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Dana Stabenow Books in Order

This page collects all of Dana Stabenow's books in order, with reading lists for every series, brief plot summaries, background on her Alaska settings, and guidance on the best place to start.

Last updated: June 7, 2026

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Dana Stabenow books in publication order

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50 books

A Handful of Stars

by Dana Stabenow

1991

With Ellfive newly independent but deeply in debt, Star Svensdotter heads a prospecting mission to the asteroid belt, hoping to secure the colony's future. Out on the anarchic frontier, her crew faces dangerous rivals, hidden agendas and choices that will shape humanity's expansion into space.

Second Star

by Dana Stabenow

1991

Engineer Esther "Star" Svensdotter is racing to finish Ellfive, a giant orbital habitat that will give Earth its first permanent foothold in space, while fending off terrorists, political power plays and a potentially rogue artificial intelligence that could jeopardize everything.

A Cold Day For Murder

by Dana Stabenow

1992

Ex Anchorage district attorney investigator Kate Shugak is pulled out of her remote homestead when a young park ranger disappears in the Alaskan wilderness, followed by the man sent to find him. Tracking both missing men forces her back into old loyalties and very present dangers.

A Fatal Thaw

by Dana Stabenow

1992

On the first day of spring, a local man goes on a shooting spree that leaves nine people dead, but ballistics show one victim was killed by someone else. Kate must untangle the massacre's true target before the trail disappears with the snow.

Dead in the Water

by Dana Stabenow

1993

Working undercover on a crab boat in the brutal waters of the Bering Sea, Kate hunts for answers to the disappearance of two crewmen. Life on board is deadly enough, but someone on the Avilda is willing to kill again to keep their secrets.

A Cold-Blooded Business

by Dana Stabenow

1994

Infiltrating an Arctic oil company as a safety officer, Kate investigates a rash of suspicious accidents tied to cocaine running along the pipeline. Between whiteouts, roughnecks and corporate spin, she has to expose a killer without blowing her cover.

Play with Fire

by Dana Stabenow

1995

After stumbling over a burned corpse while camping in the Alaskan bush, Kate follows the trail into a closed religious community deep in the forest, where obsession, secrecy and old grudges smolder just as dangerously as the fire that killed one of their own.

Red Planet Run

by Dana Stabenow

1995

Star Svensdotter accepts a commission to survey mysterious ruins on Mars, packing up her restless twin daughters for the trip. What begins as a scientific survey turns perilous when space pirates, political intrigue and an enigmatic artifact suggest why earlier missions never came home.

Blood Will Tell

by Dana Stabenow

1996

At her grandmother's insistence, Kate travels to Anchorage to look into a series of sudden deaths among Native Association board members just before a crucial land vote, uncovering a maze of tribal politics, family rivalries and high stakes development deals.

Breakup

by Dana Stabenow

1997

In the chaos of Alaska's spring thaw, Kate juggles marauding wildlife, small town feuds, a plane crash that nearly lands in her front yard and, as the last of the snow melts, a corpse that turns a season of mischief into a murder investigation.

Fire And Ice

by Dana Stabenow

1998

Disgraced Alaska State Trooper Liam Campbell arrives in the tiny fishing town of Newenham hoping for a fresh start, only to find his former lover Wy Chouinard crouched over a decapitated body on the runway. His first day on the job becomes a test of loyalty and nerve.

Killing Grounds

by Dana Stabenow

1998

While working as a deckhand on Old Sam's salmon tender, Kate hauls a despised fisherman out of the water, beaten, stabbed, strangled and drowned. Sorting through feuding families, strike tension and village gossip, she has to decide who hated him enough to overkill.

Hunter's Moon

by Dana Stabenow

1999

Kate and her partner Jack agree to help guide a luxury hunting trip for German executives, only to find the remote camp turning into a killing ground. When accidents start thinning the party, Kate realizes someone is stalking both predators and guides.

So Sure Of Death

by Dana Stabenow

1999

Still rebuilding his life in Newenham, Liam investigates the slaughter of an entire family on their fishing boat, a case that forces him to confront secrets buried along the coast and the complicated ties between Native villages, commercial fleets and big money.

