Seattle (Wash.) book series in reading order

by G.M. Ford

by Leslie Ann Budewitz

by Robert Dugoni

by Kat Richardson

by Barry Eisler

Two mystery series carry most of Mary Daheim's catalogue: the Bed-and-Breakfast books around Judith McMonigle Flynn, and the Emma Lord novels about a newspaper publisher in Washington state. Eighty-four titles are catalogued between The Royal Mile (1983) and Lady MacDeath in 2020, with historical romances among the early work. The 1990s were the densest decade.

J.A. Jance writes mysteries and police procedurals, with J.P. Beaumont, Joanna Brady and Ali Reynolds as recurring leads. The catalogue lists 82 books, starting with After the Fire (1984) and Until Proven Guilty (1985). The Taken Ones arrived in 2026, and Smoke and Mirrors is scheduled for 2027. Subjects include sheriffs, policewomen and women sleuths, and the Joanna Brady books form a named series alongside Jance's standalone novels.

G.M. Ford writes hard-boiled mysteries, with Seattle and Washington State among the settings, across 21 books from 1995 to 2019. Ford's two series feature Leo Waterman and Frank Corso, and private investigators and journalists appear among the subjects. Who In Hell Is Wanda Fuca? (1995) is the first title, followed by books such as The Bum's Rush (1997), Fury (2001) and Black River (2002). Heavy on the Dead (2019) is the last catalogued book.

Earl Emerson, born in Tacoma in 1948, writes mystery novels and thrillers across two series: the Thomas Black detective books and the Mac Fontana books. Poverty Bay took the Shamus Award for Best Private Eye Novel from the Private Eye Writers of America in 1986, and Emerson's work has been nominated for an Edgar. Emerson serves as a lieutenant with the Seattle Fire Department and lives in North Bend, Washington. Twenty-seven books are catalogued, from Fill The World With Phantoms (1979) to Jackson Street (2017); Seattle, Washington State and firefighting recur as subjects.

Debbie Macomber

245 books• 35 series

Debbie Macomber, born October 22, 1948, is an American author of romance novels and contemporary women's fiction. Six Macomber novels became made-for-TV movies, and the Cedar Cove novels became a television series of the same name, with Macomber serving as executive producer on the adaptations. Macomber won the first fan-voted Quill Award for romance in 2005 and holds a RITA Award and a lifetime achievement award from the Romance Writers of America. The catalogue counts 245 books between Starlight (1983) and A Date with Santa (2026). Series include Heart of Texas, Midnight Sons, Navy, Those Manning Men, Orchard Valley and Angels Everywhere.

Robert Dugoni writes legal thrillers and murder investigations, with 33 books in the catalogue from The Cyanide Canary (2004) to One Split Second (2026). Dugoni's series are Tracy Crosswhite, David Sloane, Charles Jenkins and Keera Duggan, alongside standalone novels and non-fiction. My Sister's Grave (2014) and Her Final Breath (2015) are among the listed titles. Subject tags point to Seattle and San Francisco, lawyers, conspiracies, women detectives and fathers and sons.

Aaron Elkins, born in Brooklyn on 24 July 1935, is an American mystery writer. The novels featuring forensic anthropologist Gideon Oliver, the skeleton detective, are the best known part of the catalogue, which also runs the Lee Ofsted series, the Chris Norgren Mysteries, the Alix London series and standalone novels. The catalogue lists 35 books, from Fellowship of Fear (1982) to A Long Time Coming (2018). Subjects include college teachers, women golfers and Seattle.

Kevin O'Brien writes American thrillers about serial murderers, mostly set around Seattle and Portland. O'Brien grew up on Chicago's North Shore, studied journalism at Marquette University, moved to Seattle in 1980 and worked as a railroad inspector, writing his first novel in hotel rooms along the way. That novel, Only Son (1997), was optioned for film by Tom Hanks and picked up by Reader's Digest for its Select Editions alongside John Grisham, Nicholas Sparks and Barbara Delinsky. Twenty-three books follow through Everyone a Stranger (2025).

C.E. Murphy

55 books• 16 series

C.E. Murphy is the main byline of Catherine E. Murphy, an American-born fantasy and romance author based in Ireland and born June 1, 1973. Murphy's series include the Walker Papers, The Negotiator Trilogy and the Inheritors' Cycle, and The Strongbox Chronicles appeared under a pseudonym. Murphy has also written the graphic novel Take a Chance. The catalogue lists 55 books from The Cardinal Rule (2005) to Bone & Blood (2026), including Urban Shaman (2005), Thunderbird Falls (2006) and Heart of Stone (2007). Subjects include women shamans, policewomen, Seattle, demoniac possession and paranormal romance.

Leslie Ann Budewitz writes mysteries with women sleuths, and her two series are the Food Lovers' Village Mystery and the Spice Shop Mystery. Montana, Seattle and family-owned businesses appear among the subjects. The 22 books open with Books, Crooks and Counselors (2011), and criminal law and crime writing are listed topics. Punning titles follow, such as Death Al Dente (2013) and Guilty as Cinnamon (2015), through Lavender Lies Bleeding (2025).

