Emily Kincaid Mystery Books in Order

The Emily Kincaid Mystery series follows Emily Kincaid, a journalist and struggling mystery writer who has traded an unhappy marriage and city life for a home in northern Michigan. She wants privacy, time to write, and a chance to figure out who she is on her own. Leetsville, however, has other plans.

Emily's new life becomes entangled with Deputy Dolly Wakowski, a tough, restless local officer with problems of her own. They are very different people, but they keep crossing paths when a death turns suspicious. Their friendship, sometimes uneasy and often funny, gives the series its backbone.

Northern Michigan matters as much as any character here.

The books use woods, lakes, back roads, weather, isolated houses, and the everyday gossip of a small community to build their mysteries. In Dead Dancing Women, Emily is pulled into a case involving a group of older women who gather in the woods and a body left close to home. Dead Floating Lovers begins when receding water exposes human remains, leading Emily and Dolly toward an old wound in the town's history.

The later novels broaden the trouble around Leetsville. Dead Sleeping Shaman brings an end-times revival group and a murdered psychic into the picture, while Dolly's own choices leave Emily worried for her friend. In Dead Dogs and Englishmen, violence against animals, a dead woman, and a strange manuscript pull the pair into a case with several disturbing threads. Dead Little Dolly puts the danger much closer to Dolly after an attack on her police vehicle.

These are mysteries, but Emily's personal rebuilding is an ongoing part of the story. She is divorced, cautious about new relationships, short on money, and still trying to make a career from writing. Dolly is equally guarded. Their investigations work because neither woman is a polished detective figure who always has the answer.

Expect a more shadowed small-town tone than a purely light cozy. The series still has warmth, odd neighbors, and room for humor, but it also makes space for loneliness, loyalty, and the hard work of starting over. Begin with Dead Dancing Women to meet Emily and Dolly at the point where their unlikely partnership begins.