twice-divorced private investigator Kinsey Millhone in fictional Santa Teresa, California -- a thinly veiled Santa Barbara -- and the deliberately 1980s-set world Grafton would keep Kinsey in for all 25 books.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of A Is for Alibi - Book 2:
B Is for Burglar
B Is for Burglar (1985), the second book at 240 pages, keeps Kinsey working cases the old-fashioned way -- legwork, index cards, a battered Volkswagen -- in the classic hardboiled register that set her apart from many contemporaries.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of B Is for Burglar - Book 3:
C Is for Corpse
C Is for Corpse (1986), 250 pages, is the third entry, Grafton's technical rigor about how PI work actually functions -- paperwork and dead ends alongside danger -- already well established this early in the series.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of C Is for Corpse - Book 4:
D Is for Deadbeat
D Is for Deadbeat (1987), the fourth book at 261 pages, continues Kinsey's sharp, wry first-person narration and Grafton's commitment to procedural authenticity over a softened, romance-driven detective.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of D Is for Deadbeat - Book 5:
E Is for Evidence
E Is for Evidence (1988), fifth in the series, keeps Kinsey guarded and prickly as ever, solving her own problems in Santa Teresa without needing romance as a plot engine.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of E Is for Evidence - Book 6:
F Is for Fugitive
F Is for Fugitive (1989) is Grafton's sixth Kinsey Millhone novel, continuing the alphabet series' consistent 1980s setting even as it moved further from the year of its first publication.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of F Is for Fugitive - Book 7:
G Is for Gumshoe
G Is for Gumshoe (1990) is Grafton's seventh entry, Kinsey once again working a case through sheer legwork and dry humor rather than the softened likability common to other detective fiction of the era.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of G Is for Gumshoe - Book 8:
H Is for Homicide
H Is for Homicide (1991), the eighth book at 287 pages, sits between G Is for Gumshoe and I Is for Innocent, Kinsey's guarded independence and procedural rigor still central nine years into the series.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of H Is for Homicide - Book 9:
I Is for Innocent
I Is for Innocent (1992) is the ninth entry, Grafton continuing the alphabet gimmick that never wore thin across 35 years precisely because of books like this one's real technical care about detective work.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of I Is for Innocent - Book 10:
J Is for Judgment
J Is for Judgment (1993), the tenth book at 375 pages, precedes K Is for Killer in publication order, Kinsey's few running relationships -- with her aunt, with landlord Henry Pitts -- building cumulatively across the series by this point.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of J Is for Judgment - Book 11:
K Is for Killer
K Is for Killer (1994), the eleventh entry at 318 pages, keeps Kinsey narrating in the sharp, wry first person that made her one of the genre's most influential female detectives.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of K Is for Killer - Book 12:
L Is for Lawless
L Is for Lawless (1995), the twelfth book at 322 pages, follows K Is for Killer, Grafton's Santa Teresa setting and Kinsey's barely-aging 1980s world holding steady past the series' first decade.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of L Is for Lawless - Book 13:
M Is for Malice
M Is for Malice (1996) is the thirteenth entry, Grafton sustaining the procedural authenticity -- real paperwork and dead ends alongside the danger -- that distinguishes the series from softer hardboiled fiction.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of M Is for Malice - Book 14:
N Is for Noose
N Is for Noose (1998), the fourteenth book at 322 pages, sits between M Is for Malice and O Is for Outlaw, Kinsey's complicated family history continuing to surface in the series' later entries.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of N Is for Noose - Book 15:
O Is for Outlaw
O Is for Outlaw (1999) is the fifteenth entry, Grafton's alphabet series still going strong seventeen years after A Is for Alibi introduced Kinsey and her deliberately frozen 1980s Santa Teresa.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of O Is for Outlaw - Book 16:
P Is for Peril
P Is for Peril (2001), the sixteenth book, keeps Kinsey investigating with the same dry humor and technical rigor that defined the series from its start, unbothered by the two decades that had passed in the real world since it began.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of P Is for Peril - Book 17:
Q Is for Quarry
Q Is for Quarry (2002), the seventeenth entry at 427 pages, precedes R Is for Ricochet in publication order, Grafton continuing her sustained feat of craft two decades into the alphabet gimmick.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Q Is for Quarry - Book 18:
R Is for Ricochet
R Is for Ricochet (2004), the eighteenth book at 363 pages, precedes S Is for Silence in publication order, Kinsey's guarded, romance-resistant independence still central as the series approaches its final third.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of R Is for Ricochet - Book 19:
S Is for Silence
S Is for Silence (2005) is Grafton's nineteenth Kinsey Millhone novel, the alphabet series continuing to age Kinsey barely at all while keeping her firmly rooted in its frozen 1980s timeline.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of S Is for Silence - Book 20:
T Is for Trespass
T Is for Trespass (2007), the twentieth entry at 387 pages, keeps Kinsey solving cases through legwork and process rather than the softened detective-fiction conventions Grafton deliberately avoided.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of T Is for Trespass - Book 21:
U Is for Undertow
U Is for Undertow (2009) is the twenty-first book, Grafton sustaining the series' classic hardboiled register with a woman at the center of it, 27 years after the alphabet began.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of U Is for Undertow - Book 22:
V Is for Vengeance
V Is for Vengeance (2011) is the twenty-second entry, Kinsey's dry wit and procedural rigor undiminished as Grafton's alphabet gimmick approached its final volumes.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of V Is for Vengeance - Book 23:
W Is for Wasted
W Is for Wasted (2013), the twenty-third book, is one of the series' longest entries at 531 pages, Grafton continuing the deep technical care about PI work that distinguished Kinsey from softer contemporaries.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of W Is for Wasted - Book 24:
X
X (2015), the twenty-fourth book at 416 pages, breaks the alphabet-title pattern in name only -- it precedes Y Is for Yesterday in publication order and keeps Kinsey working Santa Teresa cases in Grafton's deliberately 1980s-frozen timeline.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of X - Book 25:
Y Is for Yesterday
Y Is for Yesterday (2017) is the twenty-fifth and final entry in the alphabet series, closing out a 35-year feat of sustained craft that took Kinsey Millhone from A Is for Alibi through the last letter Sue Grafton reached.
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Y Is for Yesterday
About the Kinsey Millhone series
Kinsey Millhone is a twice-divorced, fiercely independent private investigator working out of the fictional Santa Teresa, California — a thinly veiled Santa Barbara — who solves cases the old-fashioned way: legwork, index cards, a battered Volkswagen, and a willingness to get punched. Sue Grafton built the series around a gimmick that became a genuine feat of sustained craft: 25 novels, each titled for a letter of the alphabet, A Is for Alibi through Y Is for Yesterday, published across 35 years without the premise ever feeling gimmicky. Kinsey narrates in sharp, wry first person and barely ages across the whole run — Grafton kept the books set in the 1980s throughout, letting Kinsey stay roughly the same age while the real world moved on around the writing.
The appeal is classic hardboiled detective fiction with a woman at the center of it, written with real technical rigor about how PI work actually functions — paperwork, dead ends, and process alongside the danger. Kinsey is famously guarded, prickly, and uninterested in romance as a plot engine, which set her apart from many contemporaries and made her one of the genre's most influential female detectives. It's the series for readers who want procedural authenticity, dry humor, and a detective who solves her own problems without needing to be softened for likability.
Frequently asked questions
How many Kinsey Millhone books are there?
25 novels, running the alphabet from A Is for Alibi (1982) to Y Is for Yesterday (2017).
Why isn't there a Z Is for Zero?
Sue Grafton died in December 2017, shortly after Y Is for Yesterday was published, without having started writing the final book. Her family confirmed no one would complete it, so the alphabet series ends at Y.
What order should I read the Kinsey Millhone books in?
Alphabetical order from A to Y, which is also publication order. That's the order the series was designed to be read in, start to finish.
Is the Kinsey Millhone series finished?
Yes. It ended permanently with Sue Grafton's death in 2017; her family has stated the planned final book, Z Is for Zero, will never be written by anyone else.
Does Kinsey Millhone age across the series?
Barely. Grafton kept the entire 25-book series set in the 1980s regardless of when each book was actually published, so Kinsey ages only a few years across the whole run.
If you like the Kinsey Millhone series
Reading order last verified .