Sue Grafton - Mystery Writer

Sue Grafton was born in Louisville, Kentucky in 1940. Her mother was a teacher and her father was a lawyer who also had success as a mystery writer in the 40’s and 50’s. She graduated from the University of Louisville in 1961 with a major in English Literature. For the next few years she worked in the health field while attempting writing. She began writing at eighteen and wrote seven novels of which two made it to publication, one in 1967 and one in 1969. The second was made into a motion picture for which she co-wrote the screenplay. She would continue to write screenplays through the 70’s and 80’s. Grafton was determined to get out of Hollywood and decided on her mystery detective fiction to achieve that. In 1982, her female private detective, Kinsey Milhone, debuted in A is for Alibi. Prior to her first foray with Kinsey, she had decided to write a series of novels going through the alphabet from A to Z.

With her alphabet novel's initial success, she was able to quit Hollywood and devote her time entirely to her detective novels in 1990. Even though she had many successful screenplays, her writing of novels has enhanced the mystery fiction genre and women’s acceptable behavior. Her character of Milhone reflects a good deal of herself. Kinsey is a lone heroine who strives for justice.

Her novels, which now are up to the letter T, are published in 28 countries. She has been the recipient of many awards including 2 Anthony awards and 3 Shamus awards. The Shamus is given by the Mystery Writers of America for best detective fiction. She is married to her third husband and divides her time between Santa Barbara, California and Louisville.