Maine book series in reading order

by John Connolly

by Leslie Meier

by Paul Doiron

by Elizabeth Strout

by Elisabeth Ogilvie

Both of Holly Chamberlin's series carry a Maine place name: Yorktide, Maine and Eliot's Corner, Maine. The catalogue lists 23 books from Living Single (2002) to Summer Roommates (2023), including The Summer of Us, The Friends We Keep, The Family Beach House and Summer Friends. Subjects include Maine, mothers and daughters, female friendship, single women, family life and Boston. No title after 2023 is on file.

Jack McMorrow, a journalist working in Maine, is the recurring investigator in Gerry Boyle's mysteries; a second series follows Brandon Blake. Investigative reporting and Maine settings shape the books. Deadline opened the catalogue in 1993, and The Ossuary extended it to 18 books in 2026.

Jacobia Tiptree restores a house in Maine and investigates murders, in the Home Repair Is Homicide mysteries that open Sarah Graves's catalogue. The Dead Cat Bounce (1997) starts a run of 27 books, which continues through the Lizzie Snow novels and the Death by Chocolate mysteries to Death by Chocolate Ladyfingers in 2026. Female friendship, small-town Maine and murder investigations supply the material.

Donald Bain (March 6, 1935 - October 21, 2017) was an American author and ghostwriter credited with more than 115 books over a 40-year career. Murder, She Wrote is the series listed for Bain, and the subjects include Jessica Fletcher and the fictional Cabot Cove, Maine. The catalogue holds 59 books, from Coffee, Tea or Me? (1967) to A Time for Murder (2019), and also lists Veronica: The Autobiography of Veronica Lake (1969).

Sofie Ryan's Second Chance Cat Mysteries put a secondhand shop owner in Maine, and a cat, into murder investigations. Twelve books are catalogued, from The Whole Cat and Caboodle (2014) through Telling Tails (2017), No Escape Claws (2019), Claw Enforcement (2020) and Totally Pawstruck (2022) to Cat Got Your Killer in 2025.

Karen MacInerney is an American novelist with several series to date. Three are cozy mysteries: one about a bed and breakfast owner on an island off Maine, one about a homesteader in rural Texas, and one about a bookseller on the Maine coast. A humorous paranormal series follows an accountant trying to ignore an inherited werewolf gene, and a comic mystery series follows a suburban mother who turns private investigator. MacInerney graduated from Plano Senior High School and Rice University and lives in Austin, Texas. The catalogue lists 44 books from Murder on the Rocks (2006) to Rigged for Murder (2026), with series including Gray Whale Inn Mystery, Dewberry Farm Mystery and Snug Harbor Mysteries.

Paul Doiron is the author of the Mike Bowditch series of crime novels. Subjects attached to the books include game wardens, wilderness areas, Maine, missing persons and murder. The catalogue holds 26 books between 1998 and 2026; the earliest listed title is Eating Between The Lines (1998), and The Poacher's Son (2010), Trespasser (2011), Bad Little Falls (2012) and Massacre Pond (2013) follow. Storm Tide (2026) is the newest entry.

John Connolly

51 books• 11 series

John Connolly is an Irish writer, born in 1968, best known for the novels featuring private detective Charlie Parker. The catalogue opens with Every Dead Thing (1999), followed by Dark Hollow (2000) and The Killing Kind (2001), and lists 52 books to 2026. Other series include Samuel Johnson vs. the Devil, Chronicles of the Invaders and Nocturnes, and The Book of Lost Things appeared in 2006. Subjects include private investigators, Maine, serial murders and fantasy. The Castle is scheduled for 2027.

Janet Chapman wrote paranormal and contemporary romance set in Maine, with Scots and time travel in the mix. Charming the Highlander (2003) opens the Pine Creek Highlanders series, followed by Loving the Highlander and Wedding the Highlander in the same year. Spellbound Falls, Midnight Bay, Puffin Harbor and the Logger books follow. Twenty-six titles are catalogued, the last of them Call It Magic in 2020.

Leslie Meier's listed books run from 1991 to 2026, opening with Mistletoe Murder / Mail Order Murder and reaching Countdown to Christmas Murder. Meier's series are Lucy Stone and Carole and Poopsie Mystery. Lucy Stone appears in the subjects alongside women sleuths, reporters, librarians and Maine. Other titles include Tippy Toe Murder (1994), Trick or Treat Murder (1996), Back to School Murder (1997) and Turkey Day Murder (2000). Meier is still publishing.

Maine is where Barbara Ross sets her mysteries, the Maine Clambake Mystery series among them, where seafood cooking joins murder in the subject tags. The Death of an Ambitious Woman (2010) opens a catalogue of 23 titles that reaches Torn Asunder (2024). Jane Darrowfield and Chief Ruth Murphy head further series, with short stories and non-fiction beside them. Women sleuths and businesswomen recur.

Lea Wait (1946-2019) wrote mysteries for adults and historical fiction for readers aged 7 and up, much of it set in Maine. The Antique Print Mysteries open with Shadows at the Fair (2002) and name Maggie Summer among their characters; the Mainely Needlepoint Mysteries are her other adult series, and Seaward Born and the Maine Murder Mysteries complete the catalogue. Thirty books close with Thread and Buried (2019).

Tabitha King writes novels of marriage, women's lives and small-town Maine, several of them set in the invented community of Nodd's Ridge. Small World (1981) opens a catalogue of 10 books that crosses horror, mystery and thriller territory, and includes Pearl (1988), One on One (1993), The Book of Reuben (1994) and Candles Burning (2006). The Lore series closes the run with Lore: Obscured (2016) and Lore: The Anima (2018).

