Louisiana book series in reading order

by James Lee Burke

by Tony Dunbar

by Kathleen Y’Barbo

by Charlaine Harris

by Barbara Hambly

by Jana DeLeon

by Max Allan Collins

by J.M. Redmann

Dave Robicheaux, a Louisiana detective, is the figure most associated with James Lee Burke, who also writes the Holland family novels around Billy Bob, Hackberry and Weldon Holland. Burke's 49 catalogued books stretch from Half of Paradise (1965) to The Hadacol Boogie in 2026, a span of six decades. Hard-boiled crime in Louisiana and Texas is the core subject. Median length is 387 pages, with the 2000s as the peak decade.

Jennifer Blake is one of five names used by Patricia Maxwell, an American writer in the Romance Writers of America Hall of Fame. Love's Wild Desire (1977) was her first romance novel and became a New York Times bestseller, while the gothic mystery-suspense titles appeared as Patricia Maxwell, among them The Secret of Mirror House (1969) and Night of the Candles (1978). Louisiana anchors several series, from Louisiana History and Louisiana Gentleman to Louisiana Plantation and Louisiana Knights, across 69 catalogued books ending at True Gentlemen (2017).

Kathleen Y'Barbo writes Christian romance and historical fiction, with Louisiana and Texas among the subjects. The 72 catalogued books run from Justin Tempo and Truth Squad (2002) to New Leash on Life (2023), and a run of Bayou titles appeared between 2004 and 2006. Series include Louisiana Brides, Brides of Texas, Biloxi Brides, Fairweather Keys, Secret Lives of Will Tucker and Pies, Books & Jesus. Some work is also grouped under the name Kathleen Miller Y'Barbo.

Stella Cameron was born on December 5, 1943 on the southern coast of England and grew up an avid reader with a parallel love of writing. The catalogue counts 76 books from 1985, when Faces of a Clown and Moontide appeared, to The Playing Fields (2022). Some early titles, such as Love Beyond Question (1985) and Full Circle (1986), carry the name Alicia Brandon. Series include Alex Duggins, Rossmara Family, Mayfair Square, Court of Angels, Chimney Rock, Elliot Brothers, New Orleans PD and Navy SEALs. Subjects span romantic suspense, contemporary and historical romance, murder, Louisiana and the Cotswold hills.

Diana Rowland writes urban fantasy, best known for the Kara Gillian and White Trash Zombie series. Fifteen books are catalogued between 2009 and 2022. Mark of the Demon (2009) opens the catalogue, followed by Blood of the Demon (2010), Secrets of the Demon (2010), Sins of the Demon (2012), Touch of the Demon (2012), Fury of the Demon (2014) and Rise of the Demon (2022), while My Life as a White Trash Zombie (2011) names the second sequence. Before writing, Rowland worked as a bartender, blackjack dealer, pit boss, street cop, detective, computer forensics specialist, crime scene investigator and morgue assistant. She graduated from the 1998 Clarion West Writers Workshop, and in 2005 took first place in the third quarter of the Writers of the Future contest for the short story Schroedinger's Hummingbird. Rowland lives in south Louisiana.

Tony Dunbar is the creator of Tubby Dubonnet, the fictitious character behind one of two Dunbar series; the other is Florida Fables. Subjects on the listing include lawyers, New Orleans, Louisiana, bank robberies, Carnival and Hurricane Katrina. The catalogue lists 16 books starting with Crooked Man (1994), followed by City of Beads (1996) and Shelter from the Storm (1997). Tubby Meets Katrina (2006) comes later, and The Story of the Sarasota Assassination Society (2022) is the newest.

Julie Smith, born November 25, 1944, is an American mystery writer whose sixth book, New Orleans Mourning, won the 1991 Edgar Award for Best Novel. Skip Langdon, Talba Wallis, Rebecca Schwartz and Paul MacDonald are series, and subjects include policewomen, New Orleans, women lawyers and San Francisco. The catalogue lists 31 books, starting with Death Turns a Trick (1982) and ending with The Big Crazy (2019). The Axeman's Jazz (1991) and Jazz Funeral (1993) are listed titles.

