Restaurants book series in reading order

by Ellen Hart

Anthony Bourdain

23 books• 3 series

Anthony Bourdain (June 25, 1956 – June 8, 2018) was an American celebrity chef, author and travel documentarian. A 1978 graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, Bourdain spent several years as executive chef at Brasserie Les Halles in Manhattan, and an essay in The New Yorker in the late 1990s launched the writing career. The catalogue opens with Bone in the Throat (1995) and Gone Bamboo (1997), then Kitchen Confidential (2000), A Cook's Tour (2001) and Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles Cookbook (2004). The Anthony Bourdain Reader (2025) is the newest title, and Hungry Ghosts and Get Jiro Graphic Novels are the listed series. Cooking, restaurants and food share the subjects with mystery and detective fiction.

Ellen Hart writes mystery novels around two recurring sleuths, Jane Lawless and Sophie Greenway. Women detectives, Minneapolis, restaurateurs and lesbian characters are standing subjects, and culinary detail runs through the books: Hart worked as a professional chef for 14 years. The catalogue holds 35 titles published between 1989 and 2020, opening with Hallowed Murder (1989) and continuing through Vital Lies (1991), Stage Fright (1992), A Small Sacrifice (1994) and The Oldest Sin (1995). In a Midnight Wood (2020) is the last catalogued book.

Alexander McCall Smith

165 books• 25 series

Sir Alexander McCall Smith, born 24 August 1948, is a Scottish legal scholar and novelist who created The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series. Born and raised in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), McCall Smith was Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh and worked on medical law and bioethics committees. English-language sales passed 40 million by 2010, with translations into 46 languages. The catalogue lists 165 books from White Hippo (1980) to 2026, including 44 Scotland Street, Isabel Dalhousie, Detective Varg and children's titles.

Victoria Hamilton writes cozy mysteries around collectors, bakers and old houses. Lady Anne and the Howl in the Dark (2009) opens the catalogue, A Deadly Grind (2012) begins the Vintage Kitchen Mysteries, and Bran New Death starts the Merry Muffin books. Puns carry the titles: Bowled Over, Freezer I'll Shoot, Muffin But Murder and No Mallets Intended. Twenty-eight titles run to Masher of Ceremonies in 2026.

Carolyn Keene is a Stratemeyer Syndicate pen name, the credit on the Nancy Drew mysteries. Mildred Wirt Benson, one of the writers behind the name, used it from 1929 to 1953 and contributed to 23 of the first 30 Nancy Drew books. The catalogue lists 647 Carolyn Keene books, beginning with The Secret of the Old Clock, The Hidden Staircase and The Bungalow Mystery (all 1930) and reaching Vans & Villains (2026). Series include Nancy Drew Mystery Stories, Nancy Drew Files, Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew, Nancy Drew Diaries, Nancy Drew: Girl Detective and Dana Girls Mystery Stories.

Poppy Z. Brite

29 books• 6 series

Poppy Z. Brite is the former name of William Joseph Martin, an American author born on 25 May 1967 who rose to prominence in gothic horror in the early 1990s through novels and short story collections. Lost Souls (1992), Drawing Blood (1993) and Exquisite Corpse (1996) are the best-known novels. Later work turned to dark comedy, much of it set among New Orleans restaurants, and many characters are openly gay or bisexual. The catalogue lists 29 books from Seed of Lost Souls (1988) to Portrait of a Phantom (2017), including His Mouth Will Taste of Wormwood and Other Stories (1995). Rickey and G-Man is the series on record, and subjects include cooks and New Orleans.

Cynthia Rylant, born Cynthia Smith on June 6, 1954, is an American author and librarian who has written more than 100 children's books across picture books, short stories, novels, nonfiction and poetry. Missing May took the 1993 Newbery Medal, A Fine White Dust was a 1987 Newbery Honor book, and two further titles are Caldecott Honor Books. The catalogue records 229 books from When I Was Young in the Mountains (1982) onward, with series including Henry and Mudge, Mr. Putter & Tabby, Poppleton and the Lighthouse Family.

