Arizona book series in reading order

by J.A. Jance

by Robert J. Randisi

by Kyle Mills

Ralph Cotton (1945-2024) was an American writer of westerns. The debut novel, While Angels Dance: The Life and Times of Jeston Nash, appeared from St. Martin's Press in 1994, and more than 80 novels followed, three of them carrying Ralph Compton's byline after Compton died. 75 titles are catalogued here, through to Gunman's Pass (2022). Ranger Sam Burrack is the recurring lead, with the Jeston Nash, Will Summers, Sherman Dahl, Gun Culture, Long Riders and Dead Or Alive sequences alongside. Arizona Rangers, outlaws, gunfights and frontier life carry the subject tags.

J.A. Jance writes mysteries and police procedurals, with J.P. Beaumont, Joanna Brady and Ali Reynolds as recurring leads. The catalogue lists 82 books, starting with After the Fire (1984) and Until Proven Guilty (1985). The Taken Ones arrived in 2026, and Smoke and Mirrors is scheduled for 2027. Subjects include sheriffs, policewomen and women sleuths, and the Joanna Brady books form a named series alongside Jance's standalone novels.

The westerns of Dusty Richards fill a catalogue of 58 books from 1992 to 2025. Noble's Way (1992) opens the list, followed by By the Cut of Your Clothes and From Hell to Breakfast (both 1994). Lawless Land and Servant of the Law date from 2000, and The Abilene Trail from 2003. Rambling Down the Range (2025) is the newest title. Series include Byrnes Family Ranch, Brandiron, Frank Brothers, O'Malleys of Texas, Texas Badge Mysteries, Battling Harrigans of the Frontier and Rodeo Riders. Ranch life, cattle drives, outlaws, sheriffs, Texas Rangers and Arizona appear in the subject tags.

Cowboys, ranchers and ranch life run through Linda Lael Miller's 134 catalogued books, in historical, contemporary and western romance alike. Miller's families and places include the McKettricks, the Montana Creeds, Stone Creek, Springwater Seasons, Painted Pony Creek and the Brides of Bliss County, with a Tremayne vampire sequence off to one side. Desire and Destiny (1983) is the earliest title and The Silver Hills Boarding House the newest.

Betty Webb, a former journalist, writes detective fiction set in Arizona, and has said that each book started from a real case. The Lena Jones series opens the catalogue with Desert Noir (2001) and gives every title the word Desert; the Gunn Zoo mysteries run alongside, from The Anteater of Death (2008) to The Llama of Death (2013). Eighteen books span 2001 to 2024, with women private investigators, zoos and Scottsdale among the subjects.

Jayne Ann Krentz, born Jayne Castle on 28 March 1948 in Cobb, California, is an American romance novelist with New York Times bestsellers under seven pseudonyms. Three names remain in use: Krentz for contemporary romantic suspense, Amanda Quick for historical romantic suspense and Jayne Ann Castle for futuristic and paranormal romantic suspense. More than 35 million copies are in print. The catalogue lists 205 books, from Vintage of Surrender (1979, as Jayne Castle) to Enter the Nightmare (2026), with The Book Hunter due in 2027. Early titles also appeared as Jayne Bentley, Jayne Taylor and Stephanie James. Series include Burning Cove, Eclipse Bay and the Dreamlight Trilogy.

Elmore Leonard

65 books• 12 series

Elmore Leonard (October 11, 1925 to August 20, 2013) was an American novelist, short story writer and screenwriter. Leonard began with Westerns in the 1950s and moved on to crime fiction and suspense, and many of those books were filmed. The story "Three-Ten to Yuma" became the film 3:10 to Yuma (1957), which was remade in 2007. Anthony Lane, a British journalist, called Leonard one of the best crime writers in the land. Get Shorty, Rum Punch, Out of Sight, Glitz and LaBrava rank among Leonard's best-known works. The catalogue lists 65 titles starting with The Bounty Hunters (1953), plus series featuring Raylan Givens, Chili Palmer, Jack Foley and Carl Webster.

Nancy E. Turner writes historical fiction of the American frontier. These is My Words (1998) begins the Sarah Agnes Prine books, which follow a pioneer woman in Arizona and continue in Sarah's Quilt (2005) and The Star Garden (2007). My Name is Resolute (2014) moves to the Revolutionary period. Six catalogued titles close with Light Changes Everything (2020).

Robert J. Randisi (August 24, 1951 – October 6, 2024) was an American author, editor and screenwriter working in detective fiction and westerns. Series credited to Randisi include Gunsmith, Shelter, Lady Gunsmith, Tracker, Angel Eyes, Rat Pack Mysteries, Miles Jacoby Mystery and Joe Keough Mystery. Catalogue subjects include Clint Adams, private investigators, police, serial murder and New York. Randisi is credited on 665 listed books, with titles such as Chain Gang Kill (1980), Circus of Death (1981) and Deadly Debt (2024).

Tara Taylor Quinn writes romance and romantic suspense, with 144 books catalogued from Yesterday's Secrets (1993) to Colton's Covert Challenge (2026). Colton's Protection Detail is listed for 2027. Subjects include contemporary romance, pregnancy, women lawyers, single mothers, missing persons and Arizona. Quinn's series include Sierra's Web, Where Secrets Are Safe, Parent Portal, Cottages on Ocean Breeze, Coltons of Dark Canyon, Chapman Files, It Happened in Comfort Cove and Hayden Sisters. Shelter Valley Stories also appears in the listing.

Elizabeth Gunn writes police procedurals built on two series detectives, Jake Hines and Sarah Burke. Catalogue subjects place the books in Minnesota and Arizona and list murder investigation and women sleuths. Gunn's 24 catalogued books run from Ella's Dream (1978) to Sarah's List / Close to the Edge (2020). Titles from the late 1990s and 2000s include Triple Play (1997), Par Four (1999), Five Card Stud (2000), Six-Pound Walleye (2001) and Cool in Tucson / Close To Her (2007). The catalogue appears complete.