Ernest J. Gaines (1933-2019) was an American novelist and short story writer. Gaines was born in Louisiana and spent his early years on the Riverlake Plantation before moving to California and serving in the United States Army. Race, family, community and humanity run through the work. The catalogue holds 13 books dated between 1964 and 2019, from Catherine Carmier (1964) to Three W's (2019), taking in Of Love and Dust (1968), The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1971), A Gathering of Old Men (1983) and A Lesson Before Dying (1993), which won the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction. Four of Gaines's works were adapted as television movies. Recorded subjects include African Americans, race relations, Louisiana, plantation life and fathers and sons.

Sandra Brown

94 books• 11 series

Sandra Brown, born Sandra Lynn Cox on March 12, 1948, is an American author of romance and suspense thrillers. Brown has also published under three pen names: Rachel Ryan, Laura Jordan and Erin St. Claire. The catalogue counts 94 titles from 1981, when Love's Encore and Love Beyond Reason came out as Rachel Ryan, to Bloodlust (2026). Listed series include the Texas! Tyler Family Saga, the Coleman Family Saga, Mason Sisters and Lee Coburn. Texas, widows and murder recur among the subject headings.

Paranormal romance is Christine Feehan's field, with vampires, shapeshifters and the Carpathians recurring across the work. Feehan's 119 catalogued books open with Dark Prince and Dark Desire (1999) and reach Dark Joy (2026). The Dark books head the list, joined by GhostWalkers, Leopard People, Torpedo Ink, Shadow Riders and the two Sea Haven sequences, Drake Sisters and Sisters of the Heart. The 2010s hold the largest share of the catalogue.

Terri Blackstock's catalogue holds 78 books published between 1984 and 2021, beginning with Blue Fire (1984), issued under the name Terri Herrington. Recorded subjects place the work in Christian fiction, mystery and detective writing, romantic suspense, and stories of sisters and of mothers and daughters. Series in the listing include Newpointe 911, Sun Coast Chronicles, Cape Refuge and If I Run. Three titles also carry a credit for Tracy Hughes. No new book has been catalogued since Aftermath (2021).

Sharon Sala has written under the Sharon Sala name and as Dinah McCall, with more than 85 books in print since a first publication in 1991. Sala is a seven-time RITA finalist and a Janet Dailey Award winner, and Romance Writers of America gave Sala its Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award. The catalogue holds 144 Sala titles, from Sara's Angel (1991) to Reckoning (2026). Series include Blessings, Georgia; Mossy Creek; Jubilee, Kentucky; Jigsaw Files; Justice Way; Cat Dupree; Storm Front and Rebel Ridge. Romantic suspense and contemporary romance appear among the subject tags.

Daniel Woodrell (1953–2025) was an American novelist and short story writer. Woodrell set most of the fiction in the Missouri Ozarks among the rural poor, and coined the term country noir for Give Us a Kiss (1996); reviewers then applied it to the rest of the work. The Rene Shade novels came first and take place in Louisiana: Under the Bright Lights (1986), Muscle for the Wing (1988) and The Ones You Do (1988). Eleven titles are catalogued in all, including Tomato Red (1998), Winter's Bone (2006), The Outlaw Album (2011) and The Maid's Version (2013).

Liz Talley writes romance, some of it carrying a suspense thread, and Louisiana and Texas recur among the recorded settings. The catalogue holds 35 books published between 2010 and 2024, opening with Vegas Two-Step (2010) and reaching Hot to Trot (2024). Series under Talley's name include Morning Glory, New Orleans' Ladies, Boys of Bayou Bridge, Home in Magnolia Bend, Cricket Crosby Caper and Oak Stand / Dancing in Texas. Kimberly Van Meter is credited alongside Talley on one title.

Steven Womack is an American crime writer with two series, Harry James Denton and Jack Lynch. The catalogue lists 12 books from Murphy's Fault (1990) to Fade Up From Black (2022). Smash Cut, Dead Folks' Blues, The Software Bomb, Torch Town Boogie and Way Past Dead are among them. Subject tags cover private investigators in Nashville, Tennessee, as well as New Orleans, journalists and computer crimes.

Romantic suspense and police procedural thrillers make up Tami Hoag's catalogue of 38 books, published from Rumor Has It (1988) to Bad Liar (2024). The 1990s hold the largest share of the list. Recurring lines include Kovac and Liska, Broussard and Fourcade, Oak Knoll, Deer Lake, Elena Estes, Quaid Horses, Doucet and the Rainbow Chasers. Serial murder, missing persons and police investigation recur as subjects.

