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Dec 12, 2007

Jen rated it:

Kinsey Millhone is a single female working as a private investigator in Santa Theresa, California. She is hired by Nikki Fife, the convicted murdered of Lawrence Fife (her husband), to find out who really killed him. Her investigation leads her into a series of other murders that seem to be connected.

I don't know if I can even justify one star on this book. I was at no point able to "connect" with Kinsey. I love a strong female character, but she does not fit that bill. More...

3 comments like (14 people liked it)

Sep 19, 2009

Matthew rated it:

I read this book as part of an interdisciplinary course in law school entitled "Law in Literature." While the book was acceptable/average in terms of its overall plot, development, and color, my enjoyment of the novel came from the fact that until the last half of the book (when the protagonist - a female detective - sleeps with a man she is investigating) I hadn't realized that the main character was a woman. I thought of myself as suitably progressive when the novel described the m More...

3 comments like (10 people liked it)

Jan 05, 2008

Gail rated it:

Listened to this on book tape downloaded from the library because I wasn't feeling good and had to stay in bed. Not a very believable murder mystery that I will probably forget all about listening to, but it was entertaining while I was sick.

"Eight years after her release from prison, Nikki Fife hired California Private Investigator, Kinsey Millhone, to find out who killed her husband and framed her for the crime. As Kinsey investigates, she finds out that almost everyone wante More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Apr 29, 2008

Wayne rated it:

A good book, not great. I found the little details she added to the story, like getting a cheesburger at McDonalds, annoying and pointless. There was little action, little character development. But then, this was a very early book. Given Grafton's popularity now she has either improved in her story telling or the general reading public is more easily entertained than I thought.
Some day I will have to try out one of her more recent novels.

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Jan 09, 2011

Khaya rated it:

I think I've read a few too many books like this, something which is perhaps unfair to hold against this book. But I have to say that as I approached the final climactic scene, I was reminded of my husband and sister-in-law as they reminisced about watching old reruns of "The Lone Ranger" when they were kids. Every time the Lone Ranger said, "Tonto, go to town," it was an obvious cue that the plot was advancing because, every time Tonto went to town, he got into trouble. A More...

9 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 18, 2011

Kayla rated it:

A IS FOR ALIBI by Sue Grafton

My Thoughts:
I am very glad that my first mystery novel was A FOR ALIBI, because it was an awesome read. I love Sue Grafton's writing style, it flows nicely and makes it an easy novel to get zoned into. The mystery itself was amazing; being an addict of crime dramas and true crime TV shows (when I watch TV that is) I thought there was no way I'd get good suspense from a novel. I was wrong. I had myself guessing the killer, and thinking what would hap More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 07, 2007

Kelly rated it:

I won't bother to review the whole A through S (so far) series, and I doubt I could remember my reaction to each individual book in any case. As a whole, though, I love this series. Sure, it's total pulp fiction, but it's enjoyable nonetheless. First, the series is based in Santa Teresa, CA, a very thinly disguised Santa Barbara, which makes it great fun for anyone who's lived in SB. (My *favorite* alteration is that Mission Street become Missile Street!) Second, Kinsey Millhone is your prototy More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jun 05, 2008

Maurean rated it:

I’ve only recently discovered Kinsey Millhone, and while I’m very late to do so, its true what they say - better late, than never. This is a series that I will continue to follow.

For anyone else who is unfamiliar with Sue Grafton’s alphabet series, these soft-boiled mysteries follow Kinsey Millhone, a 30-something, no-nonsense, one-time cop turned PI as she navigates herself through one case after another.

In the first installment, “A is for Alibi”, we get a feel for Kin More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 20, 2008

Tabby rated it:

'A' is for Alibi," by Sue Grafton, is narrated in the first-person by California private investigator Kinsey Millhone--a twice-divorced, childless 32-year old woman who lives in a one-room "bachelorette" apartment. Kinsey is hired by Nikki Fife, a woman who had been sent to prison after being convicted of murdering her husband. Nikki maintains her innocence and wants Kinsey to find the real killer--eight years after the murder. This assignment leads to deceit and danger for the sl More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 20, 2008

Rebecca rated it:

I started reading Grafton's Kinsey Milhone books about eighteen years ago. These books transcend genre. Grafton also came up with the very clever idea of keeping the same timeframe for the entire series. The books start in the early eighties. It's probably 1987 as of T is for Trespass. I know I need to read more than genre fiction and memoirs, but this series will keep me from my giant backlog of "quality" books for a long, long time.

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jan 12, 2009

Gylan rated it:

I have read Grafton's whole alphabet series. Yes, it's uneven, but totally fun and totally engaging. Kinsey Millhone rocks!

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jul 31, 2008

Cerji rated it:

Sue Grafton writes the alphabetically titled Kinsey Millhone series. I have read them all, and really enjoy Kinsey. She is a private investigator in California with very eclectic friends and very strange food preferences. Kinsey's friendship with her kind elderly landlord is sweet and funny. The plots are creative, character-driven and most have a great ending twist. Grafton's books tend to be a quick read and incorporate many of the same characters again and again. This is another writer More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Dec 02, 2008

Bunnybodel rated it:

This is another case where I've read the whole series so far (T is for Trespass most recently), but I don't want to take the time to review each one. I wouldn't be able to anyway, I like the whole series. They're all mystery books where Kinsey Millhone solves a case of some kind. They aren't too heavy on her personal life, but throught the course of the series I feel like I've really gotten to know and love her. She's the coolest. All independent and full of spunk, how could you resist her?

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 23, 2009

Claire rated it:

I'm a big Sue Grafton fan, possibly because I'm a lot like Kinsey myself (in attitude more than in situation). I've read all of her novels several times... they're my "go-to" books when I want some brain candy without having to put a lot of effort into unraveling plot or character.

At the risk of sounding prim and old-maidish, I really could have done without the sex scenes in this book... in my mind a good murder mystery should be able to stand on its own two feet without More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 09, 2009

Manzoid rated it:

I don't have a deep knowledge of mystery novels, just a few mainstream authors like Dick Francis and Dashiell Hammett, and within that limited experience I hadn't encountered a female lead. So when I finally responded to years of occasional recommendations from my mom and read "A is for Alibi", I was pleasantly surprised by the offbeat thinking of the protagonist, Kinsey Millhone. For instance, in one scene Kinsey is interrogating some punk at a construction site, and while listening More...

0 comments like

Feb 04, 2009

Penny rated it:

This author fascinates me. She has started a series of books that everyone knows will have to reach 26 before she is through. She first copyrighted the "A" book in 1988...cell phones?...PC's?...DNA? She is carrying this series into the 21st century but is frozen by necessity into the 20th. She somehow pulls it off. I keep trying to catch her in a slip (using something or referring to something that did not exist then). She may well have but I did not catch it.
I like her sty More...

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Feb 10, 2012

Carol rated it:

I think that I’m rather late getting on the Sue Grafton bandwagon! “‘A’ is For Alibi” is the very first of the Sue Grafton alphabet series. It introduces Kinsey Millhone, a great, strong female private eye.

For fun, I’ll look at this mystery through the lens of Ronald Knox’s “Ten Commandments” of mystery fiction. Ronald Knox was what was called in the 20's and 30's ‘a man of letters’. He was greatly interested in Sherlock Holmes, and wrote several mysteries himself.

Comm More...

0 comments like

Jan 28, 2012

Felicia rated it:

Bought on Audible

What I Loved: Kinsey is one tough cookie! She is very much someone I would want on my side in an investigation. I like that she is PI and not a cop that gives her a little bit more room to work things out in the Kinsey way. She is whip smart, tough, and yet flawed in the "independent, opinionated, little bit defensive" kind of way. I really liked all her personality quirks. The case itself was pretty good too. I had part of it figured out early but the More...

0 comments like

Dec 28, 2011

Salama rated it:

Kinsey Millhone is a detective in the story. After Nikki Fife was released from prison for eight years she hired Kinsey to find out the truth about her husband’s death. While Kinsey was at the police station searching for the reports of Lieutenant Dolan she found out that there was something they did not mention in Nikki’s trail. That Laurence, Nikki’s husband, has been linked to another crime which was Libby Glass’s death. They both died from the same murder weapon which was oleander capsules. More...

0 comments like

Aug 04, 2011

Mary Ronan rated it:

It’s always risky to re-read something you really enjoyed and thought was first rate when you first read it 25 years before. My sister suggested it would be fun to re-read Sue Grafton’s alphabetical mysteries together and so I got a copy for my Kindle and spent a few hours reacquainting myself with Santa Teresa, CA. It was a good move.

I had not remembered how well Grafton’s books are written and I had forgotten how slowly and carefully she builds Kinsey Millhone’s character and that More...

0 comments like

Mar 16, 2011

Stephanie rated it:

What can you say about Grafton? She's one of my favorites. I adore female mystery writers - Sue, Agatha, MC Beaton. I have, of course, read all of Sue's alphabet mysteries up to "U" (the current one), but I have just listed "A" here because I recommend anyone start here (rather that jump around in the series) and also, it's one of the best ones. That ending just blew me away.