Midnight Come Again

by Dana Stabenow

2000

Broken by a personal tragedy, Kate disappears into a new identity in a remote coastal town, hauling freight for a bush airline. When trooper Jim Chopin arrives undercover on a case involving stolen plutonium and the Russian mob, their paths collide in a dangerous investigation.

Nothing Gold Can Stay

by Dana Stabenow

2000

A seemingly straightforward robbery gone wrong escalates when more bodies turn up, all linked to old events Liam thought were long past. As the death toll rises, he must trace a pattern stretching back years, even as his growing relationship with Wy makes the stakes painfully personal.

The Singing of the Dead

by Dana Stabenow

2001

Hired as security for a Native candidate running for state senate, Kate shadows the campaign across Alaska. After a staffer is murdered, her search for motive leads her back to a notorious gold rush killing, where buried history may be shaping modern politics.

A Fine and Bitter Snow

by Dana Stabenow

2002

When plans to open drilling in a nearby wildlife preserve split Kate's community, she tries to stay above the fight. Then a conservation advocate is poisoned and a park ranger loses his job, pulling her into a case where environmental ideals and hard economics collide.

Better To Rest

by Dana Stabenow

2002

A dismembered hand found in glacier ice leads Liam to a crashed World War II transport plane and a mystery frozen for sixty years. Digging into the manifest pits him against his own Air Force colonel father and uncovers wartime secrets some people would still kill to protect.

A Grave Denied

by Dana Stabenow

2003

As the summer ice recedes, a handyman everyone vaguely knew but nobody really knew turns up frozen and shot in a glacier's path. Asked to investigate, Kate digs into Len Dreyer's shadowy past, only to find unexpected danger much closer to home.

Alaska Women Write

by Dana Stabenow

2003

An anthology of essays and stories by women who live and work in Alaska, from pilots and teachers to pipeline hands and river guides. Edited by Stabenow, the collection showcases candid, funny and sometimes harrowing slices of life on the so called Last Frontier.

A Taint in the Blood

by Dana Stabenow

2004

Decades after a wealthy Anchorage woman was convicted of burning her house with her sons inside, her daughter hires Kate to clear her name before terminal cancer claims her. Reopening the case stirs up old money, buried scandals and people willing to kill to keep history buried.

Powers of Detection

by Dana Stabenow

2004

An anthology of original stories that blend mystery and fantasy, where investigators wield magic as readily as logic. Edited by Stabenow, it features authors from across the genres exploring murders in enchanted schools, supernatural courtrooms and other worlds beyond the ordinary.

The Collected Short Stories

by Dana Stabenow

2004

A genre spanning collection of sixteen short stories, plus essays, that move from modern Alaska to Mars and a fantasy kingdom. Kate Shugak, Liam Campbell and other recurring characters share space with stand alone tales that showcase Stabenow's range.

Blindfold Game

by Dana Stabenow

2005

A CIA analyst tracing rumors of black market plutonium realizes a hijacked freighter is headed toward North America, straight into the patrol zone of the Coast Guard cutter Sojourner Truth. With his estranged wife serving as the cutter's executive officer, stopping the ship becomes both a national and personal mission.

A Deeper Sleep

by Dana Stabenow

2006

Career abuser Louis Deem has beaten every charge ever brought against him, including a recent murder case Kate helped build. When a new double homicide suggests he has struck again, Kate and trooper Jim Chopin must find a way to stop a man the courts keep turning loose.

At the Scene of the Crime

by Dana Stabenow

2008

A forensic themed anthology gathered by Martin H. Greenberg, with an introduction and a Liam Campbell short story from Stabenow. Each tale turns on the science, and limitations, of evidence at crime scenes ranging from high tech labs to lonely back roads.

Prepared For Rage

by Dana Stabenow

2008

A vengeful terrorist targets a space shuttle launch in Florida, seeing it as the ultimate symbol of American power. As Coast Guard captain Cal Schuyler, astronaut Kenai Munro and FBI analyst Patrick Chisholm try to secure the mission, threads from distant battlefields converge on one morning's countdown.

Unusual Suspects

by Dana Stabenow

2008

A follow up anthology to Powers of Detection, collecting new tales in which detectives confront ghosts, dragons, trickster gods and even Santa on holiday. Stabenow curates a mix of mystery and fantasy that sends investigators across strange realms in search of justice.

