Sue Grafton, A Is for Alibi

David C. Dougherty (Loyola University Maryland)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.4: American (US) Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary, 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Sofia Ahlberg (Uppsala University), Patrick Chura (University of Akron), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Dale Enggass (University of Utah), Christopher Hugh Gair (University of Glasgow), Matthew Hofer (University of New Mexico), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Justin Parks (UiT - The Arctic University of Norway), Nick Selby (University of East Anglia)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1982

Places

United States (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Crime and Detective
Novel

Resources

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Until 1982, American detective fiction was dominated by hard-drinking, relentless, two-fisted tough guys who treated women as sexual toys, unappreciated helpers, or objects of longing and fear. Although British female detective writers were popular in the 1930s, with Dame Agatha Christie (1890-1976) well on her way to becoming one of the world’s most popular writers, the detective as eccentric genius had never taken root in American fiction, and the virtue of perseverance became more valued in American popular culture than that of superior intellect. But all that changed in 1982. Chicagoan Sara Paretsky introduced the tough, sexy, stubborn V. I. Warshawski in

Indemnity Only

and Kentucky-born Californian Sue Grafton presented a similar character, Kinsey Millhone, in

A Is For Alibi

After…

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1623 words

Citation: Dougherty, David C.. "A Is for Alibi". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 29 July 2018 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=38857, accessed 18 April 2024.]

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