Jane Lawless Books in Order
Part ofEllen Hart Books in OrderSee the Jane Lawless books in order by Ellen Hart, with short summaries, series background, and an easy guide to the best place to start.
Last updated: July 10, 2026
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Publication Order
27 books
Hallowed Murder
by Ellen Hart
1989
When Allison Lord's drowning is ruled a suicide, Jane Lawless refuses to let the case rest. Her search for the truth leads from the University of Minnesota to a remote winter lodge and a killer waiting in the cold.
Vital Lies
by Ellen Hart
1991
An old friend invites Jane to a Victorian inn to look into a murder from years earlier. What begins as uneasy nostalgia turns into a snowbound case filled with pranks, fear, and another death.
Stage Fright
by Ellen Hart
1992
An aging actor dies on stage and Jane ends up both witness and suspect. To clear herself, she has to untangle the rivalries and secrets inside a glamorous theatrical family.
Killing Cure
by Ellen Hart
1993
Two deaths at the Amelia Gower Women's Club pull Jane into a feud over power, money, and old loyalties. Hidden passages, private agendas, and a missing ledger make this a particularly tricky case.
A Small Sacrifice
by Ellen Hart
1994
Cordelia heads to a reunion meant to save an actress friend from alcoholism, but old loyalties crack fast. When one of the friends dies, Jane has to sort through years of jealousy, love, and resentment.
Faint Praise
by Ellen Hart
1995
After a TV celebrity dies in bizarre circumstances, Jane looks into the uneasy residents of his Minneapolis apartment building. Break-ins, blackmail, and more violence reveal just how much the neighbors are hiding.
Robber's Wine
by Ellen Hart
1996
Jane and Cordelia head north for rest, only to find an old friend missing before she can tell her family some life-changing news. The deeper Jane digs, the more the whole clan seems to be lying.
Wicked Games
by Ellen Hart
1998
A new tenant, a suspicious widow next door, and the discovery of bones in Jane's yard turn her own home into a crime scene. House history and family deceit close in from every side.
Hunting the Witch
by Ellen Hart
1999
While recovering from a head injury, Jane leans on former lover Dr. Julia Martinsen, only to sense something badly wrong. A dead man and a string of lies make the reunion far more dangerous than it looks.
The Merchant of Venus
by Ellen Hart
2001
Jane joins Cordelia on a strange holiday trip when Cordelia's sister plans to marry an elderly Hollywood director. The wedding soon gives way to old studio secrets, fresh bodies, and a mystery decades in the making.
Immaculate Midnight
by Ellen Hart
2002
After Ray Lawless defends a notorious arsonist and accused killer who later dies in jail, someone blames the Lawless family. Jane digs into the case and finds a more disturbing truth behind the revenge.
An Intimate Ghost
by Ellen Hart
2004
When a wedding Jane is catering turns chaotic after the food is drugged, a near-fatal accident puts her reputation on the line. Clearing her name means sorting through family damage, secrets, and one very dangerous lie.
The Iron Girl
by Ellen Hart
2005
A gun found in Jane's late partner's briefcase forces her to reopen an infamous 1987 triple murder. The case becomes personal fast as grief, memory, and buried truths collide.
Night Vision
by Ellen Hart
2006
A Hollywood actress returns to Minneapolis under the shadow of an old stalker, and Jane is asked to help keep her safe. The case turns into a tense hunt where fame, fear, and obsession all matter.
The Mortal Groove
by Ellen Hart
2007
Ray Lawless's run for governor uncovers political baggage that reaches back to Vietnam and a young woman's death. Jane has to protect her family while following a trail of long-suppressed secrets.
Sweet Poison
by Ellen Hart
2008
With her father's campaign under attack, Jane is already stretched thin when a murder echoes an old crime tied to an ex-con who swears he was framed. Politics and revenge make a dangerous mix.
The Mirror and the Mask
by Ellen Hart
2009
A drifter named Annie Archer lands in Jane's orbit looking for work and a missing stepfather. When murder follows, Jane's professional instincts and personal feelings start pulling in the same risky direction.