Rumble on the Bayou (2006) is the first of 64 Jana DeLeon books in the catalogue, which reaches Marsh Mystics (2026). DeLeon's series include Miss Fortune Mystery, Ghost-in-Law, Shaye Archer, Mystere Parish: Family Inheritance, Tempest Island and Marina at Midlife. Subjects cover romantic suspense, humorous mystery, murder, missing persons, private investigators, plantations and New Orleans. Early titles include Trouble in Mudbug (2009), Bayou Bodyguard (2011) and Louisiana Longshot (2012).

Charlaine Harris

78 books• 14 series

Charlaine Harris, born Jean Charlaine Harris Schulz on November 25, 1951, in Tunica, Mississippi, is an American author specialising in mysteries. The Southern Vampire Mysteries, Harris's best-known series, became HBO's True Blood, which ran for seven seasons from 2008 to 2014. The catalogue starts with Sweet and Deadly (1981) and A Secret Rage (1984) and reaches The Last Wizards' Ball (2025). Sookie Stackhouse, Aurora Teagarden, Lily Bard, Gunnie Rose and Midnight, Texas are among the series. Vampires, werewolves and women librarians appear in the subjects, and Harris lives in Texas.

Carolyn Haines

99 books• 12 series

A former journalist, Carolyn Haines writes mysteries set in the Mississippi Delta. Born May 12, 1953 in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, Haines also publishes as Caroline Burnes, R.B. Chesterton and Lizzie Hart. Subjects across the 99 catalogued titles include women private investigators, murder, romantic suspense and the fictitious character Sarah Booth Delaney. Series listed under the name include Sarah Booth Delaney, Pluto's Snitch and the Legend of Blackthorn books written as Caroline Burnes. The run starts in 1989 and reaches Joy to the Bones in 2026, and a handful of entries carry another writer's name on a single title each.

Ellen Byron writes mysteries in four series: Cajun Country, the Catering Hall Mysteries, the Vintage Cookbook Mysteries and Golden Motel. Louisiana, bed and breakfast accommodation, family-owned businesses, weddings and carnival sit in the subject tags. The listing holds 22 entries, the earliest dated 1984 and the most recent A Murderer's Guide to Mardi Gras (2026).

Barbara Hambly

119 books• 23 series

Barbara Hambly, an American novelist and screenwriter born August 28, 1951, works across fantasy, science fiction, mystery and historical fiction. The Benjamin January mysteries follow a free man of color, a musician and physician, in antebellum New Orleans. Hambly's other series include James Asher, Darwath, Sun Wolf and Starhawk and the Windrose Chronicles, and the science fiction extends into Star Trek and Star Wars settings. Historical novels about Mary Todd Lincoln and Abigail Adams are also part of the output. The 119 catalogued books run from The Time of the Dark (1982) to Death in the Palace (2026).

Max Allan Collins

199 books• 34 series

Max Allan Collins, born March 3, 1948, is an American mystery writer who also works in comics, graphic novels and screenplays. Collins created the Ms. Tree and Road to Perdition comics, the second of which became a film, and the series characters Quarry, a hitman, Nolan, a thief, and private investigator Nate Heller. Collins wrote the Dick Tracy newspaper strip for years, and the Mystery Writers of America named Collins a Grand Master in 2017. Catalogue entries run from Bait Money (1973) to Quarry's Reunion (2026), with Eliot Ness, Mallory and Disaster among the other series.

Sandra Hill writes historical and contemporary romance, and new beginnings is the theme running through the work. The Reluctant Viking (1994) opens a catalogue of 61 books that reaches Jinx Christmas (2026), taking in two Viking series, the Cajun and Creole Historical books, Deadly Angels, Bell Sound, Jinx and the Tante Lulu Adventures. Vikings, time travel, vampires, angels and Navy SEALs recur as subjects. Hill grew up in central Pennsylvania, attended Penn State and worked ten years in journalism before that first novel.

James Sallis, who lived from 1944 to 2026, was an American crime writer, poet, science fiction writer and biographer. The Lew Griffin novels, set in New Orleans, follow a detective through a series that opens with The Long-Legged Fly (1992); Drive, published in 2005, became a film of the same name in 2011. Sallis also wrote about music, starting the catalogue with The Guitar Players: One Instrument and Its Masters in American Music (1982). Thirty-eight titles are catalogued in all.