Mississippi book series in reading order

by Carolyn Haines

by Ace Atkins

by Greg Iles

by Nevada Barr

by John Grisham

by Barbara Hambly

Greg Iles

19 books• 4 series

Suspense set largely in Mississippi is Greg Iles's territory, above all in the Penn Cage novels, which take a lawyer through buried family secrets and murder. Iles's 19 catalogued books open with Spandau Phoenix (1993) and close with Cemetery Road (2019), taking in the Penn Cage and Mississippi sequences and a set of standalone thrillers. The catalogue is listed as likely complete.

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.

John Grisham

65 books• 11 series

Legal thrillers are the core of John Grisham's work. Grisham is an American writer, lawyer and former politician, born in 1955, who studied at Mississippi State University and took a law degree from the University of Mississippi in 1981. The catalogue holds 65 books, running from A Time to Kill (1989) through The Firm, The Pelican Brief and The Client to Shaken (2026). Series include Jake Brigance, Mitch McDeere, Camino Island, Rogue Lawyer and Theodore Boone. The American Academy of Achievement credits Grisham with 37 consecutive number-one fiction bestsellers and 300 million copies sold.

Ace Atkins

38 books• 6 series

Ace Atkins, born June 28, 1970, is an American novelist and journalist whose fiction is set in the southern United States. Crossroad Blues (1998) and Leavin' Trunk Blues (2000) are early titles, followed by Dark End of the Street (2002), Dirty South (2004) and White Shadow (2006). The Ranger (2011) is also listed, and Kudzu (2025) is the latest book. Atkins writes the Quinn Colson, Nick Travers and Jason Colson series, and Spenser appears among the characters on the author page. Mississippi, the United States Army, private investigators and murder investigation feature in the subject tags.

William Faulkner

44 books• 3 series

William Faulkner wrote about Mississippi and the invented Yoknapatawpha County. Soldiers' Pay (1926) is his earliest catalogued novel, followed by Sartoris, The Sound and the Fury (1929), As I Lay Dying (1930) and Sanctuary (1931), with the Snopes Trilogy later. Forty-five catalogued titles, short stories, manuscripts and facsimile editions included, run through reissues dated to 2018.

Shelby Foote (1916-2005) was an American writer and journalist who thought of himself first as a novelist and is now known above all for The Civil War: A Narrative, the three-volume history published as Fort Sumter to Perryville (1958), Fredericksburg to Meridian (1963) and Red River to Appomattox (1974). The fiction runs from Tournament (1949) through Follow Me Down (1950), Love in a Dry Season (1951), Shiloh (1952), Jordan County (1954) and September, September (1978). Foote's roots were in the Mississippi Delta, and the work follows the South from the agrarian planter system to the Civil Rights era. Thirteen books are catalogued to 1996.

Hailey Edwards writes fantasy and paranormal romance, and the catalogue lists 73 books between Everlong (2010) and The Ghost in the Pole Barn (2026). Series include Black Hat Bureau, Araneae Nation, Black Dog, Gemini/Lorimar Pack, Foundling, Beginner's Guide to Necromancy, Potentate of Atlanta, Body Shop, Groom & Doom, Daughters of Askara and Yard Birds. Subjects list Mississippi, angels, agoraphobia, orphans and police. Evermine and Eversworn, both from 2012, are among the early titles.

Mississippi heads the subject list for Michael Farris Smith's work. Eight catalogued books stretch from The Hands of Strangers (2011) to Salvage This World (2023), taking in Rivers (2013), Desperation Road (2017), The Fighter (2018), Blackwood (2020) and Nick (2021). Other subject headings cover American literature, family life, man-woman relationships, missing persons, wilderness survival, dystopias, mystery and detective fiction, the 1914-1918 war and Paris.

Nevada Barr

24 books• 5 series

Nevada Barr is an American writer of mystery fiction, born in 1952. The Anna Pigeon novels are Barr's best known work: Anna Pigeon is a woman park ranger, and the books are set in national parks and other protected areas of the United States. Barr's 24 catalogued titles run from Bittersweet (1984) to What Rose Forgot (2019), and the catalogue also lists standalone novels, short fiction and non-fiction. An Anna Pigeon television series takes the character's name and starts in 2026.

Miranda James writes several mystery series. Cat in the Stacks is one, and librarians, cats and a Maine coon cat sit in its subject tags beside murder and investigation. Forty titles run from By a Woman's Hand (1994), written as Dean James with Jean Swanson, to Something Whiskered (2025). Southern Ladies, Deep South, Bridge Club, Trailer Park Mysteries and Simon Kirby-Jones are the other series. James publishes on.

Amy Lillard has 67 books in the catalogue, from Saving Gideon (2012) to The Amish Rancher's Return (2026). Subjects include the Amish, Christian romance, mystery, widowers and settings in Oklahoma and Mississippi. Series include Wells Landing, Clover Ridge, Amish of Pontotoc, Amish Mystery, Main Street Book Club Mysteries, Sunflower Café Mystery, Mayhem & Magnolias, Cattle Creek, Loveless Texas and Always Texas. One 2013 title, Brodie's Bride, is credited under the name Amie Louellen.

Cynthia Eden writes romantic suspense and paranormal romance, and the catalogue runs from The Vampire's Kiss (2005) to Ice Covered Heart (2026). Subjects include vampires, serial murder investigation, the FBI and Atlanta. Series include Wilde Ways, Ice Breaker Cold Case, Shadow Agents: Guts and Glory, LOST/Last Option Search Team, Killer Instinct, Lazarus Rising, Battling McGuire Boys, Bad Things, Trouble For Hire and Phoenix Fire. Early titles include The Wizard's Spell (2006), Hotter After Midnight (2008) and Midnight Sins (2008). The listing also carries several volumes of the Secrets anthology from 2005 to 2008.

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).

Sweet Savage Love (1974) opened Rosemary Rogers's career and the historical romance line the subject tags call bodice ripper. Rogers wrote 27 catalogued titles through to SAPPHIRE (2020), among them the Legend of Morgan-Challenger books, the Russian Connection and the Logan-Campbell duology. Dark romance, western settings, nobility and alpha male leads mark the subject tags. No new Rogers title has appeared since 2020.

Bill Fitzhugh writes humorous mystery fiction, with 11 books catalogued between 1996 and 2021. Pest Control (1996) is the first. The Organ Grinders (1998), Cross Dressing (2000), Fender Benders (2001) and Radio Activity (2004) followed. Fitzhugh's series are the Transplant Tetralogy, Assassin Bug and Rick Shannon. Subject headings mention assassins, pests, disc jockeys, country musicians, radio broadcasters, Mississippi and private investigators. A Perfect Harvest (2021) is the latest title.