Whisper to the Blood

by Dana Stabenow

2009

A large mining company begins buying up land around Niniltna, promising jobs but bringing tension and protest. After two brutal killings and a series of snowmobile attacks, Kate, now head of the local Native Association, has to decide whom to trust as money, power and tradition collide.

A Night Too Dark

by Dana Stabenow

2010

When people tied to the controversial Suulutaq gold mine start vanishing, from disillusioned miners to local activists, Kate and Jim fear something more than accidents is at work. A discovered body, and then a missing identity, draw them into the mine's darkest secrets.

Though Not Dead

by Dana Stabenow

2010

After beloved patriarch Old Sam Dementieff dies, he leaves Kate his estate and a simple request: find my father. Chasing the mystery of Sam's missing parent and a stolen Russian icon takes her through a century of Alaskan history and puts her in the sights of someone desperate to keep the past hidden.

Alaska Traveler

by Dana Stabenow

2012

Drawn from Stabenow's longtime travel columns, this nonfiction collection visits ferries, fishing towns, Iditarod checkpoints and backcountry trails across the state. It offers an affectionate, boots on the ground portrait of Alaska in all seasons, far beyond standard tourist routes.

Restless in the Grave

by Dana Stabenow

2012

When aviation entrepreneur Finn Grant dies in a sabotaged plane crash, nearly everyone in southwestern Alaska has a motive, including Liam Campbell's pilot wife. Liam calls on Kate to go undercover in Grant's world of charter flights and shady freight, where business secrets and family loyalties turn deadly.

Bad Blood

by Dana Stabenow

2013

A long simmering feud between the neighboring villages of Kushtaka and Kuskulana erupts after a young man is found dead in a fish wheel. As accusations fly and another suspicious death follows, Kate must unpick a century of grievances before the river runs with more blood.

Inherit the Dead

by Jonathan Santlofer, Mark Billingham, Lawrence Block, CJ Box, Ken Bruen, Alafair Burke, Stephen L Carter, Marcia Clark, Max Allan Collins, John Connolly, James Grady, Heather Graham, Bryan Gruley, Charlaine Harris, Val McDermid, SJ Rozan, Dana Stabenow, Lisa Unger, Sarah Weinman, Lee Child & Christopher Evan Welch

2013

Disgraced former cop Perry Christo, now a private investigator, is hired to find the wealthy daughter of an Upper East Side socialite. The search moves through wintry New York and the Hamptons in a serial noir novel written chapter by chapter by twenty mystery authors.

By the Shores of the Middle Sea

by Dana Stabenow

2014

Separated from her companions and held in a Persian harem, Johanna fights to regain her freedom while Jaufre, left for dead in the mountains, struggles to catch up. Their journey across Central Asia toward Gaza and the Mediterranean is shadowed by war, betrayal and new alliances.

Everything Under the Heavens

by Dana Stabenow

2014

In 1322 Beijing, Wu Johanna, granddaughter of Marco Polo, finds her future in peril after her father's death and her stepmother's scheming. Joining her uncle's caravan, she flees west along the Silk Road, determined to reach Venice and claim a place in her grandfather's world.

The Land Beyond

by Dana Stabenow

2015

Having finally reached the fabled cities on the Middle Sea, Johanna and her ragtag family must navigate Venetian politics, shifting loyalties and a risky new venture that could secure their future. Kidnapping, royal intrigue and hard choices test how far she will go to build a home.

Less than a Treason

by Dana Stabenow

2017

A geologist disappears while prospecting near the Suulutaq Mine, and a group of lost hikers literally stumbles over human bones in Kate's backyard mountains. Still recovering from a gunshot wound, Kate is drawn back into the Park's business as the missing and the dead slowly connect.

Death of an Eye

by Dana Stabenow

2018

In 47 BC Alexandria, Cleopatra's trusted fixer Tetisheri is summoned after the queen's previous Eye of Isis is murdered and a shipment of new coin vanishes. Untangling the theft forces her through taverns, temples and palaces where nothing and no one is quite what they seem.

No Fixed Line

by Dana Stabenow

2019

In the midst of a relentless New Year's blizzard, a small plane crashes in the Quilak Mountains. Jim Chopin is called out to recover bodies, but instead finds two traumatized children. As Kate tries to learn who they are and who wanted them dead, an accusation from beyond the grave threatens to upend life in the Park.

