48 pages • 1 hour read
Sue GraftonA Is For Alibi
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1982A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 1-6Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 1 Summary
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussions of suicide and violence present in the source text.
Kinsey Millhone, 32, is a private investigator in Santa Teresa, California, investigating the murder of Laurence Fife, a prominent divorce attorney who was poisoned eight years prior. His widow, Nikki Fife, was convicted for the murder and has just been released from prison. Nikki approaches Millhone to reopen the case and find out who really killed her husband, as she maintains her innocence.
Millhone is intrigued by Nikki’s apparent change during her years in prison. She’s forthright, calmer, and seems genuinely interested in clearing her name for the sake of her children. While the police consider the case solved, Nikki offers alternative possibilities and suspects that had not been adequately explored, like Laurence’s law partners and former clients with grudges.
Chapter 2 Summary
Millhone’s first stop in her investigation is the homicide department, where she meets with Lieutenant Con Dolan, a seasoned cop who initially worked on Fife’s case. Despite his reluctance, Dolan allows Millhone to review the case files. As Millhone sifts through the files, she uncovers information related to a second homicide, that of Libby Glass, an accountant associated with Laurence Fife’s law firm. Glass died of the same ground-oleander poisoning as Fife, suggesting that Nikki might be involved in another murder. Dolan confesses that the police suspected Nikki in Libby’s case, but they never managed to prove her involvement.
Chapter 3 Summary
Millhone spends time at Rosie’s bar, a gritty yet comfortable local spot that she frequents. There she meets with Nikki Fife, the recently paroled widow of Laurence Fife, who was convicted of murdering him eight years prior. Nikki provides Millhone with a $5,000 retainer to investigate her late husband’s murder anew, as Nikki claims she was wrongfully convicted. During their conversation, the two hash out the details of Laurence’s life and the moments leading up to his death. Nikki reveals her suspicions about Laurence’s former secretary, Sharon Napier, who had an unusually strong influence over Laurence but never seemed to be his lover. Nikki also candidly discusses her rocky marriage, in which Laurence’s infidelity was an open secret, and shares how even small things like the scent of a different soap raised suspicions.
After discussing the intricacies of the case, Millhone reveals her fee structure and emphasizes her commitment to Nikki’s case, even though she may work on other cases simultaneously. Rosie serves them dinner—a hearty Hungarian dish. Nikki’s facade starts to crack during dinner, hinting at deeper emotional turmoil. Millhone sees this as a sign of life from someone who has been emotionally “immobile for years” (25).
The chapter concludes with Millhone carefully organizing her gathered information on three-by-five index cards.
Chapter 4 Summary
Millhone investigates the complexities surrounding Laurence Fife’s murder, focusing on his law partner, Charlie Scorsoni. Millhone gathers background information on Charlie, who appears to be a straightforward middle-aged man with a clean record. She then visits his office, a Moorish castle-like building, where she encounters Ruth, the elderly yet sprightly secretary. Ruth provides insights into Charlie and his partnership with Fife. When Millhone finally meets Charlie, she finds a suave man who studies her with an almost “embarrassing attention to detail” (32). He is initially welcoming but grows more guarded as she questions him about Fife and his relationships.
Simultaneously, Millhone is working a slip-and-fall case involving a woman named Marcia Threadgill, which Millhone views as a minor but necessary aspect of her PI work.
Chapter 5 Summary
Millhone’s visit to K-9 Korners allows her to interact with Gwen, Laurence Fife’s first wife. Gwen, the owner, shares candidly about her marriage, painting a nuanced picture of her emotional evolution. She reflects on having been “had” by Fife and having lost herself in the futile endeavor to be a perfect wife and mother.
Gwen also provides detailed insight into her broken marriage, revealing that she lost custody of her children, Gregory and Diane, to Laurence. The custody loss points to the divorce’s emotional toll, emphasized by Gwen’s disclosure that she had to undergo $6,000 worth of therapy to achieve her current “mellow” state. Laurence’s personality as a strict and emotionally unavailable parent had far-reaching consequences; both children grew up to be emotionally withdrawn adults. Adding another layer of complexity, Gwen discloses that Diane is studying to teach children who are deaf, an apparent response to her cousin Colin’s deafness.
Gwen admits that Laurence’s death didn’t upset her. In fact, she claims that a club could be formed for those who are glad he’s gone. Yet she shows reservations when Millhone considers talking to her children about their father.
Chapter 6 Summary
Millhone visits Nikki and Laurence’s former home in affluent Montebello. As she walks through the property, she is unsettled by the pool—it’s filled with dirt and trash, a stark contrast to the well-tended lawns. Nikki arrives, and Millhone has a startling encounter with Nikki’s two aggressive geese, Hansel and Gretel. After taming them with bread crumbs, Nikki and Millhone proceed into the house.
Nikki tells Millhone that few people had keys to this home, and it wasn’t armed with a security system at the time of Laurence’s death. Inside, the home’s furnishings are luxurious but strangely lifeless. Nikki never really liked the house; it was more Laurence’s taste than hers.
