World Literary Awards

← Back to Home

Sue Grafton

スー・グラフトン

Sū Gurafuton

Aliases: Sue Taylor Grafton

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1940-04-24 (Louisville, Kentucky)
Died
2017-12-28 (Santa Barbara, California) age 77
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Religion
Presbyterian
Residence History
Louisville, Kentucky → Santa Monica, California → Santa Barbara, California → Louisville, Kentucky (later)

Career

Occupations
Novelist, Screenwriter
Active Years
1964-2017
Memberships
Pi Beta Phi, Mystery Writers of America
Influenced By
C. W. Grafton, Ross Macdonald
Influenced
Marcia Muller, Sarah Paretsky

Education

University of Louisville
Faculty of Arts / English Department
Degree: B.A. in English Literature
Period: 1958-1961
Year of Graduation: 1961
Country: United States
Minors in humanities and fine arts. Member of Pi Beta Phi
Western Kentucky University
Teachers College
Period: 1959-1960
Country: United States
Attended sophomore and junior years, transferred

Awards

Shamus Award
1986
Work: B is for Burglar
Category: P.I. Hardcover Novel
Organization: Private Eye Writers of America
Result: Won
Anthony Award
1986
Work: B is for Burglar
Category: Novel
Organization: Bouchercon
Result: Won
Macavity Award
1987
Work: The Parker Shotgun
Category: Mystery Short Story
Organization: Mystery Readers International
Result: Won
Anthony Award
1987
Work: The Parker Shotgun
Category: Short Story
Organization: Bouchercon
Result: Won
Anthony Award
1987
Work: C is for Corpse
Category: Novel
Organization: Bouchercon
Result: Won
Macavity Award
1989
Work: E Is for Evidence
Category: Mystery Novel
Organization: Mystery Readers International
Result: Nominated
Anthony Award
1989
Work: E Is for Evidence
Category: Novel
Organization: Bouchercon
Result: Nominated
Maltese Falcon Society Falcon Award
1991
Work: F Is for Fugitive
Organization: Maltese Falcon Society
Result: Won
Shamus Award
1991
Work: G Is for Gumshoe
Category: P.I. Hardcover Novel
Organization: Private Eye Writers of America
Result: Won
Anthony Award
1991
Work: G Is for Gumshoe
Category: Novel
Organization: Bouchercon
Result: Won
Edgar Award
1991
Work: A Poison That Leaves No Trace
Category: Short Story
Organization: Mystery Writers of America
Result: Nominated
Shamus Award
1995
Work: K Is for Killer
Category: P.I. Hardcover Novel
Organization: Private Eye Writers of America
Result: Won
Anthony Award
1995
Work: K Is for Killer
Category: Novel
Organization: Bouchercon
Result: Nominated
Audie Award
1997
Work: M Is for Malice
Category: Mystery
Organization: Audio Publishers Association
Result: Nominated
Audie Award
2000
Work: O Is for Outlaw
Category: Mystery
Organization: Audio Publishers Association
Result: Nominated
Agatha Award
2002
Work: Writing Mysteries
Category: Non-Fiction
Organization: Malice Domestic
Result: Nominated
Audie Award
2003
Work: Q Is for Quarry
Category: Mystery
Organization: Audio Publishers Association
Result: Nominated
Lefty Award
2012
Work: W Is for Wasted
Category: The Squid
Organization: Left Coast Crime
Result: Nominated
Goodreads Choice Award
2013
Work: W Is for Wasted
Category: Mystery & Thriller
Result: Nominated
Killer Nashville Award
2014
Work: W Is for Wasted
Category: Silver Falchion Award
Result: Won
Lefty Award
2012
Work: V Is for Vengeance
Category: Golden Nugget Award
Organization: Left Coast Crime
Result: Nominated
Shamus Award
2014
Work: Kinsey Millhone
Category: P.I. Series Character
Organization: Private Eye Writers of America
Result: Won
Anthony Award
2018
Work: Y Is for Yesterday
Category: Bill Crider Award for Novel in a Series
Organization: Bouchercon
Result: Won
YWCA of Lexington Smith-Breckinridge
2000
Category: Distinguished Woman of Achievement Award
Result: Won
Shamus Award
2003
Category: Lifetime Achievement Award
Organization: Private Eye Writers of America
Result: Won
Ross Macdonald Literary Award
2004
Result: Won
CWA Diamond Dagger
2008
Organization: Crime Writers' Association
Result: Won
Edgar Award
2009
Category: Grand Master Award
Organization: Mystery Writers of America
Result: Won
Agatha Award
2011
Category: Malice Domestic Award for Lifetime Achievement
Organization: Malice Domestic
Result: Won
Bouchercon Award
2013
Category: Lifetime Achievement Award
Organization: Bouchercon
Result: Won

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

"A" Is for Alibi

1982 Detective novel

Kinsey Millhone investigates a woman who killed her lawyer in the first of the alphabet series.

MurderInvestigationRevenge

"B" Is for Burglar

1985 Detective novel

Kinsey searches for a missing sister. Adapted to TV movie in Japan.

DisappearanceFamily
Adaptations
  • [TV movie]

Keziah Dane

1967 Novel

Her first published novel.

Drama

The Lolly-Madonna War

1969 Novel

Depicts family feud. Filmed as Lolly-Madonna XXX.

Family conflictViolence
Adaptations
  • [Film] Lolly-Madonna XXX / Richard C. Sarafian (1973)

"Y" Is for Yesterday

2017 Detective novel

Final alphabet novel, set in 1989.

PastCrime

Bibliography

  • Keziah Dane
  • The Lolly-Madonna War
  • "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
  • "S" Is for Silence
  • "T" Is for Trespass
  • "U" Is for Undertow
  • "V" Is for Vengeance
  • "W" Is for Wasted
  • "X"
  • "Y" Is for Yesterday

Adaptations

  • Lolly-Madonna XXX (1973 film)

Translations of Works

  • Published in 28 countries and 26 languages

Style & Themes

Literary Style
HardboiledFirst-person narrativeLaconic, breezy, wise-cracking
Recurring Motifs
Dysfunctional familiesAlcoholismPrivate investigator's life

Health

  • Appendiceal cancer
    2015-2017
    Two-year battle leading to death

Legacy

Creator of Kinsey Millhone alphabet series, pioneer of female hardboiled detective fiction. Longtime NYT bestseller. Memorial award established posthumously.

In Popular Culture

  • "G" Is for Gumshoe read in The Sopranos "Mayham"
  • Parodied in The Office "Local Ad"
  • "I" Is for Innocent in Stranger than Fiction
  • Fictional book in Great News

Trivia

  • Father C.W. Grafton was also a detective novelist
  • Alphabet series planned to end at Z but stopped at Y due to death
  • Refused to sell film/TV rights
  • Parents were alcoholics during her childhood