BookBingeKinsey Millhone Books in Order
The short answer
Sue Grafton · 25 books
- How many books?
- There are 25 books in the Kinsey Millhone series, published 1982–2017.
- Is it finished?
- Yes — the series is complete; it ends with Y Is for Yesterday (2017).
- Where to start
- Start with A Is for Alibi (1982).
About 8,700 pages — roughly 140 hours of reading
A tough, independent California private eye works her way through the alphabet, one ingenious case at a time.
Here is the complete Kinsey Millhone reading order — all 25 books by Sue Grafton, in the order you should read them:
Reading order
- A Is for AlibiPrivate investigator Kinsey Millhone takes on a case reinvestigating a woman convicted of poisoning her husband, an attorney, eight years earlier.1982112 pages
- B Is for BurglarKinsey is hired to track down a missing woman for an inheritance settlement and finds the trail leads to Florida, arson, and an unsolved death.1985240 pages
- C Is for CorpseA young man convinced someone tried to kill him hires Kinsey, and when he turns up dead in a car crash she can't accept it was an accident.1986250 pages
- D Is for DeadbeatA simple favor delivering a check for a bar owner pulls Kinsey into a tangled family history involving a fatal drunk-driving accident years earlier.1987261 pages
- E Is for EvidenceAfter a bonus check arrives with no explanation, Kinsey is framed for insurance fraud and must clear her name amid an explosive warehouse fire investigation.1988274 pages
- F Is for FugitiveKinsey travels to a small coastal town to look into an old murder conviction at the request of the convicted man's father, who insists his son is innocent.1989314 pages
- G Is for GumshoeHired to locate an elderly woman for her estranged family, Kinsey discovers she herself has become the target of a hired killer.1990341 pages
- H Is for HomicideAfter witnessing the murder of a colleague, Kinsey goes undercover to infiltrate an insurance fraud and crime ring responsible.1991287 pages
- I Is for InnocentTaking over a wrongful-death lawsuit from a colleague who died before finishing it, Kinsey re-examines a husband's alibi in his wife's murder.1992310 pages
- J Is for JudgmentAn insurance company sends Kinsey to investigate sightings of a man presumed dead five years earlier, unearthing hidden family ties.1993375 pages
- K Is for KillerA dying mother's final wish sends Kinsey into the world of underground videos and nightclubs to find out who killed her daughter.1994318 pages
- L Is for LawlessA routine request to help a family collect a deceased veteran's benefits spirals into a chase involving stolen money and old scores.1995322 pages
- M Is for MaliceKinsey is hired to track down the black-sheep son of a wealthy family so he can claim his share of an inheritance before it's too late.1996372 pages
- N Is for NooseA widow convinced her detective husband's sudden death wasn't natural hires Kinsey to find out what he was investigating before he died.1998322 pages
- O Is for OutlawAn old storage locker surfaces evidence connected to Kinsey's own first marriage and a killing that was never solved.1999352 pages
- P Is for PerilKinsey searches for a physician who vanished amid disputes over money, a troubled second marriage, and a shuttered medical clinic.2001359 pages
- Q Is for QuarryKinsey joins a retired detective in reopening a decades-old cold case to finally identify a young Jane Doe found murdered by the roadside.2002427 pages
- R Is for RicochetAsked to shepherd a woman fresh out of prison back into normal life, Kinsey is drawn into her connections to an embezzlement scheme.2004363 pages
- S Is for SilenceKinsey investigates a woman's unexplained disappearance decades earlier on the Fourth of July, when she vanished after a night out and was never seen again.2005422 pages
- T Is for TrespassSuspicious of the new caregiver hired for her elderly neighbor, Kinsey investigates a woman who may not be who her paperwork says she is.2007387 pages
- U Is for UndertowA man's resurfacing childhood memory leads Kinsey to reexamine a decades-old kidnapping case that was never officially solved.2009403 pages
- V Is for VengeanceWitnessing a shoplifter in a department store pulls Kinsey into investigating an organized retail-theft ring with dangerous reach.2011448 pages
- W Is for WastedWhen a dead homeless man is found with Kinsey's contact information in his pocket, she investigates why a stranger was carrying her name.2013531 pages
- XA seemingly straightforward background check leads Kinsey into a tangle with a con artist and an unresolved case from years past.2015416 pages
- Y Is for YesterdayIn the series' final installment, Kinsey investigates a blackmail scheme rooted in a crime committed years earlier by a group of privileged teenagers.2017496 pages
Good news: for this series, reading order and publication order are the same — just read straight down the list.
On our lists: Long-running mystery series
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Get BookBingeFrequently asked questions
How many Kinsey Millhone books are there?
There are 25 books in the Kinsey Millhone series by Sue Grafton, from A Is for Alibi (1982) to Y Is for Yesterday (2017). Together they run to about 8,700 pages.
Is the Kinsey Millhone series finished?
Yes. Sue Grafton completed the series with Y Is for Yesterday in 2017; all 25 books are out now.
What is the first Kinsey Millhone book?
A Is for Alibi (1982) is book one, at 112 pages. Private investigator Kinsey Millhone takes on a case reinvestigating a woman convicted of poisoning her husband, an attorney, eight years earlier.
Should I read the Kinsey Millhone series in publication order?
Yes. For the Kinsey Millhone series, reading order and publication order are the same — A Is for Alibi (1982) through Y Is for Yesterday (2017).
How long does it take to read all Kinsey Millhone books?
About 8,700 pages across 25 books — roughly 140 hours at a page a minute. The longest is W Is for Wasted (531 pages); the shortest is A Is for Alibi (112 pages).