Kate Bennett Books in Order

The Kate Bennett series begins with Between Skies, a mystery shaped by grief, family pressure, faith, and an old crime that refuses to stay buried. Kate is not introduced as someone looking for a fresh adventure. She is a widow trying to keep her household together after the sudden death of her husband, Pete, a pastor in Orlando, Florida.

His death leaves Kate with two immediate problems. She and her two teenage children, along with her grandmother, must leave the church parsonage. At the same time, she is carrying a deep anger that she cannot easily explain away or put aside. The story treats that anger as part of the mystery's emotional weight, not just background information.

Then an old job comes calling.

Kate once worked as an investigator for a bail bonds firm run by Caleb Moore. When Caleb offers her a chance to return, the work involves a thirty-five-year-old cold case concerning the murder of three teenagers. The case could bring a large reward, but it also gives Kate a practical reason to leave the life she thought she understood and use skills she had hoped not to need again.

The investigation takes Kate and her family to Cedarview in Northern Michigan. It is a place where old loyalties and old secrets matter, and where reopening a murder case is not welcome. Kate quickly learns that someone has a reason to keep the past sealed off, and that the people protecting it are prepared to make the danger immediate.

The past is not finished with this town.

Between Skies is a mystery first, but it also follows a woman working through loss while making decisions for the people who depend on her. Kate has to be a mother, granddaughter, widow, and investigator at the same time. That blend gives the book a more domestic, personal feeling than Murcer's team-based police procedurals, even when the threats become serious.

Faith is part of the story's frame, though Kate's relationship with it is strained rather than simple. She does not begin from a place of easy reassurance, and the novel allows her doubts and anger room to matter. Readers can expect a cold-case investigation with a family at its center, a northern Michigan setting, and a lead character who has to decide what she believes while confronting people determined to protect a long-hidden crime.

Because Between Skies is the opening Kate Bennett novel, it is the natural place to start.