Mary Peiffer reading "A" is for Alibi by Sue Grafton

"A" is for Alibi
Book 1. in the Alphabet Series
Authhor: Sue Grafton
Narrator: Mary Peiffer

Books on Tape
7 hours, 39 minutes

"A" is for Alibi

Narrator Review for Mary Peiffer

Mary Peiffer is feeling around for a voice for Kinsey Millhone. Mary Peiffer does read some interrogations in a more conversational tone unlike so many narrators whose flatness sounds more like bullying. She reads some of it too fast and clipped. Thankfully, in future books she takes complete control of the character so Kinsey blooms into a more mature and agreeable individual.

In  "A" is for Alibi  Mary Peiffer does not do the different characters as well as they could be. Some of the time I couldn't tell who is speaking. Some people she does do a distinctive voice for but she sometimes forgets mid-stream and drops back to her own reading voice.

If this were a stand alone book I'd say the reading is to fast and lacking definition for each character. Kinsey Millhone is not established or fleshed out in this first book. Having listened to all of the series I can really hear how Mary Peiffer improved in her narration of Kinsey.  She does have the right tone for the series and sounds age appropriate.

Her voice expresses the character so you can plainly visualize Kinsey. It soon is to become a perfect fit,  "A" is for Alibi being the first in a long series is not plumped out to well. Kinsey's personality isn't fully formed and the supporting characters lack any dimensions. I found the story line a little contrived. Kinsey gets herself into situations that are downright dumb.

Audiobook Review, "A" is for Alibi
Author: Sue Grafton
Book 1. in the Alphabet Series

Sue Grafton

Nikki Fife,  hires Kinsey to find out who killed her husband and framed her for it. She wants Kinsey to clear her name. Kinsey remembers the 8 year old case and had sat in on the trials. At the time she wasn't convinced that Nikki killed her husband which leads her to take the case.


Kinsey needs to read the police files and to do that she has to persuade the mean spirited Police Lieutenant Dolan to give her access to the now closed case of Lawrence Fife. After some insulting interchange he relents and lets her look at the them.

When she goes through them one of the first things she sees is a series of telexes sent by the Los Angeles, police department indicating a similar case where an accountant named Libby Glas, died of ground oleander poisoning four days after Lawrence Fife died from the same thing.

Kinsey had worked for a Business Management firm that handled the interest of Lawrence Fife's law firm. This sends off alarm bells in Kinsey's head.  Now she understands why Dolan didn't want to let her see the files. Kinsey investigates the case from the Libby Glas angle. Kinsey is stubborn and bull headed and pursues every person and every clue until she puts the whole picture together.



We don't learn much about Kinsey in "A" Is for Alibi, other than she's strong headed, weighs 118 pounds and cuts her hair herself, every few weeks with nail scissors. Cripes.. lol. She has one dress, a multi purpose black dress, runs about 3 miles a day. Has been married and divorced twice.

Kinsey likes to live in small spaces and was raised by her aunt after her parents were killed in a car accident. Overall this is not much to like her, let alone know about her. There are a few other things about Kinsey that are just as uninspiring. What's missing are emotional or personality clues

If not for Mary Peiffer's rendition of the character I probably would never have listen to any more of the series. Peiffer does manage to make Kinsey more interesting and dynamic. I do like the series and Mary Peiffer's narration. It's a light reading and the stories move along at a good clip. There are some funny lines that make you laugh. There isn't anything gory, or at least not too gory, that will give you nightmares. I consider them a fun read. Or in my case a fun listen.