Sue Grafton was born on April 24, 1940 in Louisville, Kentucky where she and her sister were also raised. Her parents were Attorney C.W. Grafton and Vivian Harnsberger Grafton. Her father also wrote in his spare time had four mysteries published.

After graduating with a BA in English Literature from the University of Louisville in 1961, Sue worked in Santa Monica and Santa Barbara, California, as cashier, medical secretary and hospital admissions clerk.

Although Sue started writing when she was 18 years old, she wasn’t published until 1967. She started writing screenplays, television movies, television pilots and episodes.

Sue was in the middle of a divorce in the 1980’s when she started writing her Kinsey Millhone books. She joking says, "Your homicidal urges can be turned to good in this world. Don’t let that ex-husband get you down! Just start a new job." Sue and Steve divide their time between Santa Barbara California and Louisville, Kentucky.

Sue is married to Steven F. Humphrey and has three children from previous marriages.

Sue says that when she first did her book signings, most of the people in line were women, but now there are at least as many men if not more. She is not a gender neutral writer.

Sue was writing one book a year but decided that was too much, so now she publishes a book about every eighteen months. She says that when she dies, she will leave all of her papers to Boston University. She absolutely refuses to let Hollywood get hold of Kinsey Millhone.

Books by Sue Grafton:

Kinsey Millhone Series:

"A" is for Alibi (The Kinsey Millhone Alphabet Mysteries)(1982)

B is for Burglar (1985)

C is for Corpse (1986)

D is for Deadbeat (1987)

E is for Evidence (1988)

F is for Fugitive (1989)

G is for Gumshoe (1990)

H is for Homicide (1991)

I is for Innocent (1992)

J is for Judgment (1993)

K is for Killer (1994)

L is for Lawless (1995)

M is for Malice (1996)

N is for Noose (1998)

O is for Outlaw (1999)

P is for Peril (2000)

Q is for Quarry (2002)

R is for Ricochet (2004)

S is for Silence (2005)

T is for Trespass (2007)

U is for Undertow (Kinsey Millhone Mysteries)(2009)

Kinsey Millhone Omnibus:

Three Complete Novels 1: A, B and C (1990)

The Omnibus: "D is for Deadbeat", "E is for Evidence", "F is for Fugitive"(2001)

Three Complete Novels 3: G, H and I (2002)

Three Complete Novels 4: J, K and L (2007)

Three Complete Novels 5: M, N and O (2008)

Novels:

Keziah Dane (1967)

The Lolly-Madonna War (1998)

Anthologies Edited:

The Best American Mystery Stories: 1998 (1998) with Otto Penzler

Nonfiction: