Will The Real Kinsey Millhone Please Stand Up? –How a Private Investigator Became a Writer

Those of you who are mystery lovers will need no explanation with regard to the title of this piece: Kinsey Millhone is a fictional private investigator who stars in 25 novels penned by the late great Sue Grafton, spanning 36 years and the alphabet from A to Y. I was already a state of California licensed private investigator when I read my first Sue Grafton novel (I started with C is for Corpse, but quickly returned to the beginning and read in earnest).

What I liked best about the books was the accuracy of the investigative details. Kinsey investigated insurance fraud, and so did I. Kinsey had to travel to courthouses and halls of administration to get records, and so did I. Kinsey sat for hours in a dark car, bored and hungry, until her subject moved—at which point it was an adrenaline rush of fear and suspense as she tailed without being seen. This was my life. Of course, Kinsey ended up investigating murders and other violence, which I never did, but the foundation of how an investigator works was accurate.

Until it wasn’t. Sue Grafton made the choice to leave Kinsey in the 1980’s so that she wouldn’t age; Grafton was a very successful author so it is hard to argue with any of her choices. However, for me, the accuracy of investigations faded, and with it my interest (it is a testament to Grafton’s writing that I kept reading despite arguing with the books as I went along). With the advent of the internet, the real-life investigator went from visiting buildings to searching for records and social media on the computer. My love of mysteries took me from Sherlock Holmes to Agatha Christie to Michael Connelly and Thomas Perry, but I still had a soft spot in my heart for Kinsey, who had been left in the past by her creator.

In 2015 I returned to school and earned a bachelor’s degree in writing. I had intended to use the degree for law school, until I realized I didn’t want to be a lawyer—I wanted to write the book series I had begun in college. The Blonde P.I. Mystery series stars a character that I based on myself: Madison Kelly. In the first book, she goes from investigating insurance fraud to investigating murder. Madison lives in a small apartment by the beach in the Windansea section of La Jolla, CA—a similarity to Kinsey, who lived in a small fictional beach town.

This similarity might seem intentional; however, I actually lived there! In the midst of a great murder mystery, Madison is involved in events that have occurred in my life and work: high speed tails, night surveillance where she’s left with only her thoughts and the music on the radio, and the never ending challenge of dealing with men who aren’t used to having a female in their ranks—and don’t mind letting her know. The accuracy of what it is to be a female P.I. is back; along with what might happen if a real insurance fraud investigator began investigating a murder, using her experience and determination to figure out the mystery.

So, as it turns out, I guess I am the real Kinsey Millhone.  I’m starting a journey with my alter-ego, Madison Kelly, but I walk in the footsteps of the greats who came before me.

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Elizabeth Breck is a state of California licensed private investigator who writes from the backseat of her car while on surveillance. Her first novel in the Blonde P.I. mystery series, First Do No Harm, is currently on submission by her agent Abby Saul at the Lark Group @LarkWords. Elizabeth can be found on twitter @TheBlondePI

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Category: On Writing