Point of View

"A" is for Alibi by Susan Grafton is a murder mystery told from the first person point of view. Kinsey Millhone is a private investigator, and as she progresses through her cases she involves the reader directly with all her thoughts, everything she sees, reads, and hears, including all the interviews that she conducts with witnesses. This point of view gives a true sense of immediacy to the reading experience, allowing the reader to feel as though he or she has jumped inside Kinsey's head and is traveling through the experience of the investigation with her.

There is a good balance of dialogue where Kinsey and other characters converse. Then there are long portions of exposition where the reader is allowed into Kinsey's thoughts about the case, what might be bothering her about the case, what might be going right or wrong, and asking questions that...