Janet Dawson Books in Order
Janet Dawson has written 34 books, published between 1990 and 2023. The first book is Kindred Crimes (1990) and the newest is The Things We Keep (2023). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 34
- Published
- 1990–2023
- Pages on record
- 4,393 in 16 of 34 books
Janet Dawson, born 31 October 1949, is an American mystery writer. Thirteen novels follow the private eye Jeri Howard, and three more make up the California Zephyr series, where the detective is Jill McLeod and the setting is a passenger train. Kindred Crimes (1990) took the best first private-eye novel prize from St. Martin's Press and the Private Eye Writer's Association, and the short story Voice Mail won a Macavity Award in 2004. Dawson's 34 catalogued books end with The Things We Keep (2023), at a median of 262 pages.
Source: Wikidata
How many Janet Dawson books are there?
Janet Dawson has 34 books, released between 1990 and 2023. They include 2 series and 12 titles listed outside any series.
Janet Dawson Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 34 Janet Dawson books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of November 2026.
- 119902492/4
- 219932752/4
- 319933602/4
- 41994–2/4
- 519954392/4
- 619963082/4
- 719972982/4
- 819982962/4
- 920003102/4
- 10Scam and Eggs2002 · 240 pages · confirmed 2/420022402/4
- 11Voice Mail2002 · confirmed 2/42002–2/4
- 122011–2/4
- 132011–2/4
- 14Pack Rat2011 · confirmed 2/42011–2/4
- 15By The Book2011 · confirmed 2/42011–2/4
- 162011–2/4
- 172011–2/4
- 18Invisible Time2011 · confirmed 2/42011–2/4
- 19Mrs. Lincoln's Dilemma2011 · confirmed 2/42011–2/4
- 20What The Cat Dragged In2011 · confirmed 2/42011–2/4
- 21Witchcraft2011 · confirmed 2/42011–2/4
- 2220112752/4
- 23What You Wish for2012 · confirmed 2/42012–2/4
- 2420132262/4
- 2520152132/4
- 2620162262/4
- 2720172282/4
- 2820182262/4
- 29But Not Forgotten2018 · confirmed 2/42018–2/4
- 30Hit the Books!2019 · confirmed 2/42019–2/4
- 312019–2/4
- 3220202242/4
- 33The Sacrificial Daughter2021 · confirmed 2/42021–2/4
- 342023–2/4
Janet Dawson books grouped by series
Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.
Jeri Howard Mystery in order
14 books- 1. Kindred Crimes
- 2. Till the Old Men Die
- 3. Take a Number
- 4. Don't Turn Your Back On The Ocean
- 5. The Missing Child / Nobody's Child
- 6. A Credible Threat
- 7. Witness to Evil
- 8. Where the Bodies Are Buried
- 9. A Killing at the Track
- 10. Bit Player
- 11. Cold Trail
- 12. Water Signs
- and 2 more in the table above
Jeri Howard Short Stories/Novellas
4 books4 titles published under this heading without a numbered place in a series.
California Zephyr Mystery in order
4 booksStandalone books
12 books12 Janet Dawson titles here are not listed as part of any series.
Do you have to read Janet Dawson books in order?
You only need to read Janet Dawson books in order within each series: the books listed here span 2 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.
Where to start with Janet Dawson
Start with Kindred Crimes (1990), the earliest published title.
What is the newest Janet Dawson book?
The Things We Keep (2023) is the newest Janet Dawson book released so far.
Is there a new Janet Dawson book coming?
No next Janet Dawson book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Janet Dawson at a glance
- Paused
- No new Janet Dawson title has appeared for 3 years. The last was published in 2023.
- Release pace
- Janet Dawson books have appeared about one a year on average.
- Length
- 4,393 pages across the 16 of 34 books with a recorded length, a median of 262 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Janet Dawson books, 20 of 34, were published in the 2010s.
When Janet Dawson books were published
Publication distribution by decade, showing when Janet Dawson titles appeared. 2010s was the most productive decade with 20 titles.
34 books total across 4 decades. Decade reflects the year each title was first catalogued.
What the Janet Dawson books are about
15 of the 34 Janet Dawson books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: jeri howard (fictitious character) is tagged on 8 of 15. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Jeri Howard (Fictitious character) 8 of 15 books
- Private investigators 6 of 15 books
- Women private investigators 6 of 15 books
- Mystery & detective 4 of 15 books
- California Zephyr (Express train) 3 of 15 books
- Howard, jeri (fictitious character) 3 of 15 books
- Investigation 3 of 15 books
- Murder 3 of 15 books
- Railroad travel 3 of 15 books
- Mystery & detective, women sleuths 3 of 15 books
- American literature 2 of 15 books
- Missing persons 2 of 15 books