Gertrude Chandler Warner (April 16, 1890 to August 30, 1979) was an American author who wrote mostly for children. Warner wrote the original book of The Boxcar Children, published in 1942, and the next 18 books in the series. Earlier catalogued titles include The House of Delight (1916) and The World in a Barn (1927), and Surprise Island (1949) and The Yellow House Mystery (1952) came after The Boxcar Children. Orphans, brothers and sisters, and mystery stories are among the subjects. The catalogue also carries Boxcar Children lines such as Adventures of Benny and Watch and Boxcar Children Great Adventure under Warner's name.

Emily Arnold McCully, born July 1, 1939, is an American writer and illustrator known chiefly for children's books. Mirette on the High Wire, which McCully both wrote and illustrated, won the 1993 Caldecott Medal for U.S. picture book illustration. The catalogue lists 88 books, from Maxie (1970) to 1, 2, 3, Pull! (2023), and the Mirette and Grandma series are among them. Subject tags include stories without words, mice, cats, bears, grandmothers, friendship, history and biography.

Casey Daniels is one of many pen names of Constance Laux, an American writer born January 21, 1952, in Cleveland, Ohio. Laux publishes romance under the Constance Laux name and mystery and young adult novels as Casey Daniels, Kylie Logan, Miranda Bliss, Connie Lane, Anastasia Hastings and others. The catalogue lists 44 books from Twilight Secrets (1992) to Of Devotion and Death (2026), including 1993 and 1995 titles published as Constance Laux. Series include Pepper Martin, A Cooking Class Mystery, Dear Miss Hermione and Miss Barnum Mystery, and Pepper Martin is a recurring character.

Charlotte Hubbard, who also publishes as Naomi King, writes Amish romance and Christian fiction. The early titles are historical romances, among them Colorado Captive (1991), Colorado Moonfire (1992), Sahara Splendor (1993) and Outlaw Moon (1994), and the later run turns to Amish communities in Promise Lodge, Home at Cedar Creek, Simple Gifts and the Maidels of Morning Star. The catalogue holds 39 books reaching Miracles at Promise Lodge (2024), at a median of 368 pages.

Sarah Zettel, born December 14, 1966, is an American author working mainly in science fiction. A first short story reached Analog Science Fiction and Fact in 1991, and the debut novel Reclamation followed in 1996 with Fool's War in 1997. Zettel's novels have taken the Philip K. Dick Award and the Locus Award for Best First Novel. Romance novels and mysteries appear under the pseudonym Darcie Wilde, and the novel Bitter Angels under C. L. Anderson. The catalogue gathers 36 titles running to The Abduction of Rosalind Thorne (2026), and Isavalta, Paths to Camelot, Useful Woman Mysteries, American Fairy, Palace of Spies and Vampire Chef are among the series on record.

Cynthia Leitich Smith

21 books• 4 series

Native American lives today are the focus of Cynthia Leitich Smith's fiction for children and teenagers. Smith, born in 1967, is a citizen of the Muscogee Nation, and the catalogue also includes picture books and gothic fantasy for readers 14 and up. Jingle Dancer (2000), Rain Is Not My Indian Name and Indian Shoes began the list. Tantalize, Tantalize Graphic Novels and Blue Stars are the series, with vampires and werewolves in the subjects. Smith hosts a Children's Literature Resources website. On a Wing and a Tear (2024) is the newest of 21 books.

Thomas Keller

12 books• 2 series

Thomas Aloysius Keller, born 14 October 1955, is an American chef, restaurateur and cookbook author. Keller's Napa Valley restaurant, the French Laundry in Yountville, California, has taken multiple James Beard Foundation awards, among them Best California Chef in 1996 and Best Chef in America a year later. The catalogue holds 12 books published between 1999 and 2020, opening with The French Laundry Cookbook (1999) and taking in Bouchon (2004), Under Pressure (2008), Ad Hoc at Home (2009) and Bouchon Bakery (2012). Subjects record French and American cooking, baking, restaurants and cooks. Williams-Sonoma Tools & Techniques (2005) carries a publisher credit rather than an author one.

Lou Jane Temple is the author of the Heaven Lee and Spice Box series, with 10 books catalogued from 1996 to 2006. Subject headings name the fictional character Heaven Lee, Kansas City, caterers, women cooks, restaurants and cooking, and file the books as women-sleuth mysteries. Death by Rhubarb (1996) is the first title; A Stiff Risotto (1997), The Cornbread Killer (1999) and Red Beans and Vice (2001) follow. The listing also includes The Big Platter Cookbook (2004), and Death du Jour (2006) is the newest.