Oklahoma book series in reading order

by Susan Rogers Cooper

by Donis Casey

by Curtiss Ann Matlock

by William Bernhardt

by Wendi Silvano

Carolyn Brown, born Carolyn Louise Brown on October 22, 1948, is an American writer of romance and women's fiction. Brown has written more than 100 novels and 8 novellas and has contributed to anthologies. The catalogue holds 153 books from Love Is (1999) to The Purple Thistles (2026), with Taking Sides due in 2027. Texas, Oklahoma, cowboys and ranchers run through the subject headings, and the series include Spikes & Spurs, Longhorn Canyon, Broken Roads, Honky Tonk and Cadillac, Texas.

Susan Rogers Cooper (1947-2024) was an American mystery novelist from Austin, Texas, working in the cosy category. Three series carry the Cooper name: Sheriff Milt Kovak, set in the invented Prophesy County, Oklahoma, and opening with The Man In the Green Chevy (1988); E.J. Pugh; and Kimmey Kruse, whose titles put a comic at the centre, in Funny as a Dead Comic (1993) and Funny As a Dead Relative (1994). Women sleuths, sheriffs and police procedure supply the subject matter. 29 titles are catalogued through Best Served Cold (2017).

Jean Hager is an American writer of mystery fiction, children's fiction and romance, born in 1932, who published romance under the names Jeanne Stephens, Leah Crane, Marlaine Kyle, Amanda McAllister and Sara North. Two of her three mystery series draw on modern Cherokee life in Oklahoma, one following police chief Mitch Bushyhead and the other civil rights investigator Molly Bearpaw. The third is set at Iris House, a Missouri bed and breakfast run by the amateur sleuth Tess Darcy. The catalogue records 55 Hager titles between 1970 and 2000.

Donis Casey is the author of the Alafair Tucker and Adventures of Bianca Dangereuse series, with 12 catalogued books from 2005 to 2021. The Old Buzzard Had It Coming (2005) is first, and The Death of Valentino (2021) is the latest. Subject tags name the fictitious character Alafair Tucker and list Oklahoma, country life, the 1910s, historical mystery and women sleuths. Hornswoggled, The Drop Edge of Yonder, Crying Blood, Hell with the Lid Blown Off and Forty Dead Men are among the titles.

JoAnna Carl's Chocoholic Mysteries put Lee McKinney Woodyard and the chocolate trade at the centre of murder investigations. Carl's catalogue holds 25 books, from Death Down Home (1990) to The Chocolate Raccoon Rigmarole (2021), with the Sam and Nicky Titus and Nell Matthews series alongside. Women detectives and cozy mystery are the standing subjects. No new Carl title has appeared since 2021.

Jim Lehrer

22 books• 1 series

Jim Lehrer (1934–2020) was an American journalist, novelist, screenwriter and playwright. Lehrer served as executive editor and anchor of the PBS News Hour and moderated 12 presidential debates between 1988 and 2012. His fiction drew on newsroom experience, history and politics. One-Eyed Mack is his series, and Oklahoma appears among the subjects. Lehrer's 22 catalogued books start with Kick the Can (1988) and end with Top Down (2013).

The lawyer Ben Kincaid is the recurring character in William Bernhardt's legal mysteries. Primary Justice (1991) is the earliest of 77 catalogued titles, followed by Blind Justice (1992), Deadly Justice (1993) and Perfect Justice (1994), and the listing reaches The Superman Wars (2026). Daniel Pike, Splitsville, Susan Pulaski and the Red Sneaker Writers books are further series. Tulsa, Oklahoma, murder trials and serial murder fill the subject tags.

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.

Romance author Cat Johnson has 98 books in the catalogue, published from 2006 to 2026. Subjects include contemporary, western and erotic romance, military fiction, United States Navy SEALs, cowboys and Oklahoma. Hot SEALs and Studs in Spurs are listed as recurring character groups, and series include Smalltown Secrets, Red, Hot & Blue, Oklahoma Nights, Midnight Cowboys and Maverick Ranch. The first catalogued title is Black Cat (2006); the newest is Cadaver Lab 5: Mind Over Murder (2026). Johnson has also worked as a marketing manager, professional harpist, bartender, tour guide and radio show host.

Contemporary romance set in Oklahoma is the territory of Curtiss Ann Matlock, whose 25 catalogued books run from Crosswinds (1986) to Christmas Comes to Valentine (2016). Matlock writes standalone novels, short stories and the Breen Men series. Earlier titles include Last Chance Café (1987), Miracle on I-40 (1988) and Heaven in Texas (1991), and single mothers, widows and journalists appear among the subjects.

P.C. Cast, born Phyllis Christine Cast on April 30, 1960, is an American romance and fantasy author. Cast writes the House of Night series, which is edited by Cast's daughter Kristin Cast, as well as the Goddess Summoning and Partholon series. The catalogue lists 59 books from Divine by Mistake (2001) to Queen of Shadow (2026), including Goddess of the Sea (2003) and Betrayed (2007). Subjects include vampires, goddesses, magic, time travel and Oklahoma. Other listings include Tales Of A New World, Sisters Of Salem and Moonstruck, and Cast is still publishing.

