Kinsey Millhone Books in Order

Sue Grafton's long-running detective series follows Kinsey Millhone, a sharp-witted private investigator working out of fictional Santa Teresa, California. Each installment is titled after a letter of the alphabet, running from A to Y before the author's death left the series unfinished.

Publication order

In the order the books were originally released.

  1. Cover of "A" is for Alibi

    "A" is for Alibi

    2008 · Sue Grafton

    A Is for Alibi (1982) is a novel by Sue Grafton, the first in the Kinsey Millhone series. Kinsey Millhone, a tough-talking former cop and…

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  2. Cover of B is for Burglar (Kinsey Millhone, #2)

    B is for Burglar (Kinsey Millhone, #2)

    1986 · Sue Grafton

    Beverly Danziger approached Kinsey Millhone with a problem that seemed simple, but her nervous energy suggested otherwise. Millhone took the case,…

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  3. Cover of C is for Corpse (Kinsey Millhone, #3)

    C is for Corpse (Kinsey Millhone, #3)

    1986 · Sue Grafton

    A young man named Bobby Callahan, badly injured and amnesiac after a car crash he believes was attempted murder, hires Kinsey to find out who wanted…

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  4. Cover of D is for Deadbeat (Sue Grafton)

    D is for Deadbeat (Sue Grafton)

    1987 · Sue Grafton

    A scruffy ex-con called John Daggett hires Kinsey to deliver a check, then turns up dead in the harbor, ruled a drunken drowning. Kinsey suspects…

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  5. Cover of E is for Evidence (Sue Grafton)

    E is for Evidence (Sue Grafton)

    1988 · Sue Grafton

    Kinsey investigates a suspected arson claim at a California manufacturing plant, only to find herself framed as the one who took a bribe to falsify…

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  6. Cover of F is for Fugitive (Sue Grafton)

    F is for Fugitive (Sue Grafton)

    1989 · Sue Grafton

    Kinsey travels to the small coastal town of Floral Beach to help Bailey Fowler, who fled after being accused of a teenage girl's murder seventeen…

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  7. Cover of G is for Gumshoe (Sue Grafton)

    G is for Gumshoe (Sue Grafton)

    1990 · Sue Grafton

    Hired to check on an elderly woman living alone in the Mojave Desert, Kinsey simultaneously learns that a dangerous man she once helped imprison has…

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  8. Cover of H is for Homicide

    H is for Homicide

    1992 · Sue Grafton

    Kinsey Millhone, the protagonist, had hoped for some solitude but found her plans disrupted by two events. She became involved in a murder case, and…

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  9. Cover of I is for Innocent (Sue Grafton)

    I is for Innocent (Sue Grafton)

    1992 · Sue Grafton

    Kinsey is hired by attorney Lonnie Kingman to finish the work of a recently deceased investigator on a wrongful-death civil suit. The defendant was…

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  10. Cover of J Is for Judgment

    J Is for Judgment

    1993 · Sue Grafton

    An insurance company asks Kinsey to look into Wendell Jaffe, a man presumed dead by suicide five years ago whose widow collected on his policy—until…

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  11. Cover of K Is for Killer

    K Is for Killer

    1995 · Sue Grafton

    Lorna Kepler was a beautiful and independent woman who often sought danger. Her death raised many questions, as the police could not determine if it…

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  12. Cover of L is for Lawless (Sue Grafton)

    L is for Lawless (Sue Grafton)

    1995 · Sue Grafton

    A neighbor's request to help with a denied military burial benefit leads Kinsey into the tangled legacy of a dead man with a hidden past. The trail…

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  13. Cover of "M" is for Malice

    "M" is for Malice

    1996 · Sue Grafton

    The wealthy Malek family hires Kinsey to find Guy, the long-estranged black-sheep brother who vanished eighteen years ago, now due a share of a large…

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  14. Cover of "N" Is for Noose

    "N" Is for Noose

    1999 · Sue Grafton

    In this novel by Sue Grafton, investigator Kinsey Millhone takes on the job of finding the truth about the suspicious death of the sheriff in Nota…

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  15. Cover of "O" Is for Outlaw (Sue Grafton)

    "O" Is for Outlaw (Sue Grafton)

    1999 · Sue Grafton

    A tip about a long-lost box of belongings forces Kinsey to confront her own past and her first ex-husband, Mickey Magruder, a disgraced cop she…

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  16. Cover of "P" is for Peril

    "P" is for Peril

    2001 · Sue Grafton

    Kinsey is hired by an ex-wife to look into the disappearance of Dr. Dowan Purcell, a nursing-home administrator who vanished without a trace amid a…

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  17. Cover of Q Is for Quarry

    Q Is for Quarry

    2002 · Sue Grafton

    Working a genuine cold case, Kinsey teams with two ailing retired detectives to identify a young woman whose stabbed body was found unclaimed beside…

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  18. Cover of R is for Ricochet (Sue Grafton)

    R is for Ricochet (Sue Grafton)

    2004 · Sue Grafton

    Kinsey takes a simple-sounding job escorting Reba Lafferty home from prison and keeping her on the straight path for her wealthy father. But Reba is…

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  19. Cover of S Is for Silence

    S Is for Silence

    2005 · Sue Grafton

    A documentary filmmaker named Daisy hires Kinsey to discover what became of her mother, Violet Sullivan, who drove off one night in 1953 and was…

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  20. Cover of T is for Trespass

    T is for Trespass

    2007 · Sue Grafton

    A routine background check for an insurance defense case puts Kinsey in contact with Solana Rojas, a caregiver hired for an elderly neighbor. Sensing…

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  21. Cover of U is for Undertow (Kinsey Millhone, #21)

    U is for Undertow (Kinsey Millhone, #21)

    2009 · Sue Grafton

    A young man approaches Kinsey claiming that as a boy he witnessed two men burying something on a property—possibly tied to a notorious decades-old…

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  22. Cover of W is for Wasted (Kinsey Millhone, #23)

    W is for Wasted (Kinsey Millhone, #23)

    2013 · Sue Grafton

    The 23rd novel in Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone "Alphabet" series, published 2013. Two deaths change Kinsey's life: a local PI gunned down near the…

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  23. Cover of Y is for yesterday

    Y is for yesterday

    2017 · Sue Grafton

    In 1989, Kinsey looks into a blackmail threat against a young man recently released from custody for a crime committed years earlier as a teenager,…

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Frequently asked questions

What order should I read the Kinsey Millhone books in?

Publication order — Author Sue Grafton and publisher (Putnam/Holt) numbered the novels A through Y; readers and bookseller guides universally recommend reading in this sequential alphabetical/publication order. Start with “"A" is for Alibi.”

How many books are in the Kinsey Millhone series?

We list 23 books by Sue Grafton , published between 1986–2017.

Where can I buy the Kinsey Millhone books?

Each title above links to Amazon. See our affiliate disclosure.

Reading order compiled from author/publisher guidance and verified bibliographic data. Spotted an error? We continuously correct the catalog.