A is for Alibi

A Kinsey Millhone Mystery

By: Sue Grafton

Narrated by: Mary Peiffer

Length: 7 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

When Laurence Fife was murdered, few mourned his passing. Plenty of people had reason to want him dead. But the police thought his wife Nikki , with motive, access and opportunity, was the #1 suspect. The jury thought so too.

Eight years later and out on parole, Nikki hires Kinsey Millhone, a gutsy P.I., to find the real killer. The trail is cold, but Kinsey finds a lead that brings her face-to-face with the murderer!

This is the first in the popular series featuring California investigator Kinsey Millhone. She's 32, twice divorced, no kids, an ex-cop who likes her work...and who works strictly alone!

Don't miss the other titles in the Kinsey Millhone Alphabet Mystery Series.

©1982 Sue Grafton (P)1993 Books on Tape

Critic reviews

"Grafton has created a woman we feel we know, a tough cookie with a soft center, a gregarious loner....Smart, well-paced and very funny." (Newsweek)

Prefer Judy Kaye as reader.

Any additional comments?

Listened to abridged read by Judy Kaye and it was much better than this version.

I think it was the moderators voice that got on my nerves, because it was kind of Monotone

I think the storyline was good, but the moderators voice bored me-but I stayed with it

Comparing narrators

Sue Grafton's hero, Kinsey Millhone, is wonderfully presented, as are all her characters. There is a pervading sense of fun mingled with human compassion throughout. Kinsey's qualities of irony and self deprecation are dynamically conveyed through delightful similes and asides.


Grafton's titles work through the alphabet, and have now reached U. Unfortunately Audible has only released unabridged versions of 6 of this series. But Grafton is a writer to be savored and enjoyed, not edited.

And talking of enjoying, the reading of Grafton's books illustrates what all Audible members know: that the narration has a strong impact. In the Audible unabridged selection, Grafton's books are narrated by Judy Kaye and Mary Peiffer. For me, Peiffer effortlessly draws out the colour, fun and sense of ease and enjoyment Grafton exudes, while Kaye, although a very professional reader, bypasses these important qualities

Easy Escapist Mystery

No heavy lifting here for a reader. Just an engaging, brief-ish mystery that serves as an able introduction to the then-new PI. The only "problem" listening to this, and many future Grafton mysteries, is that the author introduces many characters and does not provide the "cues" other authors do to help readers keep them straight.

The weakest aspect of this audiobook is the narrator who mispronounces several reasonably common words (e.g., covert). This has an unfortunately jarring effect on the narrative.

read book and audio version is just as good

loved the book Sue Grafton is great and the story is excellent. glowing recommendation for it

Kinsey "Caught" Me

Sometimes the good old cozy mysteries, just hit the spot. Really fun to listen to Grafton. I have never read her books and I really enjoyed it. She did a great job with all the little twist and turns. I will say that the ending was a little abrupt but still satisfied. I will definitely move on to other letters of the alphabet. Mary Peiffer was pleasant to listen to.

Love the book

It’s not your typical cozy mystery. I loved this book. I love Kinsey Mary is an excellent reader for this series. This had a lot of twist and turns to the book.

So Excited For The TV Series!!

Listening to all my Sue Grafton books again in preparation for the series. Hoping we don't have to wait to long for it to be released!

Meh

Pretty good story but the narrator was so robotic I could barely finish the book.

Fun Story, Narration Lacks

Any additional comments?

This was my first Sue Grafton and I enjoyed the main character, Kinsey Millhone. I thought the story was interesting and picked up pace a lot towards the end.

But, I don't think the narrator is suited for this character. Even as someone who is relatively unfamiliar with the series I felt like something was missing. I think I'll read the rest of the titles if this same narrator has done the rest of the series.