Jennifer Hillier is a Canadian thriller writer of Filipino descent, born and raised in Toronto, who lived in Seattle for eight years and now lives in Oakville, Ontario. The catalogue holds 8 Hillier books: Creep (2011), Freak (2012), The Butcher (2014), Wonderland (2015), Jar of Hearts (2018), Little Secrets (2020), Things We Do in the Dark (2022) and Heart of Glass (2026). Jar of Hearts won the 2019 International Thriller Writers Award for Hardcover Novel, and Things We Do in the Dark took the ITW Award for Best Audiobook in 2023. Serial Killer Files is the series listed.

Jayne Ann Krentz, born Jayne Castle on 28 March 1948 in Cobb, California, is an American romance novelist with New York Times bestsellers under seven pseudonyms. Three names remain in use: Krentz for contemporary romantic suspense, Amanda Quick for historical romantic suspense and Jayne Ann Castle for futuristic and paranormal romantic suspense. More than 35 million copies are in print. The catalogue lists 205 books, from Vintage of Surrender (1979, as Jayne Castle) to Enter the Nightmare (2026), with The Book Hunter due in 2027. Early titles also appeared as Jayne Bentley, Jayne Taylor and Stephanie James. Series include Burning Cove, Eclipse Bay and the Dreamlight Trilogy.

Lori Copeland, born June 12, 1941, is an American novelist with more than 95 books, who wrote romance before moving to Christian fiction. The catalogue records 101 books from 1983, the year of A Tempting Stranger and Playing for Keeps, to Barefoot Hearts (2020). Series include Heavenly Daze, Men of the Saddle, Amish of Apple Grove, Sisters of Mercy Flats, Morning Shade Mysteries and Belles of Timber Creek. Westerns, historical romance, widows and Texas appear in the subjects.

Richelle Mead

42 books• 10 series

Richelle Mead is an American fantasy author, born November 12, 1976, known for the Georgina Kincaid, Vampire Academy, Bloodlines and Dark Swan series. The catalogue lists 42 Mead books from 2007 to 2018. Succubus Blues and Vampire Academy both appeared in 2007, followed by Frostbite, Shadow Kiss and Storm Born in 2008. Subjects include vampires, demonology, alchemists, magic and high schools. The Emerald Sea (2018) is the newest title, and the listing is likely complete. Glittering Court and Age Of X are among the other series.

Lauren Dane writes romance across paranormal, erotic and fantasy strands, with witches, vampires and magic among the recorded subjects. The catalogue holds 87 books published between 2005 and 2024, opening with A Touch of Fae and Triad in 2005 and reaching Blood and Magic in 2024. Series include the Cascadia Wolves, the Witches Knot, the Brown Family, De La Vega Cats, Bound By Magick, Diablo Lake and Whiskey Sharp. All 87 books are credited to Dane alone.

The Violets of March and The Bungalow, both 2011, open Sarah Jio's catalogue of 11 novels, which reaches 2025 and continues. Jio writes women's fiction with mystery and romance running through it, at a median 290 pages. Recurring subjects include women journalists, Seattle, fate, marriages, older women and life-changing events. Jio, born in 1978, worked as an American journalist and has reached the New York Times bestseller list.

Maria Semple

4 books

Maria Semple is an American novelist and screenwriter whose television credits take in Beverly Hills, 90210, Mad About You, Arrested Development and Saturday Night Live. Four novels are catalogued: This One Is Mine (2008), Where'd You Go, Bernadette (2012), Today Will Be Different (2016) and Go Gentle (2026). An Alex Award came to Semple in 2013. Family life, mothers and daughters, missing persons and humour set in Seattle and Hollywood are the recurring subjects, and roughly six years separate one novel from the next.

Bharti Kirchner is an American writer of novels and cookbooks, publishing since 1992. The catalogue lists 14 books, opening with Healthy Cuisine of India: Recipes from the Bengal Region (1992) and reaching Murder at Jaipur (2023). Other titles include Shiva Dancing (1998) and Darjeeling (2002), and the catalogue lists the Maya Mallick Mystery series. Kirchner also writes articles and essays on food, travel, fitness and lifestyle. Kirchner has won two Seattle Arts Commission literature grants and an Artist Trust GAP grant, and the work has been translated into German, Dutch, Spanish, Marathi and Thai. Before writing, Kirchner was a systems engineer at IBM and a systems manager at Bank of America in San Francisco.

Kat Richardson

13 books• 3 series

Kat Richardson, born in 1964, is an American author whose best-known work is the Greywalker urban fantasy series. Harper Blaine is listed in the subject headings as a fictitious character, alongside women private investigators, Seattle, vampires and near-death experiences. Thirteen books are catalogued between 2006 and 2026, from Greywalker (2006) to Ghost Image (2026), taking in Poltergeist (2007), Underground (2008), Labyrinth (2010), Downpour (2011) and Revenant (2014). A second entry, Greywalker Short Stories/Novellas, sits beside the main run.

Brenda Wilbee writes historical and religious fiction, and the recorded subjects place the work among women pioneers, frontier and pioneer life, Christian women, religious life, shipwreck survival, Seattle and Washington state. Nine books carry the Wilbee credit, beginning with Sweetbriar (1983) and reaching Skagway It's All About The Gold (2013). Six of the titles carry the Sweetbriar name, and Sweetbriar is catalogued as a series under the same credit. The others are Shipwreck! (1991) and Taming The Dragons (1992). The median recorded length is 254 pages across all nine.