Brenda Minton writes Christian and western romance, clean and wholesome, often featuring cowboys, single mothers and Oklahoma. The catalogue counts 43 books from The Strongest Cord (2006) to A Valentine's Day Return (2024). Trusting Him (2007), His Little Cowgirl (2008), The Cowboy Next Door (2009) and The Cowboy's Courtship (2010) are among the earlier titles. Series include Cowboy, Martin's Crossing, Mercy Ranch and Bluebonnet Springs.

Elmore Leonard

65 books• 12 series

Elmore Leonard (October 11, 1925 to August 20, 2013) was an American novelist, short story writer and screenwriter. Leonard began with Westerns in the 1950s and moved on to crime fiction and suspense, and many of those books were filmed. The story "Three-Ten to Yuma" became the film 3:10 to Yuma (1957), which was remade in 2007. Anthony Lane, a British journalist, called Leonard one of the best crime writers in the land. Get Shorty, Rum Punch, Out of Sight, Glitz and LaBrava rank among Leonard's best-known works. The catalogue lists 65 titles starting with The Bounty Hunters (1953), plus series featuring Raylan Givens, Chili Palmer, Jack Foley and Carl Webster.

Dorothy Garlock (1919-2018) wrote historical romance, much of it set on the American frontier. The catalogue runs to 63 books published between 1980 and 2017, from Love and Cherish (1980) to The Nearness of You (2017), with the 1980s her heaviest decade. Series include Wyoming Frontier, Dolan Brothers, Wabash River, Route 66, Colorado Wind and the Tucker Family books. Garlock also published as Johanna Phillips, Dorothy Phillips and Dorothy Glenn.

Hardboiled crime fiction is Jim Thompson's territory. Born James Myers Thompson in 1906 and died in 1977, Thompson wrote more than 30 novels, most of them original paperbacks issued from the late 1940s through the mid-1950s, about swindlers, criminals, alcoholics and murderers in Oklahoma and Los Angeles. Recognition arrived late: little noticed in his lifetime beyond Anthony Boucher's reviews in The New York Times, Thompson was rediscovered when the Black Lizard imprint reissued his novels in the late 1980s. The Killer Inside Me, Savage Night, A Hell of a Woman and Pop. 1280 are his best-regarded books, among 33 catalogued titles dated 1942 to 1989.

Carla Cassidy, born Carla Bracale in Kansas, is an American romance novelist who has published since 1988. The first novels carried the maiden name Carla Bracale, later ones the married name Cassidy, and one fantasy novel appeared under the name Carla Cook. The catalogue lists 184 books, from Falling for You (1988, as Carla Bracale) to The Final Victim (2026). Series include Cowboys of Holiday Ranch, Wild West Bodyguards, Scarecrow Murders, Mustang, Montana, Lawmen of Black Rock, Cherokee Corners, Men of Wolf Creek and Kings of Coyote Creek. Subjects include romantic suspense, cowboys, bodyguards and serial murderers.

Carolyn G. Hart writes mystery and detective fiction with women sleuths, and the subject records name Annie Laurance Darling, Max Darling and Henrie O as fictitious characters, alongside booksellers and bookselling, women journalists and murder. The catalogue holds 69 books, from The Secret of the Cellars (1964) to Ghost Blows a Kiss (2021), with the 2000s the heaviest decade. Death On Demand, Bailey Ruth, Henrie O and Nela Farley are the lines on record, beside standalone novels, short stories and non-fiction. No new title has been listed since 2021, so the entry is dormant.

Wendi Silvano writes early readers and picture books, averaging 32 pages a volume. Turkey Trouble is the one recorded series, running to Turkey's Fall Fumble (2026) with Turkey's Leprechaun Trap scheduled for 2027. The wider catalogue holds 113 titles dated 2000 onward, opening with Pancakes for Breakfast and taking in the Duck and Goose books of 2004 to 2006. Holidays supply much of the subject matter: Valentine's Day, Santa Claus and turkeys all appear in the record.

Michele Bardsley is the pen name of Michele Freeman, an American writer of paranormal and contemporary romance born Michele Renee Vail in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on 21 January 1970. Freeman also writes young adult paranormal fiction as Michele Vail, has appeared on the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists, and lives in Texas. The catalogue holds 79 books from 2005 to 2024, including I'm the Vampire, That's Why (2006) and Don't Talk Back To Your Vampire (2007). Series include Broken Heart, Broken Heart Mysteries, Shadow Pack Rules, Violetta Graves Mystery, Diary Of A Demon Hunter and Wizards of Nevermore. Subjects include vampires, single mothers and Oklahoma.

Clifford Spud Johnson writes urban and street literature. The catalogue holds 17 books, from Kalifornia Luv (2009) to Game Changer (2025), and it is still growing. Johnson's series include Gangsta Twist, Hot Shot and Kalifornia Luv. Recorded subjects include organized crime, revenge, drug traffic, African American life, and settings in Oklahoma and Oklahoma City.