Alex Delaware
mystery
Series · hardboiled mystery
Kinsey Millhone
The Kinsey Millhone series by Sue Grafton has 25 books and is best read in publication order, starting with A Is for Alibi (1982).
- Books
- 25 books
- First published
- 1982
- Status
- completed
- Last checked
Start here: A Is for Alibi (1982) — then read straight through in publication order.
Reading order
The order the books were released — the default way to read the series.
- Book 1:
A Is for Alibi
Alternative text for cover: Cover of A Is for Alibi - Book 2:
B Is for Burglar
Alternative text for cover: Cover of B Is for Burglar - Book 3:
C Is for Corpse
Alternative text for cover: Cover of C Is for Corpse - Book 4:
D Is for Deadbeat
Alternative text for cover: Cover of D Is for Deadbeat - Book 5:
E Is for Evidence
Alternative text for cover: Cover of E Is for Evidence - Book 6:
F Is for Fugitive
Alternative text for cover: Cover of F Is for Fugitive - Book 7:
G Is for Gumshoe
Alternative text for cover: Cover of G Is for Gumshoe - Book 8:
H Is for Homicide
Alternative text for cover: Cover of H Is for Homicide - Book 9:
I Is for Innocent
Alternative text for cover: Cover of I Is for Innocent - Book 10:
J Is for Judgment
Alternative text for cover: Cover of J Is for Judgment - Book 11:
K Is for Killer
Alternative text for cover: Cover of K Is for Killer - Book 12:
L Is for Lawless
Alternative text for cover: Cover of L Is for Lawless - Book 13:
M Is for Malice
Alternative text for cover: Cover of M Is for Malice - Book 14:
N Is for Noose
Alternative text for cover: Cover of N Is for Noose - Book 15:
O Is for Outlaw
Alternative text for cover: Cover of O Is for Outlaw - Book 16:
P Is for Peril
Alternative text for cover: Cover of P Is for Peril - Book 17:
Q Is for Quarry
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Q Is for Quarry - Book 18:
R Is for Ricochet
Alternative text for cover: Cover of R Is for Ricochet - Book 19:
S Is for Silence
Alternative text for cover: Cover of S Is for Silence - Book 20:
T Is for Trespass
Alternative text for cover: Cover of T Is for Trespass - Book 21:
U Is for Undertow
Alternative text for cover: Cover of U Is for Undertow - Book 22:
V Is for Vengeance
Alternative text for cover: Cover of V Is for Vengeance - Book 23:
W Is for Wasted
Alternative text for cover: Cover of W Is for Wasted - Book 24:
X
Alternative text for cover: Cover of X - Book 25:
Y Is for Yesterday
Alternative text for cover: Cover of Y Is for Yesterday
About the Kinsey Millhone series
Kinsey Millhone is a twice-divorced, fiercely independent private investigator working out of the fictional Santa Teresa, California — a thinly veiled Santa Barbara — who solves cases the old-fashioned way: legwork, index cards, a battered Volkswagen, and a willingness to get punched. Sue Grafton built the series around a gimmick that became a genuine feat of sustained craft: 25 novels, each titled for a letter of the alphabet, A Is for Alibi through Y Is for Yesterday, published across 35 years without the premise ever feeling gimmicky. Kinsey narrates in sharp, wry first person and barely ages across the whole run — Grafton kept the books set in the 1980s throughout, letting Kinsey stay roughly the same age while the real world moved on around the writing.
The appeal is classic hardboiled detective fiction with a woman at the center of it, written with real technical rigor about how PI work actually functions — paperwork, dead ends, and process alongside the danger. Kinsey is famously guarded, prickly, and uninterested in romance as a plot engine, which set her apart from many contemporaries and made her one of the genre's most influential female detectives. It's the series for readers who want procedural authenticity, dry humor, and a detective who solves her own problems without needing to be softened for likability.
Frequently asked questions
How many Kinsey Millhone books are there?
25 novels, running the alphabet from A Is for Alibi (1982) to Y Is for Yesterday (2017).
Why isn't there a Z Is for Zero?
Sue Grafton died in December 2017, shortly after Y Is for Yesterday was published, without having started writing the final book. Her family confirmed no one would complete it, so the alphabet series ends at Y.
What order should I read the Kinsey Millhone books in?
Alphabetical order from A to Y, which is also publication order. That's the order the series was designed to be read in, start to finish.
Is the Kinsey Millhone series finished?
Yes. It ended permanently with Sue Grafton's death in 2017; her family has stated the planned final book, Z Is for Zero, will never be written by anyone else.
Does Kinsey Millhone age across the series?
Barely. Grafton kept the entire 25-book series set in the 1980s regardless of when each book was actually published, so Kinsey ages only a few years across the whole run.
If you like the Kinsey Millhone series
Reading order last verified .