On Patrol with the US Coast Guard

by Dana Stabenow

2021

In this nonfiction companion, Stabenow recounts two extended research trips aboard Coast Guard cutters in the Bering Sea and eastern Pacific, offering an inside look at rescues, drug interdictions and daily life at sea that later informed her maritime thrillers.

Spoils of the Dead

by Dana Stabenow

2021

Transferred to the quirky town of Blewestown, Liam barely has time to unpack before an archaeologist is murdered at a dig that may rewrite local history. When the remains of a long missing boy are also uncovered, he must balance small town politics, land battles and very old grief.

Disappearance of a Scribe

by Dana Stabenow

2022

In post civil war Alexandria, bodies are found standing upright on the harbor floor, weighted to the seabed. Cleopatra sends Tetisheri to learn who they were and why they were killed, drawing her into the worlds of scribes, builders and officials reshaping the city.

Theft of an Idol

by Dana Stabenow

2022

When Herminia, Alexandria's most beloved actress, disappears before a major performance, Cleopatra orders Tetisheri to find her. The search drags Tetisheri from glittering theaters to the city's poorest quarters and into a plot fueled by poverty, resentment and the hunger for spectacle.

Not the Ones Dead

by Dana Stabenow

2023

When two small aircraft collide over the Alaskan wilderness, ten people die in what looks like a tragic accident. The discovery of an eleventh victim, executed and hidden in the wreckage, pulls Kate into a case of political manipulation where the official story may matter more than the truth.

Abduction of a Slave

by Dana Stabenow

2025

Granted leave to visit Cyrenaica on a family errand, Tetisheri walks into a nest of Roman spies, rival generals and local kings maneuvering on the eve of civil war. As armies gather, she must solve a murder and a disappearance that tie local intrigue to Cleopatra's wider game.

No Stars: Reviews of Other People's Books

by Dana Stabenow

2025

A nonfiction collection of Stabenow's book reviews, covering everything from crime novels and science fiction to biographies and history. Rather than assigning star ratings, she talks plainly about what worked for her as a reader and why certain titles stuck.

New

The Harvey Girl

by Dana Stabenow

2026

In 1890 New Mexico Territory, Pinkerton detective Clare Wright goes undercover as a Harvey Girl waitress in the rough railroad town of Montaña Roja, hunting the gang behind a string of deadly train robberies while trying not to blow her cover or lose her life.

Where to start with Dana Stabenow

If you want her core Alaska mysteries: A Cold Day For MurderA Fatal ThawDead in the Water.
If you prefer a cop's-eye view of the bush: Fire And IceSo Sure Of DeathNothing Gold Can Stay.
If you love sweeping historical adventures: Everything Under the HeavensBy the Shores of the Middle SeaThe Land Beyond.
If ancient-world mysteries appeal: Death of an EyeDisappearance of a ScribeTheft of an Idol.
If you want science fiction or modern thrillers: Second StarA Handful of StarsRed Planet Run or Blindfold GamePrepared For Rage.

Clare Wright books in order

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  1. Book cover for "The Harvey Girl"

    The Harvey Girl

    by Dana Stabenow

    2026Clare Wright, Book 1

Clare Wright books in chronological order

  1. Book cover for "The Harvey Girl"

    The Harvey Girl

    by Dana Stabenow

    2026Clare Wright, Book 1

Coast Guard books in order

Explore this series
  1. Book cover for "Blindfold Game"

    Blindfold Game

    by Dana Stabenow

    2005Coast Guard, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "Prepared For Rage"

    Prepared For Rage

    by Dana Stabenow

    2008Coast Guard, Book 2

Coast Guard books in chronological order

  1. Book cover for "Blindfold Game"

    Blindfold Game

    by Dana Stabenow

    2005Coast Guard, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "Prepared For Rage"

    Prepared For Rage

    by Dana Stabenow

    2008Coast Guard, Book 2

Eye Of Isis books in order

Explore this series
  1. Book cover for "Death of an Eye"

    Death of an Eye

    by Dana Stabenow

    2018Eye Of Isis, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "Disappearance of a Scribe"

    Disappearance of a Scribe

    by Dana Stabenow

    2022Eye Of Isis, Book 2
  3. Book cover for "Theft of an Idol"

