Michael Craft Books in Order
Michael Craft has written 20 books, published between 1993 and 2024. The first book is Rehearsing (1993) and the newest is Desert Reunion (2024). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 20
- Published
- 1993–2024
- Pages on record
- 4,356 in 16 of 20 books
- Reading time
- 73–109 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 4,356 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 16 of 20 titles with a page count on record.
Michael Craft is the pen name of Michael Craft Johnson, an American novelist born in 1950 whose mysteries often have gay protagonists. Four Mark Manning mysteries were Lambda Literary Award finalists. Desert Getaway, first in the Dante & Jazz series, was a 2023 Edgars nominee for the Lilian Jackson Braun Award, and ChoirMaster and Desert Deadline won IBPA Benjamin Franklin gold. Craft's 20 books start with Rehearsing (1993); the Claire Gray and Mister Puss series are also listed, with college theater among the subjects.
How many Michael Craft books are there?
Michael Craft has 20 books, released between 1993 and 2024. They include 4 series and 2 titles listed outside any series.
Michael Craft Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 20 Michael Craft 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 September 2026.
- 119931201/4
- 219972301/4
- 319983521/4
- 419992731/4
- 520003121/4
- 620013431/4
- 720012721/4
- 820022881/4
- 920032931/4
- 1020042431/4
- 1120042561/4
- 1220052581/4
- 13The MacGuffin2011 · confirmed 1/42011–1/4
- 14Inside Dumont2016 · 264 pages · confirmed 1/420162641/4
- 1520182761/4
- 1620192881/4
- 1720202881/4
- 182022–1/4
- 192023–1/4
- 202024–1/4
Michael Craft 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.
Mark Manning Mystery in order
7 books- 1. Flight Dreams
- 2. Eye Contact
- 3. Body Language
- 4. Name Games
- 5. Boy Toy
- 6. Hot Spot
- 7. Bitch Slap
Claire Gray Mystery in order
5 booksMister Puss in order
3 books- 1. Flabbergassed
- 2. ChoirMaster
- 3. HomeComing
Dante & Jazz Mysteries in order
3 booksStandalone books
2 books2 Michael Craft titles here are not listed as part of any series.
Do you have to read Michael Craft books in order?
You only need to read Michael Craft books in order within each series: the books listed here span 4 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.
Where to start with Michael Craft
Start with Rehearsing (1993), the earliest published title.
What is the newest Michael Craft book?
Desert Reunion (2024) is the newest Michael Craft book released so far.
Is there a new Michael Craft book coming?
No next Michael Craft book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
Michael Craft at a glance
- Still publishing
- Michael Craft published a book as recently as 2024.
- Release pace
- Michael Craft books have appeared about one every 2 years on average.
- Length
- 4,356 pages across the 16 of 20 books with a recorded length, a median of 274 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most Michael Craft books, 8 of 20, were published in the 2000s.
What the Michael Craft books are about
11 of the 20 Michael Craft books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: mystery & detective is tagged on 7 of 11. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Mystery & detective 7 of 11 books
- Gay men 5 of 11 books
- Claire Gray (Fictitious character) 4 of 11 books
- Manning, mark (fictitious character) 4 of 11 books
- Mark Manning (Fictitious character) 4 of 11 books
- Women college teachers 4 of 11 books
- Women theatrical producers and directors 4 of 11 books
- College theater 2 of 11 books
- Crimes against 2 of 11 books
- Motion picture producers and directors 2 of 11 books