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Golden Retriever Mysteries Books in Order

Part ofNeil Plakcy Books in Order

See the Golden Retriever Mysteries by Neil Plakcy in order, with quick summaries, character notes, and help choosing where to start with Steve and Rochester.

Last updated: June 29, 2026

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Publication Order

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23 books

1

In Dog We Trust

by Neil Plakcy

2010

Fresh out of prison and back in his hometown, Steve just wants a quiet restart. Then his neighbor is murdered, he inherits her golden retriever, and Rochester starts nudging him toward the truth.

2

The Kingdom of Dog

by Neil Plakcy

2011

Steve brings Rochester to his new college job, only for the dog to discover a body in the snow. Admissions secrets and fundraising pressure make campus life deadly.

3

Dog Helps Those

by Neil Plakcy

2012

Graduation season at Eastern College is thrown into chaos by a murder and a computer problem that threatens student records. Steve and Rochester must sort out campus politics, money, and dog-world grudges.

4

Dog Bless You

by Neil Plakcy

2013

On a visit to Eastern College's lake property, Rochester uncovers a human hand. Steve, Lili, and the dog follow the trail from Bucks County to New York and Philadelphia in search of a killer.

5

Whom Dog Hath Joined

by Neil Plakcy

2014

A human bone found during a town festival leads Steve and Rochester into buried secrets from the Vietnam era. Old Quaker history and present-day danger make this case more than a cold mystery.

6

Dog Have Mercy

by Neil Plakcy

2015

Stolen drugs from the local vet's office put one of Steve's friends under suspicion. Steve and Rochester trace the theft toward nursing home deaths and a darker criminal network.

7

Honest to Dog

by Neil Plakcy

2016

When Steve's old college friend Doug dies under suspicious circumstances, grief becomes a new investigation. Steve and Rochester chase the truth, even when it threatens Steve's hard-won stability.

8

Dog Is in the Details

by Neil Plakcy

2017

A disrupted animal blessing sends Steve and Rochester back into Steve's Jewish roots and his hometown past. Their search for the truth links a murdered man to old family and congregational secrets.

9

Dog Knows

by Neil Plakcy

2018

Steve's old friend Peggy stands accused of murder and faces the death penalty. To save her, he and Rochester must dig through a life of drugs, bad choices, and hidden motives.

10

Dog's Green Earth

by Neil Plakcy

2019

Rochester finds a body during a neighborhood walk, and Steve starts suspecting trouble close to home. A homeowners association fight turns into a murder case with personal stakes.

11

A Litter of Golden Mysteries

by Neil Plakcy

2020

This collection of shorter Golden Retriever mysteries follows Steve and Rochester through thefts, murders, an abandoned baby, and everyday Stewart's Crossing life. It is a quick way to spend more time with the series cast.

12

Dog Willing

by Neil Plakcy

2020

When bookstore owner Darlene Nowak is killed, Steve and Rochester sort through food-truck feuds, writers' grudges, and wounded egos. Small-town creativity turns surprisingly dangerous.

13

Dog's Waiting Room

by Neil Plakcy

2021

An Alzheimer's patient dies in the river as Lili loses her mother, and Steve suspects there may be more behind one death than grief. Rochester helps him navigate murder, family strain, and mourning.

14

All Dog's Children

by Neil Plakcy

2022

A double homicide in a wealthy home pulls Steve and Rochester into a case full of money, betrayal, and family secrets. At the same time, Lili's strange behavior makes Steve worry about his own future.

15

Dog's Honest Truth

by Neil Plakcy

2022

Steve and Rochester befriend Luke, a guide dog in training, just before Luke's young owner is shot. Digging into Ben Ji's lies pulls Steve into campus trouble and a neighborhood murder.

16

Dog of Thieves

by Neil Plakcy

2023

Tree-removal scams, stolen art, and dead bodies send Steve and Rochester from Pennsylvania to New York. It is a bigger, more mobile outing that still keeps the series' warmth intact.

17

In Dog's Image

by Neil Plakcy

2023

While planning their wedding, Steve and Lili get drawn into a murder tied to an old gallery event and a crime that never truly ended. Rochester helps nose out the past.

18

Blessing of the Dogs

by Neil Plakcy

2024

Steve and Lili are nearly at the altar when dognapping, murder, and catering worries crash the party. Wedding plans become a mystery all their own.

19

Food of the Dogs

by Neil Plakcy

2024

A Vermont honeymoon turns into a murder investigation after Steve and Rochester find a body. The victim's pet-food empire and personal history leave plenty of suspects behind.

20

Dog Grant Me

by Neil Plakcy

2025

At Friar Lake, a food course on Caribbean cuisine is interrupted by threats, old documents, and murder. Snow, secrets, and obsession trap Steve in a high-pressure winter case.

21

Dog of Deliverance

by Neil Plakcy

2025

At a Purim carnival, Rochester finds the body of a young Orthodox diamond dealer. Steve's investigation leads into a closed religious community and a case tangled with smuggling and coercion.

22

Dog Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen

by Neil Plakcy

2025

A holiday visit to Stewart's Crossing brings Steve and Rochester another seasonal puzzle, mixing Christmas warmth with the kind of trouble that never fully takes a break.

23

Dog's Kitchen

by Neil Plakcy

2025

A reality cooking show for people and dogs throws Friar Lake into chaos with sabotage, missing ingredients, and no corpse in sight. Steve and Rochester must save careers and reputations instead of just solving murder.

Series background & context

The Golden Retriever Mysteries begin with a reset. Steve Levitan comes back to his hometown of Stewart's Crossing, Pennsylvania, after losing almost everything, his marriage, his career, and his sense of who he is. He is smart, wounded, a little stubborn, and trying hard not to make another mess of his life. Then a neighbor is murdered, and Steve ends up with her golden retriever, Rochester.

That dog changes the shape of the series.

Rochester is not a talking animal or a magic solution. He is a very observant golden retriever with great timing and a habit of finding the thing everyone else missed, whether that is a body, a buried bone, a stolen object, or the person Steve ought to be paying attention to. The books work because Steve does the human work, asking questions, poking at records, noticing patterns, and sometimes hacking when he should not, while Rochester supplies instinct, loyalty, and the occasional shove in the right direction.

The setting matters a lot. Stewart's Crossing and the surrounding Bucks County area give the series its cozy frame: college offices, coffee shops, old neighborhoods, dog parks, synagogues, conference centers, and tidy streets that look peaceful until someone turns up dead. Steve's job at Eastern College keeps pulling him into academic politics and local history, while his relationships with photographer Lili Weinstock, detective Rick Stemper, and a growing circle of friends give the books a strong feeling of community.

The mysteries themselves stay varied. One book may circle around admissions secrets or an old campus grudge. Another may reach into Vietnam-era history, neighborhood feuds, art-world resentments, puppy mills, religious communities, or crimes hidden inside apparently respectable families. Even when the cases get more serious, the tone stays grounded and readable. There is humor here, but also grief, loneliness, recovery, and the question of what it means to build a decent life after you have already wrecked one.

Rochester is never just a mascot.

He is part of the emotional center of the books, and the series keeps returning to the bond between people and dogs without turning sentimental about it. Steve becomes more open, more settled, and more connected as the books go on, and readers get to watch his home, work, and love life change along with the cases.

If you want small-town mysteries with a real sense of place, recurring characters who actually matter, and a dog who is always worth following, this is what to expect. Start with In Dog We Trust and read forward. The cases stand alone, but the real pleasure is watching Steve and Rochester become a team.

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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