Bern Fortin Books in Order

Bern Fortin is the kind of mystery lead who has already had one whole life before page one. He is a former Canadian Forces commander who leaves the military and takes a coroner's job in Kootenay Landing, a small town in southeastern British Columbia. He wants quiet, routine, and some distance from the things he saw overseas. He does not get much of any of that.

Kootenay Landing matters as much as any character. Collier has described it as a kind of Kootenay any-town, a fictional place built from small communities near the US border. The valley is fertile, the mountains are close, and the town runs on the usual mix of work, gossip, history, and favors. People grow things. People remember things. People also know more about each other than they say out loud.

And the town is always watching.

In Confined Space, Bern is called to what looks like an industrial accident at the local brewery when a worker is found dead in a bottle-washing tank. Then the worker's girlfriend turns up dead too, and the case becomes something darker. A big part of the book's energy comes from Bern's partnership with brewery safety investigator Evie Chapelle. She cares fiercely about her workers and carries her own load of guilt, which gives the investigation a human scale alongside the suspense.

Peace is not Bern's strong suit.

Open Secret widens the lens. A small-time drug dealer is found shot, a local accountant disappears at the border, and Bern works with police constable Maddie Schilling to figure out how the cases connect. The book leans harder into the region's cross-border tensions, the local marijuana economy, and the private bargains people make to survive. It also pushes Bern's military past closer to the surface, so the ongoing arc becomes clearer. These books are not just about solving crimes, they are about whether Bern can build an honest life without being swallowed by old memories.

The tone sits in a useful middle ground. These are grounded, character-driven mysteries with real stakes and a strong sense of community. They are not cozy mysteries, but they are not nonstop action thrillers either. Collier likes workplaces, gardens, meals, weather, and the ways a landscape can comfort you one minute and trap you the next. That mix gives the series texture.

If you are coming to Bern Fortin for the first time, it makes sense to read Confined Space before Open Secret. There are only two books, but they build nicely on each other. Start here if you like small-town crime fiction, damaged but decent protagonists, and mysteries where the place itself seems to be keeping half the secrets.