    Theft of an Idol

    by Dana Stabenow

    2022Eye Of Isis, Book 3
  4. Book cover for "Abduction of a Slave"

    Abduction of a Slave

    by Dana Stabenow

    2025Eye Of Isis, Book 4

Eye Of Isis books in chronological order

  1. Book cover for "Death of an Eye"

    Death of an Eye

    by Dana Stabenow

    2018Eye Of Isis, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "Disappearance of a Scribe"

    Disappearance of a Scribe

    by Dana Stabenow

    2022Eye Of Isis, Book 2
  3. Book cover for "Theft of an Idol"

    Theft of an Idol

    by Dana Stabenow

    2022Eye Of Isis, Book 3
  4. Book cover for "Abduction of a Slave"

    Abduction of a Slave

    by Dana Stabenow

    2025Eye Of Isis, Book 4

Kate Shugak books in order

Explore this series
  1. Book cover for "A Cold Day For Murder"

    A Cold Day For Murder

    by Dana Stabenow

    1992Kate Shugak, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "A Fatal Thaw"

    A Fatal Thaw

    by Dana Stabenow

    1992Kate Shugak, Book 2
  3. Book cover for "Dead in the Water"

    Dead in the Water

    by Dana Stabenow

    1993Kate Shugak, Book 3
  4. Book cover for "A Cold-Blooded Business"

    A Cold-Blooded Business

    by Dana Stabenow

    1994Kate Shugak, Book 4
  5. Book cover for "Play with Fire"

    Play with Fire

    by Dana Stabenow

    1995Kate Shugak, Book 5
  6. Book cover for "Blood Will Tell"

    Blood Will Tell

    by Dana Stabenow

    1996Kate Shugak, Book 6
  7. Book cover for "Breakup"

    Breakup

    by Dana Stabenow

    1997Kate Shugak, Book 7
  8. Book cover for "Killing Grounds"

    Killing Grounds

    by Dana Stabenow

    1998Kate Shugak, Book 8
  9. Book cover for "Hunter's Moon"

    Hunter's Moon

    by Dana Stabenow

    1999Kate Shugak, Book 9
  10. Book cover for "Midnight Come Again"

    Midnight Come Again

    by Dana Stabenow

    2000Kate Shugak, Book 10
  11. Book cover for "The Singing of the Dead"

    The Singing of the Dead

    by Dana Stabenow

    2001Kate Shugak, Book 11
  12. Book cover for "A Fine and Bitter Snow"

    A Fine and Bitter Snow

    by Dana Stabenow

    2002Kate Shugak, Book 13
  13. Book cover for "A Grave Denied"

    A Grave Denied

    by Dana Stabenow

    2003Kate Shugak, Book 14
  14. Book cover for "A Taint in the Blood"

    A Taint in the Blood

    by Dana Stabenow

    2004Kate Shugak, Book 15
  15. Book cover for "The Collected Short Stories"

    The Collected Short Stories

    by Dana Stabenow

    2004
  16. Book cover for "A Deeper Sleep"

    A Deeper Sleep

    by Dana Stabenow

    2006Kate Shugak, Book 18
  17. Book cover for "Whisper to the Blood"

    Whisper to the Blood

    by Dana Stabenow

    2009Kate Shugak, Book 20
  18. Book cover for "A Night Too Dark"

    A Night Too Dark

    by Dana Stabenow

    2010Kate Shugak, Book 21
  19. Book cover for "Though Not Dead"

    Though Not Dead

    by Dana Stabenow

    2010Kate Shugak, Book 22
  20. Book cover for "Restless in the Grave"

    Restless in the Grave

    by Dana Stabenow

    2012Kate Shugak, Book 25
  21. Book cover for "Bad Blood"

    Bad Blood

    by Dana Stabenow

    2013Kate Shugak, Book 26
  22. Book cover for "Less than a Treason"

    Less than a Treason

    by Dana Stabenow

    2017Kate Shugak, Book 27
  23. Book cover for "No Fixed Line"

    No Fixed Line

    by Dana Stabenow

    2019Kate Shugak, Book 28
  24. Book cover for "Not the Ones Dead"

    Not the Ones Dead

    by Dana Stabenow

    2023Kate Shugak, Book 29

Kate Shugak books in chronological order

  1. Book cover for "A Cold Day For Murder"

    A Cold Day For Murder

    by Dana Stabenow

    1992Kate Shugak, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "A Fatal Thaw"

