Sue Taylor Grafton (born April 24, 1940 in Louisville, Kentucky, USA) is a contemporary American author of detective novels. is the 114th day of the year (115th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Louisville redirects here. ... Detective fiction is a branch of crime fiction that centres upon the investigation of a crime, usually murder, by a detective, either professional or amateur. ...

Biography

Early years

Sue Grafton is the daughter of novelist CW Grafton and Vivian Harnsberger, both of whom were the children of Presbyterian ministers. Grafton and her sister Ann were raised in Louisville, Kentucky. She attended both the University of Louisville (freshman year) and Western Kentucky State Teachers College (sophomore and junior years)^[1] before graduating from the University of Louisville in 1961 with a bachelors degree in English Literature and minors in Humanities and the Fine Arts. ^[2] Cornelius Warren (Chip) Grafton (born 1909, died 1982) was a US crime novelist. ... Presbyterianism is part of the Reformed churches family of denominations of Christian Protestantism based on the teachings of John Calvin which traces its institutional roots to the Scottish Reformation, especially as led by John Knox. ... Louisville redirects here. ... The University of Louisville (also known as U of L) is a public, state-supported university located in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. ... The term English literature refers to literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; Joseph Conrad was Polish, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, Salman Rushdie is Indian, V.S...

After graduating, Grafton held various jobs as a hospital admissions clerk, cashier, and medical secretary in Santa Monica, California and Santa Barbara, California.^[2] For other uses, see Santa Monica (disambiguation). ... Nickname: Location in Santa Barbara County and the state of California Coordinates: , Country State County Santa Barbara Government  - Mayor Marty Blum Area  - Total 41. ...

Writing career

Grafton began writing when she was 18 and finished her first novel four years later. She continued writing, and completed six more manuscripts. Two of these seven novels were published.^[1] Unable to find success with her novels, Grafton turned to screenplays. She spent the next fifteen years writing screenplays for television movies, including "Sex and the Single Parent," "Mark, I Love You," and "Nurse." Her screenplay for "Walking Through the Fire" earned a Christopher Award in 1979. In collaboration with her husband, Steven Humphrey, she also adapted the Agatha Christie novels "A Caribbean Mystery" and "Sparkling Cyanide" for television, as well as cowriting "Killer in the Family" and "Love on the Run."^[2][3] “Telefilm” redirects here. ... The Christopher Award (established 1949) are presented to the producers, directors and writers of books, motion pictures and television specials which affirm the highest values of the human spirit. ... Agatha Mary Clarissa, Lady Mallowan, DBE (15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976), commonly known as Agatha Christie, was an English crime fiction writer. ... A Caribbean Mystery (published in 1964) is a detective fiction novel by Agatha Christie featuring the detective Miss Marple. ... Sparkling Cyanide (published in 1945), also known as Remembered Death is a detective fiction novel by Agatha Christie. ...

Her experience as a screenwriter taught her the basics of structuring a story, writing dialogue, and creating action sequences, and Grafton felt ready to return to writing fiction.^[3] While going through a "bitter divorce and custody battle that lasted 6 long years" Grafton would make herself feel better by imagining ways to kill or maim her ex-husband. Her fantasies were so vivid that she decided to write them down.^[4]

She had long been fascinated by mysteries that had related titles, including those by John D. MacDonald, whose titles referenced colors, and Harry Kemelman, who used days of the week. While reading Edward Gorey's The Gashlycrumb Tinies, which is an alphabetical picture book of children who die by various means, she had the idea to write a series of novels based on the alphabet. She immediately sat down and made a list of all of the crime-related words that she knew. ^[3] This exercise led to her best known works, a chronological series of mystery novels. Known as "the alphabet novels," the stories are set in and around the fictional town of Santa Teresa, which is based on the author's primary city of residence, Santa Barbara, California (Grafton chose to use the name Santa Teresa as a tribute to the author Ross Macdonald, who had previously used this as an alternative name for Santa Barbara in his own novels).^[5] John Dann MacDonald (July 24, 1916 – December 28, 1986), writing as John D. MacDonald, was an American writer best known for his series of detective novels featuring protagonist Travis McGee. ... Harry Kemelman (1908-1996) was an American mystery writer and a professor of English. ... Edward St. ... Nickname: Location in Santa Barbara County and the state of California Coordinates: , Country State County Santa Barbara Government  - Mayor Marty Blum Area  - Total 41. ... This article is about Ross Macdonald, the author. ...

