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Originally from Louisville, KY, Sue Grafton is renowned worldwide for her alphabetical series of mysteries starring Kinsey Millhone, a private investigator in Southern California. The series came about when Grafton was going through a painful divorce and kept thinking of ways to kill her ex-husband - after realizing that wouldn't be a very good idea, she decided to write about the methods instead "...and get paid for it."
Born in 1940 to a chemistry teacher and a lawyer/author, Grafton graduated from the University of Louisville in 1961 having majored in English Literature. She published two novels early in her career, 1967's Keziah Dane and The Lolly-Madonna War in 1969, then spent time as a medical secretary, admissions clerk, and cashier at various hospitals and offices in southern California. She later worked as a writer in Hollywood, churning out several screenplays in less than ten years. She married Steven Humphrey in 1978, and together they adapted Agatha Christie novels into plays and co-wrote other theatrical works. In 1982, Grafton saw triumph and tragedy - she published the first of the Kinsey Millhone series, but in the same year lost her father. A longtime attorney who had also written several mysteries, C.W. Grafton had been a profound influence on his daughter. Still, she continued to produce Kinsey stories, and by the early 1990s was able to earn her income solely from writing. Today, Grafton spends time with her three children and two grandchildren (one of whom is named Kinsey), and enjoys her cats, gardens, and food cooked by her personal chef. Readers often wonder how much of Sue is in Kinsey, and the author admits that while both go running to exercise a few mornings per week and they have similar attitudes, she maintains that the character at times has a mind of her own. In 1997, she cooperated with Natalie Kaufman and Carol Kay on their book G is for Grafton, providing them with working journals and extensive notes so they could form a book about the world of Kinsey Millhone, including maps, diagrams, photos, relationships, social issues, and details on Grafton's writing style, awards, and her place in the development of the detective novel.
More information available at Sue Grafton's Web Site.
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