    A Fatal Thaw

    by Dana Stabenow

    1992Kate Shugak, Book 2
  3. Book cover for "Dead in the Water"

    Dead in the Water

    by Dana Stabenow

    1993Kate Shugak, Book 3
  4. Book cover for "A Cold-Blooded Business"

    A Cold-Blooded Business

    by Dana Stabenow

    1994Kate Shugak, Book 4
  5. Book cover for "Play with Fire"

    Play with Fire

    by Dana Stabenow

    1995Kate Shugak, Book 5
  6. Book cover for "Blood Will Tell"

    Blood Will Tell

    by Dana Stabenow

    1996Kate Shugak, Book 6
  7. Book cover for "Breakup"

    Breakup

    by Dana Stabenow

    1997Kate Shugak, Book 7
  8. Book cover for "Killing Grounds"

    Killing Grounds

    by Dana Stabenow

    1998Kate Shugak, Book 8
  9. Book cover for "Hunter's Moon"

    Hunter's Moon

    by Dana Stabenow

    1999Kate Shugak, Book 9
  10. Book cover for "Midnight Come Again"

    Midnight Come Again

    by Dana Stabenow

    2000Kate Shugak, Book 10
  11. Book cover for "The Singing of the Dead"

    The Singing of the Dead

    by Dana Stabenow

    2001Kate Shugak, Book 11
  12. Book cover for "The Collected Short Stories"

    The Collected Short Stories

    by Dana Stabenow

    2004
  13. Book cover for "A Fine and Bitter Snow"

    A Fine and Bitter Snow

    by Dana Stabenow

    2002Kate Shugak, Book 13
  14. Book cover for "A Grave Denied"

    A Grave Denied

    by Dana Stabenow

    2003Kate Shugak, Book 14
  15. Book cover for "A Taint in the Blood"

    A Taint in the Blood

    by Dana Stabenow

    2004Kate Shugak, Book 15
  16. Book cover for "The Collected Short Stories"

    The Collected Short Stories

    by Dana Stabenow

    2004
  17. Book cover for "The Collected Short Stories"

    The Collected Short Stories

    by Dana Stabenow

    2004
  18. Book cover for "A Deeper Sleep"

    A Deeper Sleep

    by Dana Stabenow

    2006Kate Shugak, Book 18
  19. Book cover for "The Collected Short Stories"

    The Collected Short Stories

    by Dana Stabenow

    2004
  20. Book cover for "Whisper to the Blood"

    Whisper to the Blood

    by Dana Stabenow

    2009Kate Shugak, Book 20
  21. Book cover for "A Night Too Dark"

    A Night Too Dark

    by Dana Stabenow

    2010Kate Shugak, Book 21
  22. Book cover for "Though Not Dead"

    Though Not Dead

    by Dana Stabenow

    2010Kate Shugak, Book 22
  23. Book cover for "The Collected Short Stories"

    The Collected Short Stories

    by Dana Stabenow

    2004
  24. Book cover for "The Collected Short Stories"

    The Collected Short Stories

    by Dana Stabenow

    2004
  25. Book cover for "Restless in the Grave"

    Restless in the Grave

    by Dana Stabenow

    2012Kate Shugak, Book 25
  26. Book cover for "Bad Blood"

    Bad Blood

    by Dana Stabenow

    2013Kate Shugak, Book 26
  27. Book cover for "Less than a Treason"

    Less than a Treason

    by Dana Stabenow

    2017Kate Shugak, Book 27
  28. Book cover for "No Fixed Line"

    No Fixed Line

    by Dana Stabenow

    2019Kate Shugak, Book 28
  29. Book cover for "Not the Ones Dead"

    Not the Ones Dead

    by Dana Stabenow

    2023Kate Shugak, Book 29

Liam Campbell books in order

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  1. Book cover for "Fire And Ice"

    Fire And Ice

    by Dana Stabenow

    1998Liam Campbell, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "So Sure Of Death"

    So Sure Of Death

    by Dana Stabenow

    1999Liam Campbell, Book 2
  3. Book cover for "Nothing Gold Can Stay"

    Nothing Gold Can Stay

    by Dana Stabenow

    2000Liam Campbell, Book 3
  4. Book cover for "Better To Rest"

