Horatio Wilkes Mystery Books in Order

The Horatio Wilkes Mystery series represents a distinct and playful chapter in Alan Gratz’s bibliography, standing apart from the intense historical fiction he is most famous for. Instead of war zones or refugee treks, these books transport readers to a gritty, reimagined version of modern-day Tennessee. The concept is a bold narrative experiment: taking the bloody, high-drama tragedies of William Shakespeare and recasting them as hardboiled noir detective stories set in high school.

At the center of it all is Horatio Wilkes. In the original play Hamlet, Horatio is the loyal, steady friend who watches everything fall apart. In Gratz’s version, he is the star of the show.

Horatio fancies himself a throwback to the private investigators of the 1930s and 40s. He navigates the treacherous social hierarchy of his town with a bone-dry wit and a cynical worldview that feels right at home in the noir genre. He doesn’t have a trench coat or a smoky office, but he has the attitude. He observes the chaos around him—usually caused by his wealthy, dysfunctional friends—and narrates it with a rhythm that mimics the classic pulp fiction style of writers like Raymond Chandler.

The first book, Something Rotten, sets the template. It reimagines the plot of Hamlet, but the gloomy castle of Elsinore becomes a polluted paper mill in the town of Denmark, Tennessee. The "prince" is Hamilton Prince, a rich kid with a murdered father and a suspicious uncle. The "ghost" is a video recording left behind by the deceased.

Gratz uses this framework to tell a story that feels surprisingly modern.

While the skeleton of the plot is centuries old, the meat on the bones is contemporary. The series tackles issues like environmental destruction, corporate negligence, and the corrupting influence of old money. The sequel, Something Wicked, gives the same treatment to Macbeth. Set at a Scottish Highland Arts festival, it trades the supernatural elements of the play for the very real dangers of blind ambition and cutthroat academic rivalry.

One of the smartest elements of the series is how it handles the source material. You absolutely do not need to read Shakespeare to understand what is going on.

For a newcomer, these are fast-paced whodunits filled with red herrings and snarky dialogue. However, for those who did suffer through English class, the books are packed with clever Easter eggs. Famous soliloquies are reworked into casual conversation, and tragic destinies are twisted into new, often ironic shapes. It creates a layered reading experience where the jokes land on two levels at once.

Ultimately, the Horatio Wilkes books showcase Gratz’s range as a storyteller. They prove that he can handle humor and mystery just as deftly as he handles history, delivering a ride that is smart, suspenseful, and undeniably fun.