Deadwood Books in Order
Part ofAnn Charles Books in OrderSee the Deadwood series by Ann Charles in order, with quick summaries, series background, and help deciding where to start Violet Parker's spooky mysteries.
Last updated: July 6, 2026
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Publication Order
14 books
Nearly Departed in Deadwood
by Ann Charles
2011
Single mother and realtor Violet Parker wants a fresh start in Deadwood, South Dakota, until local girls start vanishing. Add a creepy admirer, workplace trouble, and one dangerously attractive stranger, and her new life turns deadly.
Optical Delusions in Deadwood
by Ann Charles
2011
Violet takes a chance on selling a supposedly haunted house tied to a murder-suicide. With her money and reputation on the line, she has to decide whether the threat is human, supernatural, or both.
Dead Case in Deadwood
by Ann Charles
2012
Violet stumbles onto a body-part theft ring at a local funeral parlor and suspects her awful coworker knows more than he should. The deeper she digs, the closer she gets to ending up in a crate herself.
Better Off Dead in Deadwood
by Ann Charles
2013
A dead body, a haunted opera house, a zombie musical, and a furious detective drop Violet into another bizarre case. Deadwood is weirder than ever, and staying out of trouble is not really an option.
An Ex to Grind in Deadwood
by Ann Charles
2014
Violet swears she will stay out of police business, but a creepy phone call, a dead body, and a threat tied to her son pull her straight back in. The case gets darker, stranger, and far more personal.
Meanwhile, Back in Deadwood
by Ann Charles
2015
Violet's deadly reputation keeps following her as mutilated bodies, ghosts, cameras, and determined detectives crowd her life. Another investigation lands close to home, and the people she loves are suddenly at risk.
A Wild Fright in Deadwood
by Ann Charles
2016
Violet is back on Deadwood's suspect list, surrounded by threats, haunted places, angry women, and stubborn detectives. To clear her name, she has to solve the murder before the morgue claims her.
Rattling the Heat in Deadwood
by Ann Charles
2017
New evidence reopens a cold murder case, and Violet's shaky alibi puts her in the crosshairs. To survive the pressure, she has to find the real killer before the heat burns her down.
Don't Let It Snow in Deadwood
by Ann Charles
2018
All Violet wants on Christmas Eve is to get back to her kids, but a brutal blizzard and her toxic sister stand in the way. The holiday cheer is thin, and family chaos hits hard.
Gone Haunting in Deadwood
by Ann Charles
2018
Violet gets hauled to the ghost town of Slagton to help look for a missing informant. What starts as a search trip turns into a shotgun-level fight for survival in one of the series' creepiest settings.
Devil Days in Deadwood
by Ann Charles
2020
Violet has no interest in bargaining with devils, but saving Aunt Zoe leaves her no clean choice. Deadwood's old terrors are closing in, and this time the stakes feel personal and brutal.
Never Say Sever in Deadwood
by Ann Charles
2021
Violet wants one normal day, but a bizarre attack on a taxidermy shop tells her something worse is moving through Deadwood. Soon she is no longer chasing trouble, trouble is chasing her.
TimeReaping in Deadwood
by Ann Charles
2023
Violet now has time itself to wrestle with, plus an imp and monsters eager to tear her world apart. If she cannot master her new role fast, her family may pay the price.
Cops and Clobbers in Deadwood
by Ann Charles
2024
Violet needs a stash of rare mystical clocks currently locked up by a stubborn detective. Stealing them might save lives, but the caper turns into a wild collision of cops, chaos, and bad timing.
Series background & context
These are present-day mysteries with paranormal edges, set in Deadwood, South Dakota. At the center is Violet Parker, a real estate agent and single mother who would love one normal week and almost never gets it. What begins in Nearly Departed in Deadwood as a fresh start quickly turns into missing children, haunted properties, murders, and trouble that seems to know her by name.
Deadwood is never just scenery.
Charles uses the town's gold-rush history, steep hills, old cemeteries, weathered buildings, and tourist gloss to make the setting feel funny, eerie, and a little off-balance. The books keep playing with the line between local legend and something truly supernatural. Some threats are all too human. Others are harder to explain. That uncertainty gives the series much of its kick.
Violet is the engine that makes it work. She is smart, sarcastic, stubborn, and usually in over her head. Around her is a steady orbit of detectives, relatives, exes, friends, and unpredictable locals who can help or complicate matters, sometimes in the same scene. The books keep returning to trust, loyalty, family strain, and the question of how much chaos one woman can carry before it bites back.
As the series goes on, the scope widens. Early books lean hard into murder investigations and haunted-town mischief. Later books pull in deeper family history, stranger supernatural stakes, and a stronger sense that Violet has been dragged into an old fight she never asked for. The shorter pieces, including Seeing Trouble, Boot Points, Cold Flame, and Fatal Traditions, add extra backstory between the full novels and help fill in the emotional gaps.
Poor Violet never really gets to clock out.
Tonally, Deadwood sits in a sweet spot between humorous mystery, paranormal suspense, and slow-burn romantic tension. It can get creepy, but it is rarely grim for long. Charles likes sharp banter, ridiculous predicaments, and supporting characters who feel larger than life without turning into cartoons. If you want a series that treats ghost towns, family drama, murder, and bad timing as part of the same weekly headache, this is a very easy place to start. Read it in order, because both the relationships and the bigger supernatural thread keep building from book to book.
Edited by
Software engineer whose passion for tracking book recommendations from podcasts inspired the creation of MRB.
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