Ellen Elizabeth Hunter Books in Order

For classic Wilmington mysteries: Murder on the Candlelight Tour → Murder at the Azalea Festival → Murder at Wrightsville Beach
For old houses and buried history: Murder On The ICW → Murder on the Cape Fear → Murder at the Bellamy Mansion → Much Ado About Murder
For a holiday mood: Christmas Wedding → Murder at the Holiday Flotilla
For non-series suspense: Dead Ringer → Lady Justice

Ellen Elizabeth Hunter writes traditional mysteries that are closely tied to Wilmington, North Carolina. She studied English literature at New York University, then brought that bookish background together with a practical interest in old houses, restoration, and local history.

She was not a North Carolina native, which may be one reason the city shows up in her books with so much curiosity and affection. A visit to Wilmington changed things. She fell for the riverfront, the historic district, and the feeling that the past was still sitting right there in porches, churches, and plaster walls. At one point she explained that she wanted to live in Wilmington but could not make the move right away because of her husband's work, so she did the next best thing and created a character who could live there for her.

That character was Ashley Wilkes, a historic preservationist with a habit of finding trouble in beautiful places. Hunter paired Ashley with her sister Melanie, a successful realtor, and the two gave the series its backbone. Their jobs put them inside old homes, family feuds, social events, and real estate tangles where secrets rarely stay buried.

Old houses gave her plots.

Hunter has said she did not start out as a full-time novelist. She was working, had a computer, and began writing partly to amuse herself. Then the pastime turned serious. She realized this was not just something to fill the day, it was what she really wanted to do.

Her Wilmington series began in 2003, and books like Murder on the Candlelight Tour, Murder at the Azalea Festival, Murder at Wrightsville Beach, Murder on the Cape Fear, and Much Ado About Murder helped define her style. The setup changes from book to book, but the engine is familiar and fun: a present-day killing, a vivid local landmark or festival, and some older layer of history waiting underneath. Ghost stories, Civil War lore, theater culture, restoration projects, and property battles all have a way of turning into motive.

Readers who click with Hunter usually like the same cluster of things. They like the Wilmington atmosphere. They like the way preservation work is not just background decoration, it is how the mysteries open up. They like the sister dynamic between Ashley and Melanie, which gives the books warmth, friction, and gossip in equal measure. And they like that the stories stay cozy in tone even when the body count rises.

Wilmington gave her the map.

Hunter also wrote outside the series. Dead Ringer moves to New York and follows television anchor Kate Callahan as a serial killer case edges frighteningly close to home. Lady Justice shifts into political thriller territory with Attorney General Ann Kelly facing murder, militias, and domestic terror. Those books show a slightly different side of her writing, but they keep her interest in pressure, hidden motives, and women who have to think fast.

Later profiles place Hunter in Wilmington itself, which feels fitting. Her fiction grew out of wanting to be close to the city, then learning its moods well enough to turn them into stories. If you like mysteries with renovation dust, family entanglements, and coastal North Carolina history tucked inside the plot, her books are an easy place to start.