Kate Killoy Mystery Books in Order

Kate Killoy lives in a world where dog shows, family loyalty