"G" Is for Grafton: The World of Kinsey Millhone

G is for Grafton might more correctly be titled, K is for Kinsey. It is a wonderful read that reminds one of a conversation with a long, lost friend. I loved revisiting her cases and recalling how much I enjoyed reading each of them. I will continue to refer to the charting of her cases as I read O,P,Q...

Kaufman and Kay are to be congratulated on their careful treatment of Kinsey and Grafton's body of work.


G is for Great   February 20, 1998
1 out of 2 found this review helpful

I am fortunate enough to know both of these talented women, and can say with no reservation that G is for Grafton is well written and thouroughly researched. Any fan of Sue Grafton's alter ego will be amazed at how many details about Kinsey's life are here, at a glance.


Absolutely fascinating exploration of Kinsey and Grafton.   November 24, 1997
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

This excellent book provides keen literary analysis of a popular detective mystery series, something most elite literary snobs would never condescend to do. But Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone mysteries shine far above and beyond the rest of the pack, and this book explains why.

Fully the first three-fourths of the book provides a detailed biography of Kinsey, her background, her personality traits, her setting, her work, and her values. Only the last few chapters are actually about Grafton, but we readers sense that we have already gotten to know Grafton's sensibilities through encountering her alter ego. The authors do a remarkable job of suggesting why Grafton's novels have become so popular, noting that she has elevated the genre from mere "whodunit" to providing coherent psychological depictions of why someone might have committed a crime.

The book is filled with quotes from the novels, all of which are carefully referenced. One imagines that the coauthors might have made their notes from the books on little index cards and rearranged them to make sense, just as Kinsey would have.

Most fascinating were the chapters where the authors assess Grafton's writing style and overall themes, arguing that the series is wrapped around the general theme of "the harm families do." They isolate specific examples illustrating Grafton's stellar literary excellence, demonstrating that she transcends the confines of the genre and should be acknowledged as one of the great contemporary authors, not only of mysteries, but of any fiction.

I rarely buy a book at full price (even at Amazon.com's discounts :-) but this one was well worth it. It is an indispensable companion to the series. Kaufman and Kay have done Grafton's fans a remarkable service. We can only hope they will write a sequel once Grafton completes "N" through "Z."