Agnes Barton Senior Sleuths Mystery Books in Order
Part ofMadison Johns Books in OrderSee the Agnes Barton Senior Sleuths Mystery books by Madison Johns in order, with quick summaries, series background, and easy tips on where to start.
Last updated: June 8, 2026
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Publication Order
19 books
Armed and Outrageous
by Madison Johns
2012
Seventy-two-year-old Agnes Barton is no quiet retiree, and neither is her friend Eleanor Mason. While searching for missing tourist Jennifer Martin, they uncover links to an old murder and stir up danger in Tawas.
Grannies, Guns and Ghosts
by Madison Johns
2013
Agnes and Eleanor race to another death scene when Herman Butler falls from a third-story window. Ghost sightings, a possible curse, and a town full of paranormal tourists turn the case wonderfully strange.
Senior Snoops
by Madison Johns
2013
Sent to Florida for the winter, Agnes and Eleanor survive a shooting, a secret packet of cash, and tough questions from Homeland Security. At a retirement village, they stumble into the mystery of two missing maids.
Trouble in Tawas
by Madison Johns
2013
Sheriff Peterson's re-election fight gets messy when his father Hal goes missing. Agnes and Eleanor track him to a casino, only to come home to a suspicious death and a murder charge hanging over Hal.
Bigfoot In Tawas
by Madison Johns
2014
Hired to find Bigfoot, Agnes and Eleanor expect nonsense and a small paycheck. Instead they get mysterious hair, federal agencies, reality show hunters, and a missing man in the woods around Tawas.
Treasure in Tawas
by Madison Johns
2014
Agnes and Eleanor end up in jail after sneaking into Butler Mansion to check whether a painting was stolen. A hidden treasure map, a murdered nemesis, and treasure hunters tearing up town make the case even messier.
Birds of a Feather
by Madison Johns
2015
The Tawas Point Birding Festival brings visitors and excitement back to town. After a deadly accident on Plank Road, Agnes and Eleanor are convinced a real crime has been hidden in the feathers and fuss.
High Seas Honeymoon
by Madison Johns
2015
Agnes and Eleanor set sail with their new husbands for a honeymoon cruise. Their trip goes sideways when they find a woman's body, only for it to disappear before security arrives.
Outrageous Vegas Vacation
by Madison Johns
2015
A free Vegas trip sounds perfect until Agnes and Eleanor are drawn into the murder of a pop star's manager. Hired by the shaken singer, they sort through suspects beneath the strip's glitz.
Camping Caper
by Madison Johns
2016
Agnes and Eleanor expect a rough but harmless camping trip with Martha and the Bonfire Girls. Then a troop leader dies in a supposed ATV accident, and the sleuths suspect murder in the woods.
Undercover Inmates
by Madison Johns
2016
Agnes and Eleanor finally get a real shot at working with law enforcement when they are sent into Westbrook Prison as undercover inmates. A murdered beautician and a looming riot make this their riskiest investigation yet.
Hawaiian Hangover
by Madison Johns
2017
A lottery windfall sends Agnes and Eleanor to Hawaii for sun and snorkeling. Their dream trip sours when Agnes finds a dead scuba guide in the water and the pair end up chasing a killer in paradise.
Scandal in Tawas
by Madison Johns
2017
A Hollywood tell-all sparks excitement in Tawas, especially when a key page is missing. Then actress Sara Knoxville and her friends vanish, and wheelchair-bound Agnes and Eleanor have to crack the case before the trail goes cold.
Tawas Goes Hollywood
by Madison Johns
2017
After a video of Agnes and Eleanor solving a mystery goes public, a director brings a movie crew to Tawas. Before filming can really start, a man is found dead on set and the seniors dive into another chaos-filled case.
Hidden Secrets
by Madison Johns
2018
When Bernice's ex-husband Wilber disappears and is later found dead, Agnes and Eleanor refuse to let their friend take the fall. The case opens onto old hitchhiker disappearances and unsettling secrets from the 1970s.
Alien Attraction
by Madison Johns
2019
Agnes and Eleanor think a UFO has crashed behind the US Gypsum gates in Alabaster. When a strange body turns up the next day, they race to learn whether the case is extraterrestrial nonsense or very human murder.
Easter Eggs and Shotgun Shells
by Madison Johns
2019
While helping Bernice find rabbits for the town Easter egg hunt, Agnes and Eleanor discover a body instead. Their hunt for the killer turns dangerous when it becomes clear someone is stalking them back.
Murder of a Golf Pro
by Madison Johns
2019
Tawas is buzzing over a golf fundraiser until Masters winner Teddy Vaughn is found dead on the greens. Agnes and Eleanor take the case personally when friends Bill and Marjory Hayes fall under suspicion.
Art of Deception
by Madison Johns
2020
When an eccentric art collection opens at Robinson's Manor, Agnes and Eleanor expect gossip, not murder. A dead niece, a missing portrait, and a 1960 disappearance send them digging through Tawas history.
Series background & context
Agnes Barton is the kind of sleuth who makes a small-town mystery series run on personality as much as plot. She is in her seventies, sharp-tongued, stubborn, and not especially interested in staying out of police business. Her closest partner is Eleanor Mason, who is just as fearless and, depending on the day, even less likely to mind her own business. Together they turn the Tawas and East Tawas area of Michigan into a place where every rumor, festival, roadside mess, and family secret might turn into a case.
That setup is there from Armed and Outrageous, where Agnes and Eleanor dig into a missing woman and an old murder, and it keeps growing from there. Some books stay close to home, like Trouble in Tawas, Treasure in Tawas, and Scandal in Tawas. Others send the pair further afield for cruises, Vegas, campgrounds, and Hawaiian trips. Even when the setting changes, the feel stays familiar. Agnes and Eleanor bring Tawas energy with them wherever they go.
Tawas is half the fun.
These books are cozy mysteries, but they are not sleepy. Johns gives Agnes and Eleanor a faster, louder kind of cozy, with bickering, danger, gossip, recurring local characters, and a sheriff who rarely enjoys having them involved. Clem Peterson and the rest of the town form the backbone of the series, so the books work best when read in order. Relationships shift, grudges carry over, and part of the appeal is watching Agnes and Eleanor keep inserting themselves into lives they absolutely should leave alone.
The tone is light, but the cases still matter. Missing people, suspicious deaths, old scandals, ghost stories, oddball local legends, and public events gone wrong are all fair game. Later books lean into bigger hooks, including Hollywood visitors, alien rumors, art-world secrets, and famous golfers, but the heart of the series stays the same. Two older women keep asking questions after everyone else would rather let things drop.
If you want senior sleuths with real personality, a strong sense of place, and a mystery style that mixes humor with constant motion, this series does that well. Start at the beginning and let Tawas get stranger one book at a time.
Edited by
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