“A” is for Alibi or Murder one letter at a time

“A” is for Alibi is the first in the long running Kinsey Milhone mystery series which will have it’s 21st entry this winter with “U” is for Undertow. Sue Grafton began the series back in 1982 and it’s introduction completely changed the perception of a female protagonist in the mystery genre. Before Kinsey there had been lots of  female crime solvers but they were quaint grannies, or flighty aristocrats or women who needed rescuing; Kinsey broke that mould.  She was introduced as a hard boiled, gun toting private investigator willing to do anything to solve her cases.  The first case in the series focuses on the plight of Nikki Fife recently freed after serving eight years for the murder of her husband Laurence, a ruthless divorce attorney. Nikki is still claiming her innocence and hires Kinsey to solve the murder, unfortunately, someone wants the case to stay dead; even it means adding Nikki and Kinsey to their victims list.

As time wore on and the novels continued the reader learned more about Kinsey and the characters in her world,this brought  other sides of Milhone’s character  into focus but she has always remained a modern independent women willing to hold her own in a man’s world.