If you’re a Sue Grafton fan, I don’t need to show you how she’s developed her recurring characters, including Kinsey Millhone, Kinsey’s landlord Henry Pitts and her various love interests, or the aunt who raised her. Instead, I’d like to look at a few of the one-offs, whether they’re killers, victims, sideshows, or sidekicks.

In A is for Alibi, Kinsey becomes involved with a lawyer who’s investigating the same case as she. Grafton introduces him this way: “Charlie Scorsoni … had thick, sandy hair…a solid jaw, cleft chin…blue eyes … … He was tilted back in his swivel chair with his feet propped up against the edge of the desk, and his smile was slow to form and smoldered with suppressed sexuality.” Notice the last bit—the first time Kinsey sees Charlie, she’s already being “smoldered.”

For me, one of the most unforgettable characters in the series is Guy Malek in M is for Malice. Kinsey offers this ominous last impression of him:

“He leaned over and brushed my cheek with his lips. I cold feel the soft scratch of his whiskers against my face and I caught a whiff of his aftershave.

“He said, ‘Bye-bye and thanks.’ Before I could respond, he was out of the car, shoulders hunched up against the wind as he moved to the gate. He turned and waved and then he was swallowed up by the dark.”

Here, notice the mix of everyday details (his whiskers and aftershave) contrasted with dark foreshadowing (those “hunched-up” shoulders, that wind, “swallowed up by the dark”).  These reveal not only character but also serve plot, because every detail in a strong narrative employs every aspect of craft.

In  R is for Ricochet, Kinsey is asked by Reba Lafferty’s wealthy, very ill, father to help Reba adjust to life outside prison. After the drive back from picking up Reba, there’s this exchange, which as any alphabet series reader will tell you, is not just a bonding experience but possible evidence of a soulmate:

Kinsey: “We have time for lunch…”

Reba: “McDonald’s. I’d kill for a Quarter Pounder with Cheese.”

Finally, in S is for Silence, we meet Violet Sullivan, who disappeared in 1953. Kinsey’s first impression of Violet is provided by a black-and-white photograph: “The print…showed a woman in a floral-print sleeveless dress, smiling into the camera. Her hair, which could have been any color, was a medium-dark tone, long and gently wavy. She was small and pretty in a 1950s kind of way, more voluptuous than we’d consider stylish in this day and age. Over one arm she carried a straw tote from which a tiny fluffy pup appeared, staring at the camera with bright black eyes.” Pay attention to that dog, reader. It’s important.

What do all these descriptions have in common? Sure, we get physical characteristics—hair, eyes, height, dress—but what brings these characters to life is the point of view from which we see them, a singular head-on look through the eyes of one character—Kinsey Millhone.

Used properly, point of view is one of the best ways to reveal character and characters. Savvy readers will recognize that they’re getting only one side of the story and fill in the blanks—or, in the case of an alphabet mystery, suspect something Kinsey doesn’t.

In several of her later books, Grafton chooses to give us others’ points-of-view in addition to Kinsey’s. In S is for Silence, we get the points-of-view of those who knew Violet around the time she disappeared, while in T is for Trespass, we see Kinsey from the point-of-view of Solana Rojas, who’s slipped into another’s identity for less-than-legal purposes.

Initially, I wasn’t sure how I felt about these point-of-view shifts—and I would continue to discourage students writing mysteries to try them—because one of the joys of reading mysteries in discovering each clue along with the protagonist. But, as I read, I could almost feel Grafton itching to climb out of Kinsey’s head this far along in the series. Plus, the backstories in S work, and Solana’s POV in T gives us a view of Kinsey we’ve never had before.

The third week of next month, the Sue Grafton Project will look at D, which, as all writers know, is for Details. I hope you’ll join me.