Book info

• Title A is for Alibi
• Author Sue Grafton
• Year 1982
• Genre Mystery

My name is Kinsey Millhone. I’m a private investigator, licensed by the state of California. I’m thirty-two years old, twice divorced, no kids. The day before yesterday I killed someone and the fact weighs heavily on my mind... When Laurence Fife was murdered, few cared. A slick divorce attorney with a reputation for ruthlessness, Fife was also rumoured to be a slippery ladies’ man. Plenty of people in the picturesque Southern California town of Santa Teresa had reason to want him dead. Including, thought the cops, his young and beautiful wife, Nikki. With motive, access and opportunity, Nikki was their number one suspect. The Jury thought so too. Eight years later and out on parole, Nikki Fife hires PI Kinsey Millhone to find out who really killed her husband. But the trail has gone cold and there is a chilling twist even Kinsey didn’t expect...

Thoughts

I’ve read a couple of the Kinsey Millhone books before, but figured there’s no harm in starting the collection again now that they’ve almost finished the end of the alphabet! I remember enjoying it and my second read through highlighted just why.

It’s a straight forward private investigator story, digging into the details of an old case, so it’s a lot of fun to trawl through the evidence with Kinsey and try and make educated guesses as the truth draws ever closer.

But what I really enjoy is Kinsey herself - isolated, snippy, tense, quiet, regimented, and very direct. The writing is short, sharp and to the point, quite detailed in places, but thorough and makes it as though you are reading a report of what actually happened rather than a fictional event.

Rating: 4 / 5