Alphabet Mysteries, by Sue Grafton

Recurring characters: Kinsey Millhone   Henry - Landlord and friend Rosie – Bar owner and friend   Divorced husbands: Mickey Magruder Robert Dietz   Recurring elements: Index cards Functional and adaptive black dress VW Apartment behind Henry’s California Fidelity Insurance

 For discussion:

1.            “In my view, the delight of fiction is its enhancement of the facts and its embellishment of reality.  Aside from that – as my father used to say – ‘I know it’s true because I made it up myself’” (From “To the Reader” prologue of O is for Outlaw.)  Is this a good description of fiction?

2.            Discuss Kinsey’s thinking style – index cards, letting mind wander.    Why was this effective for her? 

3.            All of the novels are set in the 1980’s before all of the electronic devices and advancements we have today.  How did this add or detract from your enjoyment of the novels? 

4.            If you read more than one, did you like the series effect?  For example, Kinsey ages one year for every two and one-half books.

5.            One similarity between Sue Grafton and Kinsey is the absence of parents at a young age.  Kinsey’s parents were killed when she was 5 and she was raised by an aunt.  Sue Grafton’s parents were both alcoholics and she basically raised herself.    How do you think Sue Grafton’s childhood influenced her portrayal of Kinsey?

6.            In the beginning, what wise decisions did the author make when writing the first book that allowed her to continue for 23 books so far?

7.            What do you think will happen when the author reaches ‘Z?’

8.    In Kinsey and Me, Sue Grafton credits S. S. Van Dine with the definitive list of characteristics for a successful detective story (American Magazine, 1928).   Did you find these elements in the novels that you read? 

1. Reader must have equal opportunity to solve mystery.
2. No tricks or deceptions for reader than those shared by detective.
3. No love interest.
4. The detective is never the culprit.
5. Crime must be solved by logical deductions.
6. There must be a detective who detects.
7. There must be a corpse.
8. Crime must be solved by regular thinking – nothing supernatural.
9. Only one detective.
10. Culprit must be fairly prominent in story.
11. Servant cannot be culprit.
12. Only one culprit.
13. No secret societies, etc.
14. No pseudo-science – murder and solution must be rational and scientific.
15. Solution should be apparent after crime solved.
16. No long descriptive passages
17. No professional criminal
18. Crime should never be an accident or suicide
19. Motives for crime should be personal
20. No self-respecting detective novelist would use any of the following: identify culprit by cigarette butt, forged fingerprints, barking dog does not solve crime, crime done by twin, hypodermic needle or knockout drops.