The Cruel Ever After
by Ellen Hart
2010
Jane's ex-husband Chester drifts back into Minneapolis carrying charm, trouble, and a connection to a dead buyer and a looted artifact. Helping him may be a mistake, but walking away is not so simple.
The Lost Women of Lost Lake
by Ellen Hart
2011
At Lost Lake, Jane and Cordelia step in to help a friend preparing a play, but an outsider with an old photograph starts asking questions about a decades-old death. The past does not stay quiet for long.
Rest for the Wicked
by Ellen Hart
2012
A voicemail from DeAndre Moore reaches Jane only after he has been stabbed to death outside a club. With A.J. Nolan sidelined, Jane follows the case into a knot of linked murders and buried motives.
Taken by the Wind
by Ellen Hart
2013
Two boys vanish during a camping trip, and Jane is asked to help before panic turns to despair. Family strain, prejudice, and a ransom demand make the search more urgent by the hour.
The Old Deep and Dark
by Ellen Hart
2014
While Cordelia restores an old Minneapolis theater, a body is found inside the wall. Jane juggles that mystery with a country singer's murder, and the two cases start to look less separate than they should.
The Grave Soul
by Ellen Hart
2015
Kira Adler has spent years haunted by dreams about her mother's death, and a disturbing package makes the old story feel newly dangerous. Jane steps into a family where an accident may have been something far worse.
Fever in the Dark
by Ellen Hart
2017
A viral proposal video makes newly married Fiona and Annie famous overnight, then dangerously exposed. When threats harden into murder, Jane has to decide whether the couple are targets, suspects, or both.
A Whisper of Bones
by Ellen Hart
2018
Britt Ickles remembers a cousin her aunts insist never existed. Jane takes the case, and a house full of secrets soon leads to fire, bones beneath a garage, and a past nobody wants named.
Twisted at the Root
by Ellen Hart
2019
New evidence suggests Rashad May may not have killed his husband after all, so Jane and her father reopen the case. Their search for the truth pulls in Jane's troubled brother and a gallery world full of nerves and lies.
In a Midnight Wood
by Ellen Hart
2020
Jane and Cordelia head to Castle Lake for an art festival and reunion week, just as the remains of a missing man from 1999 are found. The small town knows the story, but not the truth.
Series background & context
Jane Lawless is not a police detective. She starts the series as a Minneapolis restaurateur with a cool head, a good memory, and a habit of asking one more question than most people want to answer. That makes her useful when deaths are written off too quickly, old cases refuse to stay buried, or friends and relatives need help they do not trust to the authorities.
She does not work alone for long. The real engine of the series is the partnership between Jane and Cordelia Thorn, her best friend and frequent co-investigator. Jane is private, careful, and often a little wary of her own feelings. Cordelia is theatrical, impulsive, hungry, funny, and impossible to ignore. Their back and forth gives the books warmth even when the cases get dark.
Cordelia is half the fun.
Minneapolis matters here. So do St. Paul, lake cabins, old theaters, winter roads, neighborhood restaurants, and the kinds of houses that keep family history in the walls. Hart uses the Twin Cities as more than background. The setting shapes who these people are, how they talk, what they hide, and what they think they can get away with.
These are puzzle mysteries, but never just puzzles.
Again and again, the crimes grow out of old wounds. A suspicious suicide opens the first book. Elsewhere, Jane runs into theatrical dynasties, damaged families, political campaigns, ex-lovers, cold cases, and secrets that have been kept for decades because exposing them would wreck a reputation or a whole version of the past. The series has murder, yes, but it is usually more interested in motive, memory, shame, loyalty, and the stories people tell to survive.
Over time Jane's life changes in ways that longtime readers can really feel. She is still tied to the restaurant world, but she gradually moves from talented amateur into licensed private investigator territory, often working with former detective A.J. Nolan. Her father Ray, her brother Peter, Cordelia's sprawling orbit, and Jane's own complicated love life give the books a strong sense of continuity from one case to the next.
If you like mysteries that care about community as much as clues, this series does that well. Expect smart setups, dry humor, recurring characters who actually matter, and cases that begin with one death but usually lead back to something older and harder to face.
Edited by
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