B.B. Haywood writes the Candy Holliday Mysteries, a cozy series set in small-town Maine. Candy Holliday is a woman farmer who investigates local murders, and each title names a regional food: Town in a Blueberry Jam (2010) opens the run, and Town in a Lobster Stew, Town in a Pumpkin Bash and Town in a Cinnamon Toast follow. Eight books end at Town in a Maple Madness (2017), with town festivals and Halloween recurring.

Will Rees, a weaver in historical Maine, investigates murders through Eleanor Kuhns's mysteries, several of them set among Shaker communities. A Simple Murder (2012) opens the series, and The Long Shadow of Murder (2025) is the most recent of 14 catalogued books, with Death of a Dyer (2013), Death in Salem (2015), The Shaker Murders (2019) and Death in the Great Dismal (2021) between. Kuhns also writes An Ancient Crete Mystery. Volumes median 326 pages.

Stephen King

223 books• 25 series

Horror fiction is the field most closely tied to Stephen King, an American author born on September 21, 1947, and nicknamed the "King of Horror". King's work also reaches into suspense, crime, science fiction, fantasy and mystery, and includes roughly 200 short stories, most later gathered in collections. Carrie (1974) was the debut that set King in horror; Different Seasons (1982), four novellas in one volume, marked the first major step outside it. The catalogue lists 223 books from 1971 to 2026, starting with The Blue Air Compressor, a short story, and reaching Other Worlds Than These (2026). Series on file include Holly Gibney, the Bill Hodges Trilogy, Green Mile, Shining and Talisman.

Elizabeth Strout

11 books• 3 series

Elizabeth Strout is an American literary novelist, born January 6, 1956, and raised in Portland, Maine. Shirley Falls, a fictional Maine town, is the setting of four Strout novels. The first novel, Amy and Isabelle (1998), became a national bestseller and a film starring Elisabeth Shue. The catalogue lists 11 books through The Things We Never Say (2026), including Olive Kitteridge (2008), My Name Is Lucy Barton (2016) and Lucy by the Sea (2022). Amgash and Olive Kitteridge are the two named series.

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.

Death of a Kitchen Diva (2012) is the first title in the Lee Hollis catalogue of 33 books, which reaches The Actor's Guide to Greed in 2026. Series include Hayley Powell Food and Cocktails Mysteries, Desert Flowers Mysteries, Maya and Sandra Mysteries and Jarrod Jarvis Mystery. Women food writers, Maine, amateur sleuths and cozy mysteries feature in the subjects. Further titles include Death of a Chocoholic (2014), Death of a Lobster Lover (2017) and Poppy Harmon Investigates (2018).

Barbara Delinsky, born Barbara Ruth Greenberg on August 9, 1945, is an American romance novelist with 19 New York Times bestsellers. Delinsky has also used the pen names Bonnie Drake and Billie Douglass, and 1982 titles such as A Time to Love are listed under Douglass. The catalogue counts 96 books from 1981 to Tender Loving Care (2024), starting with Surrender by Moonlight and Passionate Touch. Series include Crosslyn Rise, Blake Sisters and Victoria Lesser, and mothers and daughters recur in the subjects.

Susan Page Davis writes Christian romance, romantic suspense and mystery, with 111 books in the catalogue from Protecting Amy (2004) to Dumpsters and Dragons (2026). Breaking News (2005), The Oregon Escort (2006), The Prisoner's Wife (2006) and Frasier Island (2007) are among the earlier titles. Davis series include Maine Justice, True Blue Mysteries, Ladies' Shooting Club, Mainely Romance, Mainely Mysteries, Maine Brides, White Mountain Brides, Alaska Wedding, Homeward Trails, Skirmish Cove Mysteries and Prairie Dreams. Subjects include historical fiction, murder, Maine and inspirational fiction.

Donna Alward is a romance novelist who writes for Harlequin's Romance line. Alward earned an Arts degree in English Literature in 1994, finished a first full-length novel in 2001 and sold a first manuscript in 2006. That debut, Hired by the Cowboy (2006), took the 2008 Booksellers Best Award for Best Traditional Romance. The catalogue lists 82 books through 2025, with subjects including western, contemporary and billionaire romance, ranchers, cowboys, single fathers and Maine. Series include Cadence Creek Cowboys, Jewell Cove, Darling, VT, Crooked Valley Ranch and South Shore Billionaires.

James Patterson

510 books• 73 series

James Patterson, born on March 22, 1947, is an American writer whose catalogue here holds 514 books published from 1976 to 2027. The run opens with The Thomas Berryman Number (1976), and Along Came a Spider (1992) and Kiss the Girls (1995) follow later. Alex Cross, Michael Bennett, Maximum Ride, Daniel X, Witch & Wizard, NYPD Red, Private, Middle School and the Women's Murder Club are among the Patterson series, alongside standalone thrillers, non-fiction and romance. Marshall Karp shares the credit on 5 of the books. Patterson's sales exceed 425 million copies, and Patterson was the first person to sell one million e-books. Forbes ranked Patterson the highest-paid author in 2016, for a third year running, and the National Book Foundation gave Patterson the Literarian Award in November 2015. 27 Stars is scheduled for 2027.

Anita Shreve wrote psychological fiction about marriage, widowhood and friendship between women. The catalogue opens with non-fiction, including Working Woman: A Guide to Fitness and Health (1986), and turns to novels with Eden Close (1989). Twenty-three titles reach The Stars Are Fire (2017), with the Fortune's Rocks Quartet the one linked sequence. No new Shreve title has appeared since 2017.