F Is for Fugitive was published by Henry Holt in 1989. Bailey Fowler was convicted of murdering Jean Timberlake, a seventeen-year-old girl, in a small California coastal town. He jumped bail and disappeared for seventeen years before being recaptured. His father hires Kinsey to prove his innocence — but the investigation takes place in a town that has spent nearly two decades constructing its own narrative of what happened, and Kinsey’s questions disturb a carefully maintained equilibrium.
The small-town setting (rare for the series, which usually operates in Santa Teresa) allows Grafton to explore the particular dynamics of communities where everyone knows everyone, secrets are collective property, and outsiders asking questions are unwelcome.
The Small Town
Grafton’s unnamed coastal town — modelled on real Central California communities — is a departure from the Santa Teresa norm. The claustrophobia of small-town life, the impossibility of anonymity, the way seventeen-year-old gossip hardens into accepted truth — all become obstacles for Kinsey, whose urban investigative methods must adapt to an environment where knocking on doors means confronting people who already know you’re coming.
Collecting F Is for Fugitive
First edition (Henry Holt, New York, 1989): Boards with dust jacket.
Approximate market values:
- Fine in dust jacket: $50–$125
- Signed first edition: $100–$300
Projected values (2026–2036): Moderate appreciation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this a cold-case novel? Effectively yes — the original crime is seventeen years old, and Kinsey must reconstruct events from fading memories and contradictory accounts.