Sue Grafton is an American writer and the creator of the alphabet detective series starring Kinsey Millhone - female private investigator. Kinsey is cool, but Sue is even cooler because she created Kinsey. I find it akin to God creating Eve - the female embodiment of perfection. Am I comparing Sue to God? It does sound a bit like it, doesn't it? Is that a sin? Perhaps, if you believe in such a thing. But, back to the task at hand: inducting Sue Grafton into the Bytch Shrine. Sue is the daughter of C.W. Grafton - a lawyer and mystery writer. She has a BA in English Literature from the University of Louisville. Following her father's advice, Sue decided not to pursue a law degree and began her writing career. Sue did not begin by writing mysteries; her first novel, "Keziah Dane", was published when she was just 27 years old. Her second novel, "The Lolly-Madonna War" (right on that it contains the name, Madonna!), sold two years later. Afterwards, Sue would spend the next ten years working as a screenwriter for film and television. As an escape from the glamour and glitz of Hollywood, and as a way to vent (embroiled in a bitter divorce and a 6-year long custody battle) Sue began work on "A is for Alibi" (a first edition now goes for a minimum of $1500 dollars). In "A is for Alibi", Kinsey is hired by Nikki Fife - the wife of the late, Laurence Fife, a prominent divorce attorney. Nikki spent eight years behind bars for a crime she didn't commit and although Laurence was an adulterer, Nikki wants to know who really killed him (naiveté dies hard). The best part of this truly awe-inspiring novel is saved to the very cuticle-biting end, when despite an "early warning system clanging away like crazy" Kinsey must admit to herself for her own safety, if nothing else that her new lover, Charlie Scorsoni is guilty of murder and will not think twice about killing her. In the final moments, Charlie is hunting Kinsey down like a dog, forcing her to hide in an unthinkable yet ingenious place - a garbage can. Unfortunately, Charlie sniffs her out like any experienced killer would. As he lifts the lid off the garbage can, wielding a butcher knife, Kinsey does what any tough cookie would do: She blew him away. And not in the dirty way, either!

And that dear readers is what Sue does to me every time she writes a new Kinsey novel. She blows me away.

Thank you, Ms. Grafton!

http://www.suegrafton.com/