    Better To Rest

    by Dana Stabenow

    2002Liam Campbell, Book 4
  5. Book cover for "The Collected Short Stories"

    The Collected Short Stories

    by Dana Stabenow

    2004
  6. Book cover for "Spoils of the Dead"

    Spoils of the Dead

    by Dana Stabenow

    2021Liam Campbell, Book 7

Liam Campbell books in chronological order

  1. Book cover for "Fire And Ice"

    Fire And Ice

    by Dana Stabenow

    1998Liam Campbell, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "So Sure Of Death"

    So Sure Of Death

    by Dana Stabenow

    1999Liam Campbell, Book 2
  3. Book cover for "Nothing Gold Can Stay"

    Nothing Gold Can Stay

    by Dana Stabenow

    2000Liam Campbell, Book 3
  4. Book cover for "Better To Rest"

    Better To Rest

    by Dana Stabenow

    2002Liam Campbell, Book 4
  5. Book cover for "The Collected Short Stories"

    The Collected Short Stories

    by Dana Stabenow

    2004
  6. Book cover for "The Collected Short Stories"

    The Collected Short Stories

    by Dana Stabenow

    2004
  7. Book cover for "Spoils of the Dead"

    Spoils of the Dead

    by Dana Stabenow

    2021Liam Campbell, Book 7

Silk and Song books in order

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  1. Book cover for "By the Shores of the Middle Sea"

    By the Shores of the Middle Sea

    by Dana Stabenow

    2014Silk and Song, Book 2
  2. Book cover for "Everything Under the Heavens"

    Everything Under the Heavens

    by Dana Stabenow

    2014Silk and Song, Book 1
  3. Book cover for "The Land Beyond"

    The Land Beyond

    by Dana Stabenow

    2015Silk and Song, Book 3

Silk and Song books in chronological order

  1. Book cover for "Everything Under the Heavens"

    Everything Under the Heavens

    by Dana Stabenow

    2014Silk and Song, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "By the Shores of the Middle Sea"

    By the Shores of the Middle Sea

    by Dana Stabenow

    2014Silk and Song, Book 2
  3. Book cover for "The Land Beyond"

    The Land Beyond

    by Dana Stabenow

    2015Silk and Song, Book 3

Star Svensdotter books in order

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  1. Book cover for "A Handful of Stars"

    A Handful of Stars

    by Dana Stabenow

    1991Star Svensdotter, Book 2
  2. Book cover for "Second Star"

    Second Star

    by Dana Stabenow

    1991Star Svensdotter, Book 1
  3. Book cover for "Red Planet Run"

    Red Planet Run

    by Dana Stabenow

    1995Star Svensdotter, Book 3

Star Svensdotter books in chronological order

  1. Book cover for "Second Star"

    Second Star

    by Dana Stabenow

    1991Star Svensdotter, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "A Handful of Stars"

    A Handful of Stars

    by Dana Stabenow

    1991Star Svensdotter, Book 2
  3. Book cover for "Red Planet Run"

    Red Planet Run

    by Dana Stabenow

    1995Star Svensdotter, Book 3

Dana Stabenow collections, short stories, and related book types

Non-Fiction

  1. Book cover for "Alaska Traveler"

    Alaska Traveler

    by Dana Stabenow

    2012Dispatches from America's Last Frontier
  2. Book cover for "On Patrol with the US Coast Guard"

    On Patrol with the US Coast Guard

    by Dana Stabenow

    2021
  3. Book cover for "No Stars: Reviews of Other People's Books"

    No Stars: Reviews of Other People's Books

    by Dana Stabenow

    2025

Collections

  1. Book cover for "The Collected Short Stories"

    The Collected Short Stories

    by Dana Stabenow

    2004

Standalone Dana Stabenow books

  1. Book cover for "Alaska Women Write"

    Alaska Women Write

    by Dana Stabenow

    2003Living, Loving and Laughing on the Last Frontier
  2. Book cover for "Powers of Detection"

    Powers of Detection

    by Dana Stabenow

    2004Stories of Mystery & Fantasy
  3. Book cover for "At the Scene of the Crime"

    At the Scene of the Crime

    by Dana Stabenow

    2008Forensic Mysteries from Today's Best Writers
  4. Book cover for "Unusual Suspects"

