investigate Threadgill moves to pay her claim anyway, citing potential legal costs and complications, including the risk of reprisal. Publication history The first printing of "A" Is for Alibi was 7,500 copies, with initial sales of about 6,000. Critical analysis Grafton openly admits that she conceived the story from her own "fantasies" of murdering her husband while going through a divorce. The novel's style typical hardboiled detective fiction, according to the authors of 'G' is for Grafton, who describe it as "laconic, breezy, wise-cracking". Grafton frames the narrative as a report Kinsey Millhone writes during the course of her investigation, written in the first-person narrative. "A" for Alibi is dedicated to author Chip Grafton, Sue Grafton's father, "who set me on this path". Chip Grafton was a municipal bond attorney in Kentucky who pursued a secondary career as a crime novelist, winning minor acclaim for four novels. He died on January 31, 1982 at age 72, four months before 'A' is for Alibi was published. Reviews Kirkus Reviews said this was a "shakily plotted but otherwise terrific start for a new detective series", writing when the book was released. They look forward to the rest of the Alphabet Series, "fine dialogue, a great eye for people and places", if the author can tighten up her plots. Looking back at the series soon after the author's death, Library Journal Reviews remarked on the slow build up to successful reviews, including a quote from its own review: "Critic Sarah Weinman notes that pseudonymous New York Times critic Newgate Callendar dismissed A Is for Alibi as "competent enough, but not particularly original." Alas, LJ's reviewer was equally unenthusiastic in an April 1, 1982, review, waving the book aside as "nothing to take it out of the ordinary." Before those less enthusiastic words, they had said, "The female detective is well drawn and the plot moves at a fast clip". References Sources Further reading External links Sue Grafton Alphabet Series official site 1982 American novels American mystery novels Novels by Sue Grafton Kinsey Millhone novels Henry Holt and Company books Novels set in California