Byrd & Hart Mystery Books in Order

The Byrd & Hart Mystery series begins with One for the Monkey, a fast-moving crime story that brings two very different people together in Oregon. Ashton Byrd, known as Ash, has spent years trying to turn charm, money, and bad decisions into a workable life in Los Angeles. He is a financial adviser to wealthy clients, and he is not above taking a little extra for himself when he thinks he can get away with it.

Then he has to go home.

Ash returns to his rainy Oregon hometown after Larry O’Conner, his father’s former partner and a man Ash sees as an uncle, turns up dead. Larry has left behind a mystery, and whatever he was protecting appears to be important enough for dangerous people to kill over. Ash is suddenly dealing with bullets, family history, and the long shadow cast by his larger-than-life father.

Stephanie Hart enters the story as Ash’s reluctant ride from the airport. She is known as The Streak, and she is not impressed by his money, his confidence, or his tendency to joke when things get serious. Yet she proves capable, brave, and far more involved in the case than Ash first realizes. Their uneasy partnership is the engine of the series.

The books are built around a contrast that can be a lot of fun in a mystery. Ash is smart but slippery, quick with a line, and used to looking for the easy exit. Hart is tougher, more practical, and carrying secrets of her own. Neither has the full picture. Both have reasons to stay out of trouble. Neither gets that option for long.

The Oregon setting is a major part of the mood. Ash’s polished Los Angeles persona does not fit neatly back into the place he left behind, especially when old relationships and old grief start demanding attention. The story moves from familiar local spaces into a larger conspiracy, with the personal question of what Larry died protecting at its center.

One for the Monkey is a modern mystery thriller with banter, danger, and a partnership that starts under pressure. The case brings together questions about family loyalty, missing information, powerful people, and the possibility that a person can change, though usually not without being dragged through a very bad week first.

This is a new series, so the starting point is easy.

Begin with One for the Monkey. It introduces Ash Byrd, Stephanie Hart, their connection to Larry O’Conner’s death, and the secrets that give the Byrd and Hart partnership somewhere to go.