Garrison Allen wrote A Big Mike Mysteries and A Kate Gallagher Mystery, with 10 books catalogued between 1990 and 1999. Come Nightfall (1990) is the first; Silent Night and Creeping Shadows carry the credit Gary Amo. Desert Cat, Royal Cat, Stable Cat, Baseball Cat and Dinosaur Cat followed, and Movie Cat (1999) is the last. Subjects include cats, Big Mike, Penelope Warren, booksellers and Empty Creek, Arizona, an imaginary place.

David Baldacci

71 books• 16 series

David Baldacci is an American novelist, born on 5 August 1960, who trained as an attorney and writes mostly suspense fiction and legal thrillers. The catalogue lists 72 Baldacci books, starting with Absolute Power (1996); All In appeared in 2026 and Boom Town is scheduled for 2027. Recurring leads include Amos Decker, Will Robie, John Puller, Atlee Pine and Aloysius Archer, alongside the Camel Club and the Sean King & Michelle Maxwell books. Baldacci novels have been published in more than 80 countries and 45 languages, with worldwide sales above 130 million copies.

Anne Hillerman

19 books• 2 series

Anne Hillerman continues the Leaphorn and Chee mysteries, adding Bernadette Manuelito to the series that carries all three names. The catalogue holds 20 titles spanning 1973 to 2027 and mixes those Navajo-country mysteries with non-fiction about Santa Fe, including guidebooks, garden and food writing, and Tony Hillerman's Landscape. Shadow of the Solstice is the most recent entry, with Bloodline: A Leaphorn, Chee & Manuelito Novel scheduled for 2027.

William Wallace Johnstone, October 28, 1938 to February 8, 2004, was an American author of westerns, horror and survivalist fiction. The Devil's Kiss opened the run in 1981, followed by The Last of the Dog Team (1981), Out of the Ashes (1983) and Anarchy in the Ashes (1984). Series filed under the name include Ashes, First Mountain Man, Smoke Jensen, Last Gunfighter, Blood Bond and Duff MacCallister, and subjects include outlaws, frontier and pioneer life, revenge and Texas. The catalogue carries 544 titles under the Johnstone name dated 1981 to 2026, well past the 2004 death date, and 400 of them carry a William W. Johnstone credit.

Kyle Mills, born August 26, 1966, is an American writer of thriller fiction. The catalogue holds 24 books, from Rising Phoenix (1997) to Fade In (2025). Terrorism, espionage, intelligence officers and government investigators run through the recorded subjects, and Mitch Rapp is listed among the characters, with Vince Flynn sharing the credit on one title. Mark Beamon and Fade are the series credited to Mills, alongside a set of standalone novels. Mills is still publishing.

Bentley Little writes horror. Thirty-nine catalogued books run from The Revelation (1989) to City Hall (2025), taking in The Mailman (1991), The Summoning (1993) and Night School, also published as University (1994). Most of the list is standalone. Haunted houses, Arizona settings and the struggle of good against evil recur as subjects, at a median length of 389 pages.

Cassie Edwards wrote historical romance set on the American frontier. Her 117 catalogued titles open with four books in 1982, Rapture's Rendezvous among them, and are organised into long runs: Savage, Savage Secrets, Wild Tribes, Wild Arizona, Chippewa and the Dreamcatcher Indian novels. Native American subjects, Ojibwa settings and women pioneers recur throughout. Edwards published with Dorchester, Signet, Kensington and Harlequin, and her output stopped after it emerged that she had extensively plagiarised other writers. The catalogue records titles through 2015.

Lisa McMann

37 books• 7 series

Lisa McMann, born February 27, 1968, is an American author who created The Unwanteds and The Unwanteds Quests for young readers and the Wake trilogy for young adults. The catalogue lists 37 McMann books from 2008 to 2026, beginning with Wake (2008), Fade (2009) and Gone (2010). The Unwanteds (2011) and Island of Silence (2012) are among the titles. Other series include Forgotten Five, Visions and Going Wild. Subjects include twins, magic, superheroes and dreams, and Forever Rogue (2026) is the newest.

Tabor Evans is a house pseudonym used by a number of authors at Jove Books for the Longarm westerns. The Longarm novels follow Custis Long, known as Longarm, a U.S. Deputy Marshal working out of Denver, Colorado in the 1880s. The catalogue lists 464 books, from Longarm (1978) to Longarm and the Model Prisoner (2015), with the 2000s the busiest decade. Longarm Giant is also listed as a series. Subjects include outlaws, frontier and pioneer life, U.S. marshals, missing persons and Wyoming.

Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee are the reservation police officers at the centre of the mysteries written by Tony Hillerman and Anne Hillerman. The combined catalogue holds 28 books dated 1970 to 2025, at a median of 320 pages, from The Blessing Way through Dance Hall of the Dead (1973), People of Darkness (1980), Skinwalkers (1986), A Thief of Time (1988) and Coyote Waits (1990). The 1980s is the heaviest decade, and Shadow of the Solstice (2025) is the newest entry. Readers searching Tony and Anne Hillerman books in order begin in 1970.

Twist Phelan is an American crime fiction writer, known for the Finn Teller Corporate Spy and Pinnacle Peak mystery series and for award-winning short stories. The awards include two International Thriller Writers Awards and the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Crime Short Story of the Year. Phelan also writes the Phee Mahoney Adventure Mysteries. The catalogue lists 14 books from Heir Apparent (2002) to Snowed (2024). Subject tags include women lawyers, law firms, Arizona, kidnapping and human rights workers.