Texas book series in reading order

by Susan Wittig Albert

by Joe R. Lansdale

by Nevada Barr

by Jodi Thomas

by Charlaine Harris

by Jon Land

Jodi Thomas is the pen name of Jodi Koumalats, an American author of historical romance born in Amarillo, Texas. Most of the novels are set in Texas, and Romance Writers of America inducted Thomas into its Hall of Fame in 2006. The catalogue records 70 books, from Beneath The Texas Sky (1988) to Silverleaf Rapids (2025). Ransom Canyon, Whispering Mountain, Texas Brothers, Wife Lottery, Honey Creek, McQuillen and Someday Valley are among the Thomas series. Ranch life, women pioneers and western romance appear in the subject tags.

Elmer Kelton

74 books• 9 series

Elmer Kelton (April 29, 1926 - August 22, 2009) was an American writer of Westerns, born in Andrews County, Texas. Kelton graduated from the University of Texas in 1948, edited farm and ranch news at the San Angelo Standard-Times until 1963, and was associate editor of Livestock Weekly from 1968 to 1990. Kelton's novels won seven Spur Awards and three Western Heritage Awards, and Kelton received the Owen Wister Award for lifetime achievement. The catalogue holds 74 books from Hot Iron (1956) to Law of the Land (2021), including the Texas Rangers, Texas Tradition and Hewey Calloway series.

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.

Cathy Gillen Thacker is an American romance novelist. The catalogue lists 153 books published from 1982 to 2025, from Island of Desire to Stand-In Texas Dad. Texas appears among the subjects, alongside cowboys, ranchers, physicians, single fathers and single mothers, and the romance is tagged as both contemporary and western. Family series under the Thacker name include McCabes of Texas, McCabe Multiples, Lockharts of Texas, Deveraux Legacy and Texas Legacies: The Carrigans.

Joe R. Lansdale

156 books• 24 series

Joe R. Lansdale, born Joe Richard Lansdale on October 28, 1951, is an American writer and martial arts instructor who works across Western, horror, science fiction, mystery and suspense and has also written comic books and screenplays. Lansdale's honours include the British Fantasy Award, the American Horror Award, the Edgar Award and eleven Bram Stoker Awards, and several novels have been adapted for film and television. The catalogue begins with Act of Love (1981) and includes Dead in the West (1986), The Magic Wagon (1986), The Nightrunners (1987), The Drive-In (1988) and Cold in July (1989); Petrified Dreams (2026) is the newest. Hap Collins and Leonard Pine head the Hap and Leonard series, and Texas features in the subjects.

Diana Palmer is the pen name of Susan Kyle, born Susan Spaeth on December 11, 1946, an American novelist publishing romance since 1979. Kyle spent sixteen years as a journalist under the name Susan Spaeth before turning to fiction, and has also written as Diana Blayne, Katy Currie and Susan Kyle, with a science fiction novel as Susan S. Kyle. The catalogue lists 199 books from 1979 to 2026, opening with titles such as Dream's End and Sweet Enemy and reaching Blaze of Glory (2026). Wyoming Men, Soldiers of Fortune, Men of Medicine Ridge and Morcai Battalion are among the series, and Long, Tall Texans is a listed grouping. Diamond Girl became a 1998 television film. Subjects name ranchers, cowboys, Texas, Wyoming and western romance.

Delores Fossen writes romantic suspense and Western romance, much of it set in Texas. The catalogue counts 183 books, from Unbridled (1998) and Saddled (2001) to Crossfire Creek Takedown (2026). Series include Lawmen of Silver Creek Ranch, Appaloosa Pass Ranch, Sweetwater Ranch, Wrangler's Creek, Coldwater Texas, Lone Star Ridge, Last Ride, Texas, Marshals of Maverick County and several Hard Justice lines. Sheriffs, pregnant women and amnesia recur across the subjects.

Sandra Brown

94 books• 11 series

Sandra Brown, born Sandra Lynn Cox on March 12, 1948, is an American author of romance and suspense thrillers. Brown has also published under three pen names: Rachel Ryan, Laura Jordan and Erin St. Claire. The catalogue counts 94 titles from 1981, when Love's Encore and Love Beyond Reason came out as Rachel Ryan, to Bloodlust (2026). Listed series include the Texas! Tyler Family Saga, the Coleman Family Saga, Mason Sisters and Lee Coburn. Texas, widows and murder recur among the subject headings.

