Minnesota book series in reading order

by John Sandford

by William Kent Krueger

by Brian Freeman

by David Housewright

by Joanne Fluke

by Elizabeth Gunn

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.

John Sandford is the professional name of John Roswell Camp, an American novelist born on February 23, 1944. Camp is a former journalist and a Pulitzer Prize recipient. The Sandford catalogue runs to 63 books, opening with Rules of Prey (1989) and reaching Revenge Prey (2026), with Ruthless Prey announced for 2027. Lucas Davenport and Minnesota appear among the subject headings, and the series list includes Virgil Flowers, Letty Davenport, Kidd & LuEllen, Singular Menace and the Prey Universe.

William Kent Krueger

30 books• 5 series

William Kent Krueger writes crime fiction set in Minnesota, much of it around the private investigator Cork O'Connor. The Cork O'Connor novels open with Iron Lake (1998) and run alongside Krueger's standalone novels, novellas and short stories to a catalogue of 30 books. Murder, missing persons and Ojibwa communities recur as subjects. Krueger's most recent title is God's Country, and publication continues into 2026.

David Housewright writes mysteries set in Minnesota, led by Mac McKenzie and Holland Taylor. The catalogue records 38 books, beginning with Penance (1995) and Practice to Deceive (1997), and reaching Fear the Reaper (2026). Subjects list private investigators, ex-police officers, Saint Paul and kidnapping, with hard-boiled and police procedural tags. Standalone novels sit beside the two series.

Jess Lourey has 38 books in the catalogue, published from 2006 to 2026. May Day (2006) is the first title on file, followed by June Bug and Knee High by the Fourth of July (2007) and August Moon (2008). Series under the Lourey name include the Murder-By-Month Mystery, Salem's Cipher Mystery and Steinbeck and Reed, plus the Catalain Book of Secrets series published as Jessica Lourey. Subjects include Minnesota, women sleuths, cryptographers and women journalists. The Crying Killer (2026) is the newest title.

Brian Freeman's catalogue holds 31 books, starting with Immoral (2005) and running to Where the Road Ends (2026). Jonathan Stride and Frost Easton are recurring characters, and further series include Cab Bolton and Tess Drake. Police procedurals, missing persons, murder investigations and Minnesota are among the subjects. Stripped (2006), Stalked (2007), The Burying Place (2009) and The Cold Nowhere (2013) are other listed titles, and Freeman is still publishing.

Cork O'Connor, a private investigator in Minnesota, leads William Krueger's mystery series. Nineteen catalogued books run from Iron Lake (1998) to Spirit Crossing (2024), taking in Boundary Waters (1999), Purgatory Ridge (2001), Blood Hollow (2004) and Mercy Falls (2005). Missing persons, Ojibwa characters and Minnesota settings recur as subjects.

LaVyrle Spencer wrote contemporary and historical romance, much of it around widows, second chances and Minnesota towns. The Fulfillment (1979) opens a catalogue of 25 books, followed by The Endearment, Hummingbird, Spring Fancy and The Gamble. The catalogue closed in 1997 with For the Heart and is listed as complete.

Chuck Logan is catalogued with 10 thrillers published between 1996 and 2017. Phil Broker, an ex-police officer, is the recurring figure, and Minnesota is the home ground. Hunter's Moon (1996) opens the run and Broker (2017) closes it, taking in The Big Law (1998), Absolute Zero (2002), Vapor Trail (2003) and Homefront (2005). Undercover operations, commando operations, the Vietnam War and the Iraq War of 2003 to 2011 carry the subject tags.

Garrison Keillor created Lake Wobegon, a fictional Minnesota town, and set much of his work there. Lake Wobegon Days (1985) and Leaving Home (1987) belong to that sequence, which sits alongside the Good Poems anthologies in a catalogue of 46 books. Keillor's subjects run to humorous stories, Minnesota, American poetry and children's fiction. Happy to Be Here (1982) is the earliest title and Boom Town (2022) the most recent, with nothing new since.

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.

Lauraine Snelling is an American author of Christian fiction who has published since 1982. Snelling's historical series draw on Norwegian immigration and the author's own heritage. The Scandinavian-American Hall of Fame inducted Snelling in 2012 at Norsk Høstfest, and sales exceed 5 million copies. The catalogue counts 102 books, from Tragedy on the Toutle (1982) to Fair Are the Meadows (2026). Series include Golden Filly, High Hurdles, Red River of the North, Dakota Plains, Daughters of Blessing and Leah's Garden, with horses, pioneer life and North Dakota among the subjects.

Novels about women, female friendship and community life make up Lorna Landvik's catalogue, much of it set in Minnesota. Her 13 books open with Patty Jane's House of Curl (1995) and include Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons (2003), Oh My Stars (2005) and The View from Mount Joy (2007). Recurring subjects include sisters, beauty shops and coffee shops. Last Circle of Love (2022) is the most recent title, and nothing has followed it.

Leif Enger's catalogue splits in two. The Gun Pedersen Mystery series runs five books from Comeback (1990) to The Sinners' League (1994), following a private investigator in Minnesota among outlaws and fugitives from justice. Outside that series sit Peace Like a River (2001), So Brave, Young, and Handsome (2008), Virgil Wander (2018) and I Cheerfully Refuse (2024). Ten titles are catalogued in all.

Jon Hassler (1933-2008) was an American novelist and teacher who wrote about small-town life in Minnesota. Staggerford, an imaginary Minnesota town, gives its name to his main series and to the 1977 novel that opens it; Rookery State College is a second sequence. Teachers, Catholics, friendship, town custom and Native American life run through 23 catalogued books dated 1977 to 2021, at a median 282 pages. Hassler held a Regents professorship emeritus and a writer-in-residence post at St. John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota.

Peter Murray Hautman, born 29 September 1952, is an American writer best known for young adult novels. Godless took the National Book Award for Young People's Literature in 2004; the book has a teenage boy inventing a religion and a god to go with it. The catalogue holds 34 books from Drawing Dead (1993) to Answers to Dog (2024), including Short Money (1995), Mr. Was (1996), The Mortal Nuts (1996), Hole in the Sky (2001) and Rag Man (2001). Series headings are Joe Crow, the Klaatu Diskos, Denn Doyle and the Flinkwater Chronicles, and subject tags name Minnesota, schools, religion, family life and science fiction.

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.

Susan May Warren writes Christian fiction spanning contemporary and historical romance, romantic suspense, thrillers, romantic comedy and Christmas novellas. The catalogue counts 144 books, starting with Happily Ever After and Tying the Knot (both 2003) and reaching Shadow (2026), with On Thin Ice set for 2027. Deep Haven, the Christiansen Family, Montana Rescue, Montana Fire, the Minnesota Marshalls and True Lies of Rembrandt Stone are among the series. Warren has won the Christy, RITA and Carol awards, coaches other writers, and was named Mentor of the Year by American Christian Fiction Writers in 2009.

Gary Paulsen

181 books• 17 series

Survival and outdoor adventure run through Gary Paulsen's writing for young readers. The catalogue holds 181 books, from Some Birds Don't Fly (1968) to Northwind (2022), at a median length of 105 pages. Brian Robeson, Francis Tucket, Duncan Culpepper, Murphy and the World of Adventure books head the series lines, with non-fiction and picture books alongside. No new Paulsen title has appeared since 2022.

Needlework is the organising idea of Monica Ferris's cozy mysteries, in which Betsy Devonshire runs a small-town needlecraft shop and keeps finding murders. Crewel World (1999) opens the series, followed by Framed in Lace, A Stitch in Time, Unraveled Sleeve, A Murderous Yarn and Cutwork. Nineteen books make up the run, which ends at Knit Your Own Murder in 2016, at a median of 268 pages.

Jack Du Brul is an American techno-thriller novelist, born October 15, 1968, in Burlington, Vermont. Vulcan's Forge (1998) opens the catalogue of 14 books, followed by Charon's Landing (1999), The Medusa Stone (2000), Pandora's Curse (2001), River Of Ruin (2002) and Deep Fire Rising (2003). The Lightning Stones (2015), The Titanic Secret (2019) and The Iron Storm (2025) are later titles. Philip Mercer is the series on the author page, and Isaac Bell also appears among the characters. Geologists, terrorists, weapons of mass destruction, Nazis and treasure feature in the subject tags.

Owen Laukkanen

13 books• 4 series

Owen Laukkanen, born February 20, 1983, is a Canadian mystery writer and the creator of the Stevens and Windermere series. The Professionals (2012), the first novel, was an Anthony Award finalist for Best First Novel at Bouchercon 2013 and made the Kirkus Reviews list of the top 100 novels of 2012. Laukkanen lives in Vancouver, British Columbia. The catalogue lists 13 books, from The Professionals to 11 Paper Hearts (2021), including Criminal Enterprise (2013), Kill Fee (2014) and Deception Cove (2019). How to Win at High School (2015) and The Fixes (2016) appeared under the name Owen Matthews. Neah Bay is also listed as a series.

Stephanie Grace Whitson is an American writer of historical fiction who has lived in Nebraska since 1975 and took her subject from the lives of pioneer women in the West. Walks The Fire (1994) opens a catalogue of 36 books reaching 2024, and the series include Prairie Winds, Dakota Moons, Keepsake Legacies, Quilt Chronicles and Pine Ridge Portraits. Women pioneers, Dakota Indians, women missionaries, quilts and Christian historical romance recur as subjects.

Barbara Longley writes romance, including time-travel and fantasy romance. A catalogue of 20 books opens with Heart of the Druid Laird (2011) and runs to His Heart’s Melody (2024). Subjects recorded across those titles include Scotland, Iraq War veterans, disabled veterans, single mothers, Indiana and Minnesota. Longley's series include Perfect, Indiana; Loch Moigh; Haneys; MacCarthy Sisters; and Star Launch. The catalogue is ongoing.