Sue Taylor Grafton is a contemporary American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 author

Author

An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

 of detective novels. She is best known as the author of the 'alphabet series' ("A" Is for Alibi, etc.) featuring private investigator Kinsey Millhone

Kinsey Millhone

Kinsey Millhone is the name of a fictional private investigator created by Sue Grafton for her "alphabet mysteries" series of novels. Millhone appears in a number of short stories written by Grafton. Grafton's mystery novels featuring Millhone are set in 1980s Santa Teresa, a fictionalized town...

 in the fictional city of Santa Teresa, California

Santa Teresa (fictional city)

Santa Teresa is a fictionalised version of Santa Barbara, California, created by Ross Macdonald in his mystery The Moving Target .In the 1980s, the writer Sue Grafton began using a fictional Santa Teresa as the setting for her novels featuring her lead character Kinsey Millhone, a fictional female...

. The daughter of detective novelist C. W. Grafton

C. W. Grafton

Cornelius Warren Grafton was an American crime novelist. He was born and raised in China, where his parents were working as missionaries...

, she has said the strongest influence on her crime novels is author Ross Macdonald

Ross Macdonald

Not to be confused with John D. MacDonaldRoss Macdonald is the pseudonym of the American-Canadian writer of crime fiction Kenneth Millar...

. Prior to success with this series, she wrote screenplays for television movies.
Born in Louisville

Louisville, Kentucky

Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...

, Kentucky

Kentucky

The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...

, Sue Grafton is the daughter of novelist C. W. Grafton

C. W. Grafton

Cornelius Warren Grafton was an American crime novelist. He was born and raised in China, where his parents were working as missionaries...

 and Vivian Harnsberger, both of whom were the children of Presbyterian ministers.