The American novelist Sue Grafton Taylor was born on 24 April 1940 in the state of Kentucky on the Ohio River in the city of Louisville, on the border with Indiana, tas he daughter of a lawyer and thriller writer C.W. Grafton.

Sue Grafton did her degree in English Literature at the State University of Louisville. Later she worked in the St. Johns Hospital in Santa Monica in Los Angeles County, from where she moved to the Cottage Hospital in Santa Monica.

During this time she wrote screenplays for television during her night shifts. In 1968, she began writing novels, but these did not achieve the expected breakthrough. She continued writing television screenplays, being granted the Christopher Award for the film Walking Through the Fire in 1979.

She became famous only with the crime novels about twice divorced private investigator Kinsey Millhone, which she wrote in 1982. The titles of these books appear in alphabetical order, and began with A for Alibi. In the German translation, this order was observed only in the subtitle, because it stands Nothing to Lose. A for Alibi.

The writer is very active in promoting the interests of crime writers and in 1994 was president of the Mystery Writers of America.

Sue Grafton has two daughters (Leslie and Jamie) and a son (Jay) from previous marriages and lives with her husband Steven F. Humphrey in Santa Barbara, California, about 130 miles northwest of Los Angeles, just off the Pacific Coast.

She writes a new novel about the detective Kinsey Milhoune almost every year. The author of the novels, which are very popular with the readers, has been published in 26 languages ??and in 28 countries, including Bulgaria, Estonia and Indonesia.

Awards

1982: Anthony Award – Best Novel for C is for Corpse

1986: Shamus Award – Best Novel for B is for Burglar

1987: Anthony Award – Best Novel for B is for Burglar

1987: Anthony Award – Best Short Story for The Parker Shotgun

1991: Maltese Falcon Award for F is for Fugitive

1991: Shamus Award – Best Novel for G is for Gumshoe

1992: Anthony Award – Best Novel for G is for Gumshoe

1995: Shamus Award – Best Novel for K is for Killer

2008: Cartier Diamond Dagger lifetime achievement award of the British Crime Writers Association for her life work

2009: Grand Master Award (together with James Lee Burke)

Books by Sue Grafton about private detective Kinsey Millhone

• "A" Is for Alibi
• "B" Is for Burglar
• "C" Is for Corpse
• "D" Is for Deadbeat
• "E" Is for Evidence
• "F" Is for Fugitive
• "G" Is for Gumshoe
• "H" Is for Homicide
• "I" Is for Innocent
• "J" Is for Judgment
• "K" Is for Killer
• "L" Is for Lawless
• "M" Is for Malice
• "N" Is for Noose
• "O" Is for Outlaw
• "P" Is for Peril
• "Q" Is for Quarry
• "R" Is for Ricochet