HY Conrad Books in Order
Explore HY Conrad books in order, from Monk and travel mysteries to puzzle collections, with quick summaries, series notes, and easy starting points.
Last updated: July 1, 2026
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Publication Order
26 books
Almost Perfect Crimes
by HY Conrad
1995
These lively mini-mysteries hand readers case files, reports, and visual evidence to sort through. The challenge is deciding whodunit with as few clues as possible before turning to the analysis and answer.
Whodunit - You Decide!
by HY Conrad
1996
These 12 mini-mysteries play out as court cases, putting readers in the jury box. You hear the evidence, weigh rival explanations, and decide whether the truth is murder, accident, suicide, or something sneakier.
Almost Perfect Murders
by HY Conrad
1997
A seasoned detective takes on murders that look nearly impossible to crack. Readers follow the clues, answer a few sharp questions, and see whether they can solve each polished setup before the official explanation.
Solve-It-Yourself Mysteries
by HY Conrad
1997
Junior sleuths Greg Rydell and Carrie Ingram tackle neighborhood crimes while showing readers how detectives think. Each case pauses before the answer, so you can study the clues and try to solve it yourself.
The LIttle Giant Book of Whodunits
by HY Conrad
1998
This collection packs in 80 short mysteries involving thieves, killers, kidnappers, and everyday lies. The stories are quick, varied, and designed so readers can puzzle out the answer before checking the solutions.
Giant Book of Whodunit Puzzles
by HY Conrad
1999
A hefty collection of clue-based mystery puzzles, this book asks readers to sort through contradictions, question first impressions, and name the culprit. It is built for anyone who likes fair-play deduction in quick bursts.
Whodunit Crime Puzzles
by HY Conrad
2002
An eccentric man who claims to be Sherlock Holmes's descendant leads readers through a set of clue-packed mini-mysteries. Each case is short, tricky, and built around the tiny inconsistency that gives the criminal away.
Classic Whodunits
by HY Conrad
2003
This collection of classic-style mystery puzzles is built around baffling crimes and clues that look wrong until they suddenly make sense. It is perfect for readers who like elegant setups and fair-play solutions.
Whodunit Crime Mysteries
by HY Conrad
2003
Sergeant Gunther Wilson and the mysterious Sherman Holmes guide readers through a string of tricky crimes, from dead cops to missing money. The fun comes from weighing each clue and figuring out what really happened.
Mensa Whodunits
by HY Conrad
2004
A brainy collection of short mystery puzzles, this book leans into deduction, pattern spotting, and careful reading. Each case asks you to catch the one telling clue that exposes the culprit.
Historical Whodunits
by HY Conrad
2005
These 14 solve-it-yourself mysteries jump from ancient Rome to 1940s Hollywood, giving each case a historical twist. Readers work through key questions, scene details, and witness clues before checking the solution.
Kids' Whodunits
by HY Conrad
2007
Jonah Bixby spends so much time at the station house that he becomes an unofficial junior detective. Across 20 short cases, he helps untangle thefts, pranks, accidents, and bigger crimes while readers try to solve them first.
Kids' Whodunits 2
by HY Conrad
2009
Jonah Bixby is back with 20 new mini-mysteries, daring young readers to beat him to the solution. The cases mix codes, clues, and quick deductions in a format that is easy to read in small bursts.
Whodunits
by HY Conrad
2011
This large collection serves up more than 100 short mysteries for readers to solve on their own. The cases hinge on logic, hidden tells, and the one detail that makes everything finally click.
Rally 'Round the Corpse
by HY Conrad
2012
Amy Abel launches a European mystery road rally to save her new adventure travel business, only to learn the game's creator has been murdered. As strange accidents hit the tour, Amy and Fanny discover the fake case is tied to a real old crime.
Things Your Dog Doesn't Want You to Know
by HY Conrad
2012
Told in the voices of eleven very opinionated dogs, this humor collection explains what pets really think about names, costumes, obedience, furniture, and the humans who adore them. It is affectionate, sly, and very funny.
Mr. Monk Helps Himself
by HY Conrad
2013
Natalie is on the verge of becoming Monk's full partner when a self-help guru appears to commit suicide off a cliff. Monk stays busy with a poisoned-clown case, but the two investigations start pulling the partners together.
Mr. Monk Gets on Board
by HY Conrad
2014
Natalie's new status as a licensed investigator unsettles Monk, and a business cruise only makes him more miserable. When the cruise director turns up dead and sabotage spreads across the ship, Monk starts seeing murder in the details.
Mr. Monk is Open for Business
by HY Conrad
2014
Back in San Francisco, Monk and Natalie open their own detective agency just as a workplace shooting leaves three people dead and the gunman missing. The closer Monk looks, the stranger the survivor's story and the vanished suspect become.