I got into the character of Kinsey from the very first book. And I love the way Graft More...

0 comments like

Feb 28, 2011

Monica rated it:

I have been wanting to read Sue Grafton for awhile but I kept putting it off because my father didn't care for her books. I didn't love the book yet I didn't hate the book either. A is for Alibi was an enjoyable read. I will try her books again.

This story is about a PI, Kinsey Millhone, who is hired by a woman, Nikki Fife, who was found guilty of murdering her husband. Nikki hires Kinsey to prove that she was innocent. As Kinsey starts looking at everyone that knew Nikki's husba More...

0 comments like

Feb 13, 2011

Shannon rated it:

I like mysteries in general. The last time I read this book I was in high school. I wasn't so far removed from the time period then, but now I had to laugh at the absence of technology. I couldn't even remember the story so it was like reading it for the first time.

The rest of my thoughts maybe a little bit spoilerish.....

Kinsey Millhone, female private investigator, is hired by her client in this first book of the series to find the real killer of her husb More...

0 comments like

Oct 17, 2010

shana naomi rated it:

we spent our anniversary weekend in santa barbara and i remembered, in some back corner of my brain, how the first time i ever went to SB i spent a lot of time trying to match it up with sue grafton's "santa teresa," which was supposedly one and the same.

i had a lazy weekend and my new kindle and decided to go back to the beginning of the alphabet - i think i've read up through R or so - to where the series starts. i remember finding this title in a bookstore in reno, mostly More...

4 comments like

Jul 11, 2010

Crystal Starr Light rated it:

A is for Aggravating, Anguish, Awful, Apathetic...take your pick
I had heard the name Sue Grafton bantered around. After my aunt recommended it, I decided to check out her infamous alphabet series.
Kinsey Millhone is a former cop, a twice divorcee, and a private investigator. Nikki Fife, a woman accused, convicted, and imprisoned for murdering her philandering husband, Laurence Fife, has just been released on parole and wants her name cleared. She comes to Kinsey, who takes the case and More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 05, 2010

Becky rated it:

Kinsey Millhone is in many ways a typical P.I. Tough, strong, laconic. Falls seldom, but usually for the wrong person. A former cop, she lives in a tiny apartment with few possessions and quirky neighbors. Aside from the fact of her gender, not a whole lot to set her apart from the genre standard. And, for the first half or two-thirds of "A" is for Alibi, there's not a whole lot to set this story apart from the genre standard.

It starts with a new case. Nikki Fife, a More...

0 comments like

Jan 31, 2010

Laurie rated it:

How great is Kinsey Millhone?!!?? I love her. I love her total lack of style--she cuts her own hair, with fingernail scissors!--and more than anything, I love her house. It's ultra-small, just room enough for a single gal who basically just goes there to sleep, eat a peanut butter and pickle sandwich, shower, check messages or pay bills, and head out again. She has the best landlord/neighbor/friend imaginable, a lovely octogenarian named Henry (well, right there I love him, because Henry is one More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jul 27, 2009

Truly rated it:

Oleander, adalah tumbuhan liar yang bisa ditemui dimana saja di kawasan Teresa, California. Kadang tingginya hampir tiga meter dengan warna bunga pink atau ungu serta daun runcing yang bentuknya sangat indah. Seorang pria mati terbunuh akibat Oleander yang digiling halus dan dimasukan sebagai pengganti kapsul yang diminumnya.

Seseorang yang baru saja dibebaskan dari penjara dengan tuduhan membunuh suaminya mendatangi Kinsey Millhone untuk meminta batuan guna menyelidiki kasusnya More...

0 comments like

Jun 30, 2007

KIM rated it:

I've read every single one of Sue Grafton's mysteries through R. They're quick, fun, not usually too violent or graphically bloody, and exciting enough they keep me wanting to read more. I've never been disappointed. Fiercely independant private investigator Kinsey Millhone almost always gets herself stuck in a few tight spots, and has at least one close call in every book. I'm not going to rate everyone because I would give them all 4 stars. They're really that consistently good!!

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 28, 2011

Michelle♥ rated it:

This was stupid.

First all, I guess I should say that goodreads recommended this book to me, and to be honest, ALL of the goodreads recommendations have been HORRIBLE.

Second, I went into this thinking I would like it because I like the Janet Evanovich Stephanie Plum series - they make me laugh, and are light and quick reads. This series was just DUMB.

Granted, after looking at the printed date of this book, 1982, a lot of things started to make sense. The credit More...

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