Susan Wittig Albert

67 books• 7 series

Susan Wittig Albert is an American mystery writer from Vermilion County, Illinois, who has also published as Robin Paige and Carolyn Keene. Before writing full time, Albert worked in academia and became the first female vice president of Southwest Texas State University. The catalogue lists 67 titles from 1992 to 2024. Thyme of Death (1992) comes first, then Witches' Bane (1993), Hangman's Root (1994) and Rosemary Remembered (1995), and Forget Me Never (2024) is the newest. Series include China Bayles, Darling Dahlias, Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter, Crystal Cave and the Pecan Springs Enterprise Trilogy. Herbalists, Texas and the 1930s feature in the subject tags.

Bill Crider (1941-2018) was an American author of crime fiction. Crider's series include Sheriff Dan Rhodes, private investigator Truman Smith, college teacher Carl Burns, Professor Sally Good, Stanley Waters and Ellie Taine. Subjects tie the mysteries to Texas and extend past detective fiction into westerns. The catalogue lists 75 books from Too Late to Die (1986) to That Old Scoundrel Death (2019). Several anthology and shared-world titles in the listing carry other names beside Crider's, among them Lee Goldberg, William Rabkin and Lyndsay Faye.

William Wallace Johnstone, October 28, 1938 to February 8, 2004, was an American author of westerns, horror and survivalist fiction. The Devil's Kiss opened the run in 1981, followed by The Last of the Dog Team (1981), Out of the Ashes (1983) and Anarchy in the Ashes (1984). Series filed under the name include Ashes, First Mountain Man, Smoke Jensen, Last Gunfighter, Blood Bond and Duff MacCallister, and subjects include outlaws, frontier and pioneer life, revenge and Texas. The catalogue carries 544 titles under the Johnstone name dated 1981 to 2026, well past the 2004 death date, and 400 of them carry a William W. Johnstone credit.

Lori Wilde is the current pen name of Laurie Blalock Vanzura, a Texas-born American writer of contemporary romance who first published as Laura Anthony. The catalogue counts 156 books from Look Alike Bride (1997), issued as Laura Anthony, to A Perfect Christmas Night (2025). Twilight, Texas, Cupid, Texas, Kringle, Texas, Texas Rascals and Moonglow Cove are among the series. Small towns, Christmas, cowboys and Texas recur in the subject tags.

Marie Ferrarella is an American romance writer, born Marie Rydzynski in Germany on 28 March 1948. Ferrarella has also written as Marie Nicole, Marie Michael and Marie Charles, and the novels have been translated into at least seven languages. The catalogue lists 328 books from 1983 to 2024, beginning with Scenes from the Heart, issued as Marie Charles. Series include Cavanaugh Justice, Matchmaking Mamas, Forever Texas, Baby of the Month Club and ChildFinders, Inc. Subjects include contemporary, western and suspense romance, police, physicians, single fathers and single mothers. Cavanaugh Justice: Cold Case Squad (2024) is the newest title.

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.

Larry McMurtry

48 books• 10 series

Larry McMurtry (Larry Jeff McMurtry, June 3, 1936 to March 25, 2021) was an American novelist, essayist and screenwriter. Most of McMurtry's fiction takes place in the Old West or in contemporary Texas, and the early novels Horseman, Pass By (1961), The Last Picture Show (1966) and Terms of Endearment (1975) trace the decline of small-town Texas life. Screen adaptations of McMurtry's work received 34 Oscar nominations and 13 wins. The catalogue lists 48 books from 1961 to Thalia (2017), including the Lonesome Dove and Berrybender Narratives series and non-fiction.

