Bakers book series in reading order

by Jenn McKinlay

by Joanne Fluke

by Donna Kauffman

by Kerry Greenwood

by Janet Evanovich

Cozy mysteries with a trade attached are Jenn McKinlay's speciality: a library, a cupcake bakery, a hat shop and a resale business each anchor a series. The catalogue reaches 69 titles between 2002 and 2026, including contemporary romance in the Bluff Point and Museum of Literature books and the Decoupage mysteries written as Lucy Lawrence. Stuck on Murder (2009) and Sprinkle with Murder (2010) start the main cozy runs, and Booking for Trouble is the most recent title.

Joanne Fluke is the pen name of Joanne Fischmann, an American writer born Joanne Gibson around 1943 in Swanville, Minnesota. Fluke is chiefly known for the Hannah Swensen cozy mysteries about a small-town baker, and six Hallmark Channel films draw on that series. The catalogue counts 64 books between 1980 and 2024, opening with The Stepchild (1980), The Other Child (1983) and Winter Chill (1984); the newest entry is Pumpkin Chiffon Pie Murder (2024). Other pen names include Jo Gibson, Chris Hunter and Kathryn Kirkwood.

Ellie Alexander writes mysteries, with subjects that include bakeries, family-owned businesses, Oregon and women sleuths. The catalogue lists 58 books from 2010 to 2027; the earliest, Underneath the Ash (2010), appeared as Kate Dyer-Seeley. Meet Your Baker (2014), A Batter of Life and Death (2015) and On Thin Icing (2015) come next. Series include Bakeshop Mysteries, Secret Bookcase Mysteries, Meg Reed Investigates, Novel Detectives Mystery and the Sloan Krause shorts. The Pumpkin Vice Cafe (2026) is the newest title and A Fatal Frost is set for 2027.

Gayle Trent lives in Southwest Virginia and writes full time, and has also used the pseudonym Amanda Lee for cozy mystery novels. Murder, investigation, bakers and detective and mystery stories run through the recorded subjects, along with Virginia and motion pictures. The catalogue lists 35 books from Photo Finish (1999) to Dressed to Grill (2026), across the Daphne Martin Mystery, Myrtle Crumb, Ghostly Fashionista Mystery, Kinsey Falls, Literatia and Movie Memorabilia series. At least one title carries the byline Gayle Leeson.

Ellery Adams writes murder mysteries, and women sleuths appear among the subject headings. The catalogue lists 57 books from 2006, the year of A Killer Collection and A Fatal Appraisal, to The Liars' Book Club (2026). Named series include the Secret, Book & Scone Society, Book Retreat Mysteries, Books by the Bay, Antiques & Collectibles Mysteries, Hope Street Church Mystery, Supper Club Mystery and A Charmed Pie Shoppe Mystery. Librarians, bakeries and pies are listed there too.

Jenny Colgan

67 books• 19 series

Jenny Colgan is a Scottish writer of romantic comedy and science fiction, born 14 September 1971 in Prestwick, Ayrshire. Colgan has written Doctor Who stories and also publishes as Jane Beaton and J. T. Colgan. Welcome to Rosie Hopkins' Sweetshop of Dreams won the Romantic Novel of the Year award in 2013, and The Summer Seaside Kitchen won the Romantic Novelists' Association Comedy Novel of the Year in 2018. The catalogue lists 67 titles, from Amanda's Wedding (1999) to The Secret Christmas Library (2025), across series such as Scottish Island of Mure, Little Beach Street Bakery, Cupcake Café and Scottish Bookshop.

Victoria Hamilton writes cozy mysteries around collectors, bakers and old houses. Lady Anne and the Howl in the Dark (2009) opens the catalogue, A Deadly Grind (2012) begins the Vintage Kitchen Mysteries, and Bran New Death starts the Merry Muffin books. Puns carry the titles: Bowled Over, Freezer I'll Shoot, Muffin But Murder and No Mallets Intended. Twenty-eight titles run to Masher of Ceremonies in 2026.

Maggie Barbieri writes cozy mysteries with amateur sleuths in ordinary jobs. The Murder 101 series follows Alison Bergeron, a women's college teacher, with detective Bobby Crawford alongside, and runs from Murder 101 (2006) through school-themed titles such as Extracurricular Activities, Quick Study, Final Exam, Physical Education and Extra Credit to 2012. A second series centres on Maeve Conlon, beginning with Once Upon a Lie (2013); bakers and divorced women appear in the subject record. Ten books are catalogued, closing with Lie in Plain Sight (2016).

Janet Evanovich

79 books• 13 series

Stephanie Plum, a bail bond agent turned bounty hunter, is the recurring lead of Janet Evanovich's longest series. Evanovich writes humorous mystery and romance, and the catalogue holds 79 books from Full House (1981) to Split Second in 2026. Other recurring lines include Kate O'Hare & Nicolas Fox, Lizzy & Diesel, Knight and Moon, Alexandra Barnaby and the Culhane Family.

Kerry Greenwood

60 books• 11 series

Kerry Greenwood (17 June 1954 - 26 March 2025) was an Australian author and lawyer. Greenwood's historical detective novels about Phryne Fisher were adapted as the television series Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. Greenwood also wrote science fiction, historical fiction, children's stories and plays, and won the 2002 Davitt Award for the young adult novel The Three-Pronged Dagger. The catalogue holds 60 books, from Feral (1988) to Murder in the Cathedral (2025). Other series are Corinna Chapman, Delphic Women and Three Days.

Donna Kauffman writes contemporary romance, and the site catalogues 70 books from Illegal Motion (1993) to Under a Firefly Moon (2020). Early novels include Black Satin (1994), Bounty Hunter (1994) and Wild Rain (1995), and Loveswept appears among the subjects. Blue Hollow Falls, Cupcake Club, Hot Scot Trilogy, Bachelors of Blueberry Cove, Men Of Rogues Hollow, Glass Slipper, Inc. and Unholy Trinity are among the series. Subjects also include Scotland, advice columnists and romantic suspense.

Laura Jensen Walker started in humour and Christian writing and moved into mystery. The catalogue holds 27 books published between 1997 and 2026, opening with Dated Jekyll, Married Hyde (1997) and reaching The Postmistress of Pudlington (2026). Thanks for the Mammogram! (2000), Mentalpause (2001) and God Rest Ye Grumpy Scroogeymen (2003) sit in the early humour. Six series follow, among them the Getaway Girls, Phoebe Grant, A Bookish Baker Mystery, A Faith Chapel Mystery, the Nightingale Mystery and the Alphabet Girls Mystery.

Shirley Jump writes contemporary romance, and lawyers, physicians, marriage and friendship appear in the subjects. The catalogue counts 85 books from The Bachelor's Dare and The Virgin's Proposal (2003) to Cold Case Disappearance (2024). Series include Sweet and Savory, McKenna Brothers, Barlow Brothers, Stone Gap Inn, Sweetheart Sisters, Rescue Bay and Harbor Cove. The Bride Wore Chocolate (2004) and The Devil Served Tortellini (2005) are among the early books.

Small-town New England supplies the settings for Olivia Miles's romance. 'Twas the Week Before Christmas (2013) opens a catalogue of 49 books that reaches Lost for Love in Italy (2026). Briar Creek, Oyster Bay, Blue Harbor, Harmony Cove, Maple Woods and Sunrise Sisters are among the series. Bakers, restaurants, family secrets and first loves recur as subjects, and the median book runs 235 pages.