Mr. Monk and the New Lieutenant
by HY Conrad
2015
Monk and Natalie barely settle into office life before a funeral reveals a poisoned judge and a deeply annoying new lieutenant. When Stottlemeyer shows the same symptoms, Monk realizes the killer may be circling an old case.
Toured to Death
by HY Conrad
2015
Amy Abel's first mystery-themed European tour is supposed to be a fresh start for her struggling travel business. But when the writer behind the staged game is murdered and the fake case echoes a real one, Amy and her mother have to solve it for real.
Dearly Departed
by HY Conrad
2016
Amy and Fanny Abel escort a strange group of wealthy mourners on a globe-spanning trip to scatter a maid's ashes. When accidents and killings start piling up from Paris to Hawaii, Amy realizes one of her travelers may be a murderer.
Death on the Patagonian Express
by HY Conrad
2016
Amy and Fanny join a luxury Patagonia train tour after their travel blog takes off, expecting scenery and publicity. Instead, Fanny spots a corpse in the wilderness, the body vanishes, and a second death turns the trip into a hunt for a cunning killer.
The Case of the Ghostly Note & Other Solve-It-Yourself Whodunits
by HY Conrad
2017
Logan and his younger brother, Thad, lead readers through fifteen kid-friendly whodunits packed with clues, suspects, and surprise turns. Each case invites you to stop, think, and see whether you can solve it before the brothers do.
The Fixer's Daughter
by HY Conrad
2020
Investigative reporter Callie McFee suspects her once-powerful father is helping a wealthy man escape justice after a murdered girl's case begins to unravel. The deeper she digs, the more she must choose between exposing the truth and protecting her family.
Sins of the Family
by HY Conrad
2022
Callie McFee looks into the death of a young wellness marketer after her father's legal blunder seems to push him over the edge. The case leads her into glossy health culture, old scandals, and secrets that could bury Buddy McFee for good.
Where should I start?
If you want Adrian Monk in novel form: Mr. Monk Helps Himself → Mr. Monk Gets on Board → Mr. Monk is Open for Business → Mr. Monk and the New Lieutenant
If you want a light travel mystery: Toured to Death → Dearly Departed → Death on the Patagonian Express
If you want family secrets and higher stakes: The Fixer's Daughter → Sins of the Family
If you want younger-reader clue solving: The Case of the Ghostly Note & Other Solve-It-Yourself Whodunits → Kids' Whodunits → Kids' Whodunits 2
If you want short puzzle mysteries: Almost Perfect Crimes → Whodunit - You Decide! → Whodunits
Author bio
HY Conrad was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and grew up there in a family with Amish Mennonite roots. He was drawn to performance early, and at 14 he went to New York to audition for a touring production of Oliver!. That mix of small-town background and big-city ambition still feels like part of his writing life.
He started out onstage.
Conrad kept acting through high school, summer stock, and his early years in New York. Then he moved behind the scenes. In 1980 he wrote the book, music, and lyrics for Ta-Dah!, a musical version of Much Ado About Nothing, which had a limited Off-Broadway run. Writing turned out to be the lane that stuck.
From there he built a career around interactive mystery. He created and wrote mystery games and films, including Murder, Anyone? and Many Roads to Murder, and later worked on early online mystery projects. He also published hundreds of short mysteries and a long run of solvable puzzle books. That background explains why even his novels tend to be clue-driven and fair with the reader.
Then television found him.
Monk creator Andy Breckman came across one of Conrad's works in a bookstore and called him about joining the show. Conrad stayed with Monk for all eight seasons, became co-executive producer for the final two, and later served as head writer and executive producer of Little Monk. He also worked on White Collar, The Good Cop, and other screen projects, but Monk is still the title many readers connect with him first. His work on the series brought three Edgar nominations.
That background carries neatly into his books. Conrad wrote the final four Mr. Monk novels, starting with Mr. Monk Helps Himself, and they feel like a natural extension of the show's mix of sharp puzzle plotting, affection for oddball characters, and dry humor. He later launched his own mystery lines with Toured to Death, a travel mystery built around Amy Abel and her mother, and The Fixer's Daughter, which shifts into a more personal Texas story about power, loyalty, and damage inside a family.
He also has a playful streak. His younger-reader puzzle books invite kids to solve crimes alongside the characters, and Things Your Dog Doesn't Want You to Know, written with Jeff Johnson, lets dogs do the talking in a collection of comic essays. Across all of it, the appeal is similar: clever setups, readable prose, and the sense that the reader gets to join the game instead of just watch it.
Conrad's stories often circle the same interests, even when the settings change. He likes hidden motives, amateur detectives, uneasy family ties, travel that goes wrong, and people whose private messes spill into public trouble. Even the darker books keep a human touch and a little side-eye at the absurd.
He has also picked up a Scribe Award for best novel.
These days he splits his time between Vermont and Key West with Jeff Johnson, his husband and longtime creative partner. Add in a line of miniature schnauzers, and it sounds like a pretty good setup for a mystery writer.
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