Wednesday, March 19, 2008

THURSDAY THIRTEEN #59 -- Have you met my fictional friend, Kinsey?


THIRTEEN THINGS ABOUT
KINSEY MILHONE


Kinsey Milhone is Sue Grafton’s creation, the heroine of the popular “Alphabet Mysteries.” So I realize Kinsey is fictional, even though she seems like a buddy. After all, we’ve gone from A Is for Alibi through T Is for Trespass together.

Earlier this year, I did a TT on Patricia Cornwell’s Kay Scarpetta, the bigger-than-life, this-close-to-perfect doctor/lawyer/gourmand. While Kay is the kind of woman I hopelessly aspire to be, Kinsey is far, far more accessible. There’s nothing intimidating about my buddy Kinsey. Down-to-earth, no-nonsense, fabulously flawed and very funny, she’s as comfortable as a pair of old running shoes (her favorite footwear).

1. When she was 5 years old, she and her parents were in a car accident. Kinsey was the only survivor. While she grew up to be a successful and self-sufficient woman, Kinsey has intimacy and abandonment issues, and it’s not hard to see why.

2. She was raised by her Aunt Gin. A contented and single woman living in Santa Theresa, California, Aunt Gin did the best she could. But she never planned on having a family, and didn’t quite know what to do with a traumatized little girl. So while these two lived in the same house, we really don’t imagine them together very much.

3. Her career at Santa Theresa High seems to have been devoted to smoking pot, cussing, and doing only what was necessary to not flunk. After graduation, Kinsey joined her aunt at California Fidelity Insurance, working as a receptionist and hating it, until she was old enough to try her hand at police work.

4. It was joining the Santa Theresa Police Department that straightened our girl out. While she had big problems with the regimentation that went with being a cop – she left the force after just two years – she discovered she had a passion for investigating and protecting the good guys from the bad ones.

5. Kinsey endured two short, unsuccessful marriages. The first, to Mickey, occurred after she left the force, when her Aunt Gin died and she was emotionally adrift. Her second husband was a musician named Daniel. Since they each turn up in books, and so as not to be a spoiler, I shall say no more. Of her husbands, Kinsey has said, “I dumped the first and the second dumped me.”

6. She’s had a few lovers throughout the alphabet – Charlie, Jonah, Dietz (my favorite) and Cheyney. None of these relationships have lasted because we all know her great love is really …

7. Henry Pitts, her landlord and best friend. He’s in his 80s, but that doesn’t stop her from completely adoring him. She mentions his blue eyes often. He bakes for her, shares Happy Hour with her (he has Jack Daniels on ice, she has her wine), celebrates Christmas and birthdays with her.

8. Rosie runs Rosie’s Tavern, Kinsey’s favorite restaurant. Rosie has brightly dyed hair and wears print muumuus and annoys Kinsey no end. She is also a fabulous cook, and her tavern is Kinsey’s refuge after even the most dangerous “day at the office.” Rosie, Henry, and Henry's various siblings make up Kinsey's surrogate family.

9. Kinsey has some unconventional talents, which come in very handy in her chosen profession: lying, picking locks and snooping. She enjoys all three equally (which is to say she enjoys them all a great deal).

10. She’s not a fitness nut, but she understands that being in shape is as important to her job as a good set of picklocks. So she jogs 3 miles every day. Sometimes she enjoys it, oftentimes not.

11. She owns a single, all-purpose black dress, doesn’t wear makeup and has been known to hack at her curly hair with nail scissors.

12. She drinks lots of coffee and loves McDonald’s. Especially Q-Ps with cheese and Egg McMuffins. She has referred to fats and carbs as “nature’s antidepressants.”

13. Unlike other fictional crimefighters (like Scarpetta or Robert Parker's Spenser), Kinsey often has to resort to markedly unglamorous tasks to pay the rent. She’s served subpoenas, investigated car insurance claims and taken jobs with clients she hasn’t really cared for. Seeing her in workaday situations makes her seem more real to me.

I know that since she's already on "T," Sue Grafton will reach the end of the alphabet, and this series, soon. Too soon for my taste. I'll miss Kinsey: she who writes clues down on index cards and arranges and rearranges them, trying to solve the crime; she who cleans compulsively and never leaves home without a paperback in her purse; she who has a strict personal code and lives by it. I've enjoyed every moment I've spent with her.

Leave your link in the comments section and I'll add you here:
1) Chelle rocks out with her TT
2) Malcolm lists 13 sexy women over 50 (yet somehow neglected to include The Gal Herself; go figure)
3) SJ Reidhead has a movie TT -- and I loooove movie TTs
4) Lilibeth loves Lord of the Rings
5) Sandy Carlson takes us to Wisdom House
6) Sue answers 13 random questions
7) Anthony North doesn't have a TT, but he has displayed thought provoking posts
8) Puss Reboots displays book covers
9) Silverneurotic's posts are always worth reading (I know, I'm a regular reader)
10) Open Grove Claudia shares highlights of "Trusting Yourself"
11) Lori has a funny -- and true! -- TT about personal ads
12) Tasina has a movie TT (and I LOVE movie TTs)
13) Winter has a darkly romantic TT
14) Adelle has a gorgeous Faberge TT
15) Xakara wishes us only beautiful things for Easter
16) Ann and Renee share their personal theme songs
17) Mo reviews a book starring the one and only Kay Scarpetta
18) Lisa's TT is brought to us by the letter G
19) Candy Minx looks at the dark side of "the criminal justice system"
20) Dane's TT is about the subject he is the undisputed expert on
21) Susan Helene Gottfried shares the rites of spring
22) Mama Bear has a fabulous Beatle-related TT (and how I love the Lads!)



Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!



30 comments:

  1. She sounds like an interesting character!

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  3. Even though I haven't read any of the titles in the Kinsey Milhone series, I am familiar with them from my days working in bookstores. I once looked Kinsey Milhone up on Wikipedia because I remember reading about the car accident and her fashion sense.

    I have been saying for the longest that I am going to give one of the Kinsey Milhone books a try. Your T13 is definitely pushing me in that direction.

    Question: Who do you envision in the role of Kinsey if they ever made a movie or TV adaptation?

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  4. I'm such a fan. I discovered Kinsey before Sue Grafton's novels were even published in hard back. I think I started reading her work with "B".

    SJR
    The Pink Flamingo

    http://thepinkflamingo.blogharbor.com/blog

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  5. I read a few Graftons, but it has been a long while. Maybe this summer I'll check them out again. I love good mysteries. Thanks for the reminding.

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  6. This a wonderful way to introduce a person to a book. Wonderful stuff here. Book group material!

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  7. Wow! She does sound interesting. I have not read this series myself, but my eldest daughter is starting to get into them. :)

    Happy TT

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  8. That's the thing about detective novel series. You can build up an intricate character.

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  9. Ever been to Santa Barbara? It's fun to search out the real places that have inspired the fictional ones of Santa Teresa. Happy TT.

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  10. Anonymous6:52 PM

    I haven't read any of her books yet (shock!) but after reading this-I think I'm going to have to start.

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  11. Great list! Kinsey Milhone is one of my favorite characters, and I too will be sad when the series ends. (Luckily, there are still six letters left!)

    This was a fun read!

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  12. I love Kinsey. She's had such an impact on my life! I can't drink white wine without thinking of her - never wear a black dress - think "go sexy" if you can't go well. Funny. I am amazed that Grafton can keep with the period. She's... amazing!

    happy TT!

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  13. What a Gal!!! Happy TT my friend. Hope you're having a great week:)

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  14. I absolutely love these books. And now your post makes me want to start the series all over again. Great list!!

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  15. Happy Spring
    I read a lot of her but not for 5-6 years now

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  16. What an awesome TT! I've never read the series but you certainly make me want to now!

    http://winterblog.winterheart.com

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  17. What a wonderful compliment to the author. Happy T13!

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  18. Anonymous12:09 AM

    I haven't read the series but your TT is a big motivator. I'll look into it when my book budget increases. :)

    And I completely get the idea of a fictional character feeling like a long time buddy!

    Happy TT

    ~X

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  19. Happy T13.

    I don't have one this week, it's the week of the passion and I'm pretty busy. Next week I'll do one. :)

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  20. Anonymous8:04 AM

    Wonderful TT. She sounds so interesting.

    Happy TT!

    - Renee

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  21. Well, as you know, I've only recently begun reading this series, but I'm growing fond of Kinsey, myself! (And, Henry and Rosey, too)

    This was a fun one - thanks, too, for not "spoiling" anything for us newbies!! (I'm anxious now to meet Dietz)

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  22. I have never read any of her books, but Kinsey sure sounds interesting!

    Happy TT!

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  23. Love Kinsey!!!
    Hey I just wrote a post about fictional detectives too!

    Hope you have some sunshine today...we have some around here and it feels great!

    I'd love to know if you have any other recommendations for mystery books...I like Stephanie Plum mysteries too.

    Cheers
    Candy

    http://gnosticminx.blogspot.com/2008/03/my-thirteen-favourite-villains-on-law.html

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  25. I have never read anything with Kinsey in it but this is a great idea. And I always steal great ideas and use them later. I'll just have to remember to limit it to a fictional literary friend and not the imaginary ones in my head.

    My T13 #72 is up. 13 Photo Answers to the Photo Meme Stop by if you get a chance.

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  26. I've read a whole ONE book in this series -- the B book. Now I want to find A and then go forward. I'm hooked (so far)!

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  27. I think I may have to look into these books some day.
    Great TT
    Mine is up:
    http://cafeendofuniverse.blogspot.com/

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  28. You asked if Pam was available for personal training. She's more of a group instructor, but there's room in your class.

    Have you tried Zumba yet? You won't need a trainer! Whee, what a class!

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  29. Anonymous5:43 PM

    I haven't read any of these since about D, but I do remember Kinsey's fondness for fried eggs on mayo smeared toast... Can't disagree with here there! Happy TT!

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  30. Anonymous8:33 PM

    I'm gonna have to look up this author at BnN next time. I love a good mystery novel!
    Have a fabU week!
    ~W~

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