    Unusual Suspects

    by Dana Stabenow

    2008Stories of Mystery & Fantasy
  5. Book cover for "Inherit the Dead"

    Inherit the Dead

    by Jonathan Santlofer, Mark Billingham, Lawrence Block, CJ Box, Ken Bruen, Alafair Burke, Stephen L Carter, Marcia Clark, Max Allan Collins, John Connolly, James Grady, Heather Graham, Bryan Gruley, Charlaine Harris, Val McDermid, SJ Rozan, Dana Stabenow, Lisa Unger, Sarah Weinman, Lee Child & Christopher Evan Welch

    2013

Author bio

Dana Stabenow was born in Anchorage, Alaska in 1952 and grew up on a 75 foot fishing tender working the Gulf of Alaska. Her childhood memories are full of long days on deck, chronic seasickness and the comfort of books carried on and off the boat. Alaska's weather, isolation and tight knit communities soaked into her imagination long before she thought of herself as a writer.

She finished high school in Seldovia and put herself through the University of Alaska, graduating in 1973 with a degree in journalism. Along the way she graded eggs, kept books and worked for seafood companies in Anchorage, learning the business side of the fishing towns she later wrote about. After college she took a backpack and a friend to Europe, discovering pubs, trains and the pleasure of being anonymous in big cities.

Back home, Stabenow signed on with the Trans Alaska Pipeline and later worked on the North Slope oilfields. The money was good, but the work was demanding and the lifestyle left her wondering what came next. Around her thirtieth birthday she decided to take writing seriously and eventually returned to school for an MFA at the University of Alaska Anchorage, giving herself permission to treat storytelling as a real job.

Her first published novel, the science fiction story Second Star, appeared in 1991 and launched the Star Svensdotter trilogy about life in orbit and the high frontier. Not long after, a lifelong reading habit in crime fiction nudged her toward mysteries. Drawing on time spent in Wrangell St. Elias National Park, she wrote A Cold Day for Murder, the debut of Alaska Native investigator Kate Shugak, which went on to win the Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original.

Kate, a five foot one Aleut with a scar across her throat and a half wolf dog named Mutt, became the center of a long running series set in a fictional national park the size of a small country. Through Kate and a wide cast of relatives, park rangers, pilots and drifters, Stabenow explores oil politics, Native corporations, subsistence hunting and the fragile economies of remote villages. In a linked series she introduced state trooper Liam Campbell, a disgraced cop exiled to a fishing town, whose cases sometimes cross paths with Kate's. Another Kate novel, Though Not Dead, later earned the Nero Award, reflecting how strongly readers connected with this cold, complicated corner of the mystery world.

Stabenow rarely stays in one lane. In the Silk and Song trilogy she follows Marco Polo's fictional granddaughter along the Silk Road from fourteenth century Beijing to Venice, mixing caravan life, court intrigue and found family. Her Eye of Isis series moves even further back in time to Cleopatra's Alexandria, where investigator Tetisheri serves as the queen's problem solver in a city thick with spies, merchants and rival empires. Two modern thrillers, Blindfold Game and Prepared For Rage, grow directly out of weeks she spent embedded on Coast Guard cutters, watching rescues and interdictions that later became high stakes maritime plots.

Beyond the novels, she has edited and contributed to multiple anthologies, written travel essays for magazines and gathered sixteen of her own stories in The Collected Short Stories and Essays. Nonfiction books like Alaska Traveler and On Patrol with the US Coast Guard open a window onto the real landscapes behind her fiction, from the Inside Passage to the Bering Sea. In 2014 she founded Storyknife Writers Retreat in Homer, a residency program for women writers that grew from her belief that quiet time, a warm cabin and a supportive community can change a life.

Stabenow still lives in Alaska, reading widely and writing across genres. Whether she is sending a teenager over the Silk Road, an Aleut investigator into a gold mine meeting or a Coast Guard crew into rough seas, the constant thread is a grounded sense of place and people who feel as stubborn, funny and resilient as the land they inhabit.

Edited by

Richard Reis

Software engineer whose passion for tracking book recommendations from podcasts inspired the creation of MRB.

Anurag Ramdasan

Lead investor at 3one4 Capital whose startup expertise and love for books helped shaped MRB and its growth.

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