"I" Is for Innocent
First edition cover
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| Author | Sue Grafton |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Alphabet Mysteries |
| Genre | Mystery fiction |
| Published | 1992 Henry Holt and Company |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 286 first edition |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 25009299 |
| 813/.54 20 | |
| LC Class | PS3557.R13 I2 1992 |
| Preceded by | "H" Is for Homicide |
| Followed by | "J" Is for Judgment |
"I" Is for Innocent is the ninth novel in Sue Grafton's "Alphabet" series of mystery novels and features Kinsey Millhone, a private eye based in Santa Teresa, California.
After being unceremoniously fired by California Fidelity Insurance, Kinsey has found herself new office space with her attorney, Lonnie Kingman. Lonnie has a case with which he wants Kinsey's help. Six years earlier, David Barney was acquitted of killing his estranged wife, talented but insecure society house-designer Isabelle Barney, by shooting her dead through the spy hole of her front door. David's desperation to rebuild the marriage after the split netted him an injunction for harassment, so he was the obvious suspect, particularly since he inherited Isabelle's multimillion-dollar business, but the prosecution could not make it stick. Now Isabelle's previous husband, Kenneth Voigt, is trying again in the civil courts, in an attempt to secure the fortune for his and Isabelle's daughter Shelby, and Lonnie needs some evidence. The previous PI on the case, Morley Shine, has just died of a heart attack, and Lonnie asks Kinsey to step in.
Kinsey agrees, and knowing Morley of old, is surprised to find his files in a mess, with crucial witness statements missing. One new witness has come forward: Curtis MacIntyre, a habitual jailbird who shared a cell with Barney for a night and claims that Barney confessed to his guilt just after the acquittal. Kinsey is very doubtful of this story, especially when she finds out Curtis was in custody on another matter on the date in question. In trying to fill in the other blanks, she uncovers more evidence in Barney's favor than against him, not least that Barney appears to have a cast-iron alibi; he was the victim of a hit and run whilst out jogging at the time of the murder some miles away. Kinsey tracks down both the driver - Tippy, the daughter of Isabelle's best friend Rhe Parsons - and a witness who can swear that Barney was knocked down by her.
Kinsey also finds out that Tippy, drunk and in her father's pick-up truck, was the perpetrator of a previous and fatal hit-and-run on the same night, the victim being an elderly man called Noah McKell. She realises Morley was on the same track, and begins to have suspicions about his death. She eventually establishes that Morley was poisoned by a pastry left at his office made with lethal mushrooms. She also finds out that Kenneth Voigt has been paying Curtis 'expense money' for years, which casts further doubt on his testimony. Curtis comes up with an alternative story: the confession was actually made some time after the acquittal during a drunken evening at Barney's home. This sounds even more unlikely to Kinsey's skeptical ears. She begins to suspect that someone else from Isabelle's immediate circle might be the guilty party - Isabelle's sister Simone, Ken Voigt's new wife Francesca, or Isabelle's former business partner, Peter Weidmann and/or his wife Yolanda.
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