Barb Han writes romantic suspense, with catalogue subjects spanning western romance, police and law enforcement, kidnapping, witnesses, ranchers and Texas. The catalogue counts 113 books, opening with Seducing Avery (2012) and reaching Betrayal at Close Range (2026). Ambush at Close Range is scheduled for 2027. Han's series include Texas Firebrand, Don't Mess With Texas Cowboys, Cowboys of Cattle Cove, Rescue Ridge, Cattlemen Crime Club, Marshals of Mesa Point and Ree and Quint.

Comic crime set in Texas is Ben Rehder's territory. The Blanco County Mysteries feature game warden John Marlin and open with Buck Fever (2002); a second series, the Roy Ballard Mysteries, runs alongside. Rehder has 31 catalogued books published between 2002 and 2026, the most recent being Melt Down (2026). Recurring subjects include deer hunting, hunters, gun control and rural crime.

Livia J. Washburn writes mysteries and westerns, with 57 books in the catalogue from The Emerald Land (1983) to Tourist Trap (2024). Some titles appeared under other names: Ghost River (1990) and Red River Ruse (1991) as L.J. Washburn, Crusade: Lyron's Lament (1995) as Livia Reasoner with James Reasoner, and Rivers of Gold (1995) as J.L. Reasoner. Washburn series include Fresh-Baked Mysteries, Lucas Hallam, Delilah Dickinson, Kingfisher P.I., Evans Novel of the West, Palmetto, Tongue-Tied Witch and Our Town. Subjects include baking, murder, women sleuths, Texas, South Carolina and Phyllis Newsom.

Winnie Griggs writes historical and inspirational romance. Catalogue subjects include Texas, Christian romance, mail order brides, widows, widowers, orphans and marriage. The catalogue lists 40 books, from What Matters Most and Something More (both 2001) to The Heart of Honor (2026). Series credited to Griggs are Texas Grooms, Knotty Pines, Hope's Haven, Everharts of Texas, Sweetbrier Creek and Unexpected Sinclares.

Dave Robicheaux, a Louisiana detective, is the figure most associated with James Lee Burke, who also writes the Holland family novels around Billy Bob, Hackberry and Weldon Holland. Burke's 49 catalogued books stretch from Half of Paradise (1965) to The Hadacol Boogie in 2026, a span of six decades. Hard-boiled crime in Louisiana and Texas is the core subject. Median length is 387 pages, with the 2000s as the peak decade.

Susan Mallery is an American romance novelist born in 1970, whose books are set in small, tight-knit communities and give pets a prominent role. The catalogue counts 201 books from Tender Loving Care (1991) onward, including early titles published as Susan Macias. Series include Fool's Gold, Desert Rogues, Hometown Heartbreakers, Happily Inc., Marcelli, Buchanans, Blackberry Island and Mischief Bay. The Bookstore Diaries (2026) is the newest release, and Friend Request is due in 2027.

Jeff Abbott

23 books• 4 series

Jeff Abbott's crime fiction runs from small-town Texas to the international thriller. Jordan Poteet, a librarian in Mirabeau, leads the first series from Do Unto Others (1994); Whit Mosley and then Sam Capra follow. Assassins, the Mafia and intelligence officers enter with the later books. Twenty-three titles reach January and July in 2026, at 390 pages on median.

Kari Lynn Dell wrote western romance and competed in rodeo. Raised on a Montana ranch, Dell studied sports medicine at Montana State University, taught high school science and worked as an athletic trainer in Texas, and wrote during the summers when school was out. Two series are catalogued, Texas Rodeo and Blackfeet Nation, across eight books published between 2015 and 2020, from In From the Cold (2015) to Relentless in Texas (2020). Cowboys, cowgirls and rodeo performers fill the subject headings.

Fern Michaels was the pen name of Mary Ruth Kuczkir, born Mary Ruth Koval on April 9, 1933, who died on November 12, 2025. The American novelist wrote romance and thrillers, including the Texas quartet, the Captive series, Family Blessings, Pretty Woman and Crown Jewel. Michaels's output passed 200 books with an estimated 150 million copies sold. The catalogue lists 190 titles, from Pride and Passion (1975) to A Season of Secrets (2026). Series include the Sisterhood, Godmothers, Men of the Sisterhood, Lost and Found, Vegas, Kentucky and Twin Lights. Female friendship, vigilantes and revenge appear among the subject tags.