In a kitchen that seems more like a laboratory, Nikki discusses her relationship with her ex-husband. She reveals that Laurence was actually avenging an affair his previous wife, Gwen, had by engaging in an affair with Nikki. This pattern of vindictiveness, Nikki suggests, was part of Laurence’s personality, also serving him well in his legal career, in which he was “absolutely merciless.”
Chapters 1-6 Analysis
The opening chapters establish the novel’s setting, plot, and protagonist. Grafton utilizes a realist approach to paint a detailed portrait of each character. Millhone is characterized by a no-nonsense approach to her work and a firm grounding in objectivity. Nikki is enigmatic; Millhone wants to believe her, but it’s not yet clear whether she was wrongfully convicted. This ambiguity plays into the genre conventions of detective fiction to maintain suspense and introduce a psychological subplot. It also introduces the idea of duality: Nikki as both victim and suspect and Laurence as both a successful attorney and a cruel, vengeful husband. Millhone herself is a blend of cynicism and idealism, guided by a strong ethical compass but also willing to bend the rules for the sake of truth.
The narrative weaves in descriptions of the characters’ surroundings and daily lives, highlighting the significance of mundane details, such as Millhone’s use of three-by-five index cards, which symbolize her organized approach to her investigation. This sheds light on her personality and embodies her systematic pursuit of justice and her commitment to unraveling the truth one layer at a time.
These chapters also introduce the characters’ network of relationships and the tensions they contain. Millhone’s meetings with Lieutenant Con Dolan, for example, reveal gender dynamics and societal expectations prevalent in law enforcement—a contextual element that adds depth to the societal norms explored in the story. For instance, Dolan implies that Millhone could extract more information from him if she were flirtatious; Millhone counters that any such behavior would only demean her in his eyes. This interaction highlights their complex relationship, defined by a blend of professional respect and personal skepticism.
Chapters 3-6 return to setting as a primary means of characterization. The setting of Rosie’s offers insight into Millhone’s character—she values privacy and straightforwardness, qualities embodied by the bar and its owner, Rosie. It’s here that Millhone chooses to conduct the business of discussing the case with Nikki.
In Chapter 4, the portrayal of Charlie’s workspace as plush, formal, and hidden behind an elaborate facade operates as a metaphor for the character himself, laying the ground for an in-depth analysis of personal and professional secrets. Ruth, the seasoned secretary, introduces a discussion on ageism and the societal norms pertaining to gender roles through her insights into the women’s role in the workspace, leading the narrative into a broader commentary on societal norms.
The narrative touches on the theme of Marriage and Gender Roles when Millhone focuses on Gwen’s emotional journey as she reflects on her marriage to Laurence Fife. In Chapter 5, Gwen’s engagement with her work at K-9 Korners emerges as a symbol of her reclaimed autonomy. The place itself—filled with the scent and sounds of dogs—is emblematic of Gwen’s distinct life, quite removed from her past as Laurence’s “dutiful wife” (42). The development of Gwen’s character crafts a narrative grounded in resilience and recovery from the traumatic experiences, painting a vivid picture of the broader societal expectations and norms that govern marriages.
Finally, Chapter 6 arrives at Nikki and Laurence’s former home, revealing Laurence’s multifaceted personality and deepening the case’s complexities. The dilapidated state of the pool and the aggressive geese add a sense of turmoil and disarray to the otherwise polished setting, foreshadowing the troubled landscape of Laurence and Nikki’s marriage. The geese, Hansel and Gretel, could be seen as symbolic guardians of secrets, aggressive to intruders, much like Laurence might have been in his life. Nikki’s recounting of Laurence’s vengeful personality adds depth to his character and introduces the possibility of other motives and suspects, which connect to the novel’s broader theme of deception. As Millhone dives deeper, the house parallels the lives of its occupants—pristine on the surface but showing signs of decay and neglect when one looks closer.
The setting of Santa Teresa, California, is central to the narrative and a character in its own right. The juxtaposition of the city’s idyllic facade with its underlying societal issues mirrors both Nikki’s and Laurence’s dualities. The city’s atmosphere sets up the novel’s themes of Justice and Wrongful Imprisonment, Truth and Deception, and marriage and gender roles. This strategy fosters a sense of immersion, as the complexities of Santa Teresa’s society reflect on the story’s central characters. The setting functions not just as a backdrop but as a vital element symbolizing the decay beneath the superficial layers of affluence and seemingly perfect lives.
The literary techniques employed here, including the vivid settings and the deep exploration of character psyches, allow for a profound thematic exploration that is a convention of detective fiction. The novel maintains a narrative tone rife with underlying tensions and emotional turmoil, crafting a sophisticated narrative that incrementally reveals the multidimensional aspects of the characters and invites a deep psychological landscape of vengeance, deeply rooted secrets, and societal expectations that govern individual actions and choices.
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