All novels of the series are written from the perspective of a female private investigator named Kinsey Millhone who lives in Santa Teresa, California. Grafton's first book of this series is "A" Is for Alibi, written and set in 1982. The series continues with "B" Is for Burglar, "C" Is for Corpse, and so on through the alphabet. After the publication of "G" Is for Gumshoe, Grafton was able to quit her screenwriting job and focus on her novels.^[4] The timeline of the series is slower than real-time - "Q" Is for Quarry, for example, is set in 1987, even though it was written in 2002. Her latest book, "S" Is for Silence, was published in December 2005, and her next book, "T" Is for Trespass, is due to be published in December 2007. A private investigator, private detective, PI, or private eye, is a person who undertakes investigations, usually for a private citizen or some other entity not involved with a government or police organization. ... Kinsey Millhone (born 5 May 1950) is a fictional female private investigator created by Sue Grafton, and is the protagonist of Graftons alphabet mysteries series of novels. ... Santa Teresa, a fictionalised version of 1980s Santa Barbara, California, is home to Kinsey Millhone. ...

Grafton's "B" Is for Burglar and "C" Is for Corpse won the first two Anthony Awards, which are selected by the attendees of the annual Bouchercon World Mystery Convention, ever awarded.^[6] She has won the Anthony Award once more, and has been the recipient of three Shamus Awards.^[7] In 2004, Grafton received the Ross Macdonald Literary Award, given to "a California writer whose work raises the standard of literary excellence." Bouchercon, the Anthony Boucher Memorial World Mystery Convention, is an annual convention of creators and devotees of mystery and detective fiction. ... The Ross Macdonald Literary Award is a U.S. book prize given each year by the Santa Barbara Book Council to a California writer whose work raises the standard of literary excellence. ...

Grafton's novels have been published in 28 countries, in 26 languages including Bulgarian and Indonesian.^[8] She has refused to sell the film and television rights to her books, as her time writing screenplays had "cured" her of the desire to work with Hollywood.^[3] Grafton has even threatened to haunt her children if they sell the film rights after she is dead.^[9]

Family

Grafton, who has been divorced twice,^[4] has been married for over twenty years to Steven F. Humphrey. She has three children from previous marriages and several grandchildren, including a granddaughter named Kinsey.^[2] They live in Santa Barbara, California and Louisville, Kentucky, as Humphrey teaches at universities in both cities.^[4] Nickname: Location in Santa Barbara County and the state of California Coordinates: , Country State County Santa Barbara Government  - Mayor Marty Blum Area  - Total 41. ... Louisville redirects here. ...

Bibliography

Early novels

• Keziah Dane (1967)
• The Lolly Madonna War (1969) - filmed as Lolly-Madonna XXX ^[10]

Kinsey Millhone series

• "A" Is for Alibi (1982)
• "B" Is for Burglar (1985)
• "C" Is for Corpse (1986)
• "D" Is for Deadbeat (1987)
• "E" Is for Evidence (1988)
• "F" Is for Fugitive (1989)
• "G" Is for Gumshoe (1990)
• "H" Is for Homicide (1991)
• "I" Is for Innocent (1992)
• "J" Is for Judgment (1993)
• "K" Is for Killer (1994)
• "L" Is for Lawless (1995)
• "M" Is for Malice (1996)
• "N" Is for Noose (1998)
• "O" Is for Outlaw (1999)
• "P" Is for Peril (2001)
• "Q" Is for Quarry (2002)
• "R" Is for Ricochet (2004)
• "S" Is for Silence (2005)
• "T" Is for Trespass (due December 4, 2007)[1]

For more on Kinsey Millhone see Kinsey Millhone A Is for Alibi is the first novel in the Kinsey Millhone series by crime writer Sue Grafton. ... Kinsey Millhone (born 5 May 1950) is a fictional female private investigator created by Sue Grafton, and is the protagonist of Graftons alphabet mysteries series of novels. ...

Also published

• Kinsey and Me (1992) - a collection of Kinsey Millhone short stories along with other short stories about Grafton's own mother.

Trivia

• Sue Grafton and Hunter S. Thompson grew up in the same neighborhood in Louisville, Kentucky. Grafton was three years behind Thompson in high school, and in 1968 she wrote Thompson asking for advice on writing. See Thompson's Fear and Loathing in America, c. 2000.
• In apparent tribute to Ross Macdonald,^{[citation needed]} the Kinsey Milhone character also refers to her private investigator license as a "photostat", although the term is no longer commonly used.
• In the "Mayham " episode of The Sopranos, Carmela sits by Tony's bedside in the hospital, reading Sue Grafton's "O" Is for Outlaw.
• In the "To Whom It May Concern" episode of Gilmore Girls, Sookie explains to Lorelai how she and Jackson go on skiing-slash-reading weekends. He skis, and she reads.

Sookie: I love to dress up in those cozy clothes, the furry boots, and curl up with a Sue Grafton mystery. I got "R" Is for Ricochet and "S" Is for Silence… If the ski conditions are good, I can get a good 8 hours of Kinsey Millhone in. Hunter Stockton Thompson (July 18, 1937 – February 20, 2005) was an American journalist and author. ... Fear and Loathing in America: The Brutal Odyssey of an Outlaw Journalist 1968-1976 is a collection of hundreds of letters Hunter S. Thompson wrote (as well as a handful he received) after skyrocketing to fame with his 1966 hit Hells Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the... This article is about Ross Macdonald, the author. ... Episode chronology Mayham is the sixty-eighth episode of the HBO original series, The Sopranos and the third of the shows sixth season. ... This article is about the television series. ... To Whom It May Concern may refer to: To Whom It May Concern, an album by Nat King Cole released in 1959. ... Gilmore Girls is a long-running, Emmy Award winning, and Golden Globe nominated American television drama/comedy created by Amy Sherman-Palladino and starring Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel. ...

• In the "Local Ad" episode of The Office, Phyllis went to the mall to a Sue Grafton book signing to try to get her to be in the Dunder Mifflin Scranton Branch commercial. She was told by Michael Scott to not take "no" for an answer, but she fails in her attempt nevertheless.
• A scene in the film Stranger Than Fiction shows Prof. Hilbert, reading Sue Grafton's novel (either "I" Is for Innocent or "J" for Judgement.) Character Karen Eiffel's brainstorming for ways of killing her characters are similar to Grafton's early practice of recording maiming fantasies.

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: The Office (US) Local Ad is an episode of The Office (U.S. version). ... This article is about the USA version of The Office. ... Stranger than Fiction is a 2006 American comedy-drama film. ...

References

• Natalie Hevener Kaufman, Carol McGinnis Kay (1997). "G" Is for Grafton: The World of Kinsey Millhone, Hardcover, Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 0-8050-5446-4. 

Footnotes

Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 39th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 39th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 39th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 39th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 39th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 39th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 39th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 39th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era in the 21st century. ... is the 39th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about movies, actors, television shows, production crew personnel, and video games. ...

External links

• Official website—includes:
  • Kinsey Millhone's PI Report on Sue Grafton
  • Kinsey Millhone's Biography
• Sue Grafton at the Internet Movie Database
• Sue Grafton at the Internet Book Database of Fiction