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Sue Grafton (1940–2017)

Author of A is for Alibi

119+ Works 94,452 Members 1,916 Reviews 201 Favorited

About the Author

Sue Grafton was born in Louisville, Kentucky on April 24, 1940. She received a bachelor's degree in English literature from the University of Louisville in 1961. Her first novel Keziah Dane was published in 1967. Her second novel, The Lolly-Madonna War, was published in 1969 and she adapted it into show more a screenplay. After that movie was released in 1973, she worked intermittently writing for television. A series she created, Nurse, ran for two seasons on CBS in the early 1980s. Her writing career took off when A Is for Alibi was published in 1982 and received the Mysterious Stranger Award. This was the beginning of the Kinsey Millhone Mystery series. B Is for Burglar won the Shamus and Anthony Awards and C Is for Corpse won the Anthony Award. She also received the Cartier Diamond Dagger, the Mystery Writers of America Grand Master Award, a Lifetime Achievement Award from Bouchercon, and the Ross Macdonald Literary Award. She died from cancer on December 28, 2017 at the age of 77. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Photographed at BookPeople in Austin, Texas by Frank Arnold

Series

Works by Sue Grafton

A is for Alibi (1982) 6,588 copies
B is for Burglar (1985) 4,494 copies
Q is for Quarry (2002) 4,234 copies
S is for Silence (2005) 4,228 copies
R is for Ricochet (2004) 4,083 copies
C is for Corpse (1986) 4,041 copies
P Is for Peril (2001) 3,999 copies
T is for Trespass (2007) 3,943 copies
M is for Malice (1996) 3,918 copies
O is for Outlaw (1999) 3,825 copies
N is for Noose (1998) 3,820 copies
J Is for Judgment (1993) 3,779 copies
D is for Deadbeat (1987) 3,778 copies
I is for Innocent (1992) 3,744 copies
K is for Killer (1994) 3,722 copies
L is for Lawless (1995) 3,685 copies
E Is for Evidence (1988) 3,612 copies
G is for Gumshoe (1990) — Author — 3,606 copies
H is for Homicide (1991) 3,552 copies
F is for Fugitive (1989) 3,534 copies
U is for Undertow (2009) — Author — 3,344 copies
V is for Vengeance (2011) 2,499 copies
W is for Wasted (2013) 2,087 copies
X (2015) 1,792 copies
Y is for Yesterday (2017) 1,468 copies
Kinsey and Me: Stories (2013) 648 copies
The Alphabet Mysteries: A-C (1999) 467 copies
The Best American Mystery Stories 1998 (1998) — Editor & Introduction — 177 copies
The Lolly-Madonna war (1969) 11 copies
Kinsey and Me Free Preview (2012) — Author — 10 copies
Miss Marple: A Caribbean Mystery [1983 TV movie] (1983) — Screenwriter — 10 copies
Keziah Dane (1968) 9 copies
Sue Grafton 3 copies
Spannend trio (1997) — Contributor — 2 copies
A - Z 1 copy
de homicidio 1 copy
Sue Grafton Boxset (2002) 1 copy
Come Killer 1 copy
Omnibus 1 copy

Associated Works

Telling Lies for Fun and Profit (1981) — Introduction, some editions — 459 copies
The Best American Mystery Stories of the Century (2000) — Contributor — 452 copies
A Woman's Eye (1991) — Contributor — 272 copies
Knitting Yarns: Writers on Knitting (2013) — Contributor — 263 copies
Masterpieces of Mystery and Suspense (1988) — Contributor — 189 copies
The Oxford Book of American Detective Stories (1996) — Contributor — 176 copies
The Mammoth Book of Private Eye Stories (1988) — Contributor — 161 copies
Sisters in Crime (1990) — Contributor — 125 copies
Sisters in Crime 4 (1991) — Contributor — 105 copies
Sisters in Crime 2 (1990) — Contributor — 100 copies
A New Omnibus of Crime (1771) — Contributor; Editor — 97 copies
The Best of Sisters in Crime (1997) — Contributor — 92 copies
The Big Book of Female Detectives (2018) — Contributor — 79 copies
Lady on the Case: 22 Female Detective Stories (1988) — Contributor — 76 copies
Ross Macdonald : A Biography (1999) — Introduction — 70 copies
The Oxford Book of Detective Stories (2000) — Contributor — 69 copies
First Cases: First Appearances of Classic Private Eyes (1996) — Contributor — 68 copies
2nd Culprit: A Crime Writers' Association Annual (1993) — Contributor — 64 copies
Reader's Digest Select Editions 1999 v01 #241 (1999) — Contributor — 30 copies
Most Wanted (2002) — Contributor — 29 copies
Great detective stories (1998) — Contributor — 20 copies
Writing Mystery and Crime Fiction (1985) — Contributor — 9 copies
The Penguin Book of Crime Stories, Volume II (2010) — Contributor — 9 copies
Dangerous Ladies (1992) — Contributor — 8 copies
First Cases [Unabridged Audiobook] (2002) — Contributor — 3 copies
Detecting Women: New American Short Stories (1998) — Contributor — 1 copy

Tagged

A Kinsey Millhone Mystery (202) Alphabet Mysteries (261) American (366) anthology (281) audio (329) audiobook (362) California (1,840) crime (1,952) crime and mystery (203) crime fiction (976) detective (1,531) detective fiction (277) ebook (839) female detective (467) fiction (7,578) first edition (215) Grafton (442) hardcover (368) Kindle (402) Kinsey Millhone (4,628) Kinsey Millhone Mysteries (301) library (286) murder (532) mystery (14,013) mystery fiction (418) mystery-thriller (247) novel (518) own (288) paperback (317) PI (229) private detective (1,030) read (1,232) series (1,455) short stories (403) Sue Grafton (705) suspense (604) thriller (504) to-read (2,049) unread (313) writing (318)

Common Knowledge

Canonical name
GRAFTON, Sue
Legal name
Grafton, Sue Taylor
Birthdate
1940-04-24
Date of death
2017-12-28
Gender
female
Nationality
USA
Birthplace
Louisville, Kentucky, USA
Place of death
Santa Barbara, California, USA
Cause of death
cancer (appendix)
Places of residence
Santa Barbara, California, USA
Santa Monica, California, USA
Education
University of Louisville (1961 | BA | English Literature)
Western Kentucky State Teachers College
Occupations
admission clerk
cashier
secretary
screenwriter
detective novelist
Relationships
Grafton, C. W. (father)
Organizations
Pi Beta Phi
Awards and honors
Romantic Times Career Achievement Award (Female Sleuth ∙ 2004)
Cartier Diamond Dagger (2008)
Shamus Award (The Eye for Lifetime Achievement ∙ 2003)
MWA Grand Master (2009)
Christopher Award (1979)
Agent
Molly Friedrich (Aaron Priest Literary Agency)
Short biography
Grafton was born in Louisville, Kentucky April 24 1940; graduated University of Louisville, BA 1961 with a major in English Literature, minors in Humanities and Fine Arts.
She married to Steven F. Humphrey with three children from previous marriages: a daughter, Leslie; a son, Jay; a daughter, Jamie; and four granddaughters, Erin, age 21, Kinsey, age 13, Taylor, age 4, and Addison, age 2.

Members

Reviews

As always the book had twisted and turns. still love the way the author describes the characters and the surroundings in the story. hopefully in future book we will see some characters return.
 
Flagged
cbloky | 50 other reviews | Mar 10, 2024 |
Not a fan of the ending, but as usual loved the book anyway. Have loved the entire series so far.
 
Flagged
Cathie_Dyer | 52 other reviews | Feb 29, 2024 |

Lists

Awards

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Associated Authors

Judy Kaye Reader, Narrator
Otto Penzler Series Editor
Jan Burke Editor
John Escott Adapter
Wim Holleman Translator
Gregory Mcdonald Introduction
Joyce Carol Oates Contributor
Walter Mosley Contributor
John T. Lescroart Contributor
Dave Shaw Contributor
Lawrence Block Contributor
Mary Higgins Clark Contributor
Edward D. Hoch Contributor
Stuart M. Kaminsky Contributor
Scott Bartels Contributor
David Ballard Contributor
Donald E. Westlake Contributor
Helen Tucker Contributor
Janice Law Contributor
Pat Jordan Contributor
Steve Yarbrough Contributor
Peter Robinson Contributor
John Lutz Contributor
Jay McInerney Contributor
Margaret Maron Contributor
Maureen Gray Illustrator
Lynn Hightower Contributor
Karen Kijewski Contributor
Mary Peiffer Narrator
Mort Engel; Cover artist
Birgit Herrmann Übersetzer, Translator
Heikki Kannosto Translator
Ariane Böckler Übersetzer
Annika Eräpuro Translator
Toby Visser Translator
Ingrid Tóth Translator
Reijo Kalvas Translator
Liza Ross Narrator
Ingrid Tóth Translator
Abby Kagan Cover designer
Willem Holleman Translator
Mary Peiffer Narrator
Annika Eräpuro Translator
Lorelei King Narrator, Reader
Lynn Lauber Abridger

Statistics

Works
119
Also by
48
Members
94,452
Popularity
#97
Rating
½ 3.7
Reviews
1,916
ISBNs
1,561
Languages
22
Favorited
201

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