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

By Natalie Hevener Kaufman
and Carol McGinnis Kay

Read the Table of Contents
Read the Preface

With the full cooperation of Sue Grafton, who provided unprecedented access to her working journals, "G" Is for Grafton is a must for those many fans who regularly write, e-mail, and Internet each other with such nagging queries as: "Just how old is Kinsey?" and such knotty conundrums as: "Why did Kinsey change guns -- and when?" Along the way, readers will discover where Kinsey went to school, what she considers her finest moments, and how she trained for her job. Perhaps just as interesting are the insights the book offers into Grafton's own work habits (including how she's dealt with runaway plot lines and unruly characters) and her views on everything from justice and the moral order to the relationship of her own life to Kinsey's. Written with wit and vitality, this is a fan's delight. But it is also a tribute to the contribution Grafton has made to the detective novel and to mainstream American fiction. 

Natalie Hevener Kaufman and Carol McGinnis Kay are on the faculty of the University of South Carolina at Columbia. Kaufman is a legal scholar and Kay specializes in Shakespeare, and both have run panels on women and detective fiction for the Popular Culture Association. 

Table of Contents 

Preface 3 

1: Kinsey's Biography 9

Early Childhood - Education - Career - Marriages - Lovers - Defense of Her History - Timeline for Kinsey Millhone

2: Kinsey's Personality 56

Independence - Sense of Humor - Anger - Compassion - Organization - Phobias - Kinsey Laughs At...

3: Kinsey's Daily Life 80

"In my own skin again": Kinsey's Appearance
"Pulling Up the Drawbridge": Kinsey's Lifestyle
Apartments (includes floor plans) - Car and Driver - Food - Exercise - Recreation - Kinsey Laughs At...

4: Kinsey's Personal Relationships 127

Major Friends appearing Throughout the Series
---Henry Pitts (and His Siblings) - Rosie

Significant Friends Appearing in Several Novels
---Lt. Con Dolan - Lonnie Kingman - Vera Lipton - Darcy Pascoe - Ida Ruth - Mac Voorhies

Significant Friends Appearing in a Single Novel
Bobby Callahan - Bibianna Diaz  - Guy Malek - Cheney Phillips - Danielle Rivers

Lovers and Ex-husbands
Charlie Scorsoni - Jonah Robb - Daniel Wade - Robert Dietz - Mickey Magruder
Kinsey Laughs At...

5: The Scene of the Action 201

"White adobe and red tile roofs": Santa Teresa and Environs (includes map of fictional Santa Teresa)
Landmarks
"Stuck a toothbrush and toothpaste in my purse and called it packing": Outside Santa Teresa
Southern California - Outside Southern California (includes map of U.S.A. and Mexico)
Kinsey Laughs At...

6: Kinsey at Work 242

"Too rebellious, I guess": Training and Job History
Formal Training: Police Academy - Formal Training: Santa Teresa Police Department: Training and Use of Weapons - Life on the Police Force - After the Police Department: Training with the Byrd-Shine Detective agency - Self -employed as a Private Investigator - Unconventional Training
"I want quick results": How She Operates as a Private Investigator
Methods of Investigation - Step One: Information Gathering - Step Two: Recording the Information - Step Three: Understanding What She Has Observed - Step Four: Solving the Murder - Step Five: Confrontation with the Murderer
"Can I ask about the autopsy?": Kinsey's Relationship with the Police
Kinsey's Case Log
Kinsey Laughs At...

7: Social and Political Issues 294

Class - Family - Domestic Violence - Child Abuse Outside the Family - Inadequacies in the Judicial System - Politics - Vietnam War - Health Care - Corporate America - Sex Roles - Prostitution - Ageism - Sexual Orientation
Kinsey Laughs At...

8: Is Justice Possible? 336

"I'm still a good person, aren't I?": Kinsey's Personal Moral Code
Need for Answers and Order - Desire for Justice (includes chart of the fates of murderers) - Distaste for Hypocrisy - Horror at Killing - Importance of Honesty - Willingness to Lie - Acceptance of the Duality of Human Nature
"Opening the door so all the ghosts could move on": Kinsey Considers Death
Kinsey Laughs At...

9: Grafton on Kinsey 368

10: Grafton's Writing Style 385

Tone and Descriptions - Figures of Speech - Images from Nature - Domestic Images - Problems with Writing a Series - Description of Action - Contradictory World - Themes - Plot Structure

11: Grafton's Place in the Development of the Detective Novel 417

Sue Grafton's Awards 445

Works by Sue Grafton 447

Bibliography 451

Index 455 

Copyright ©1997 Natalie Hevener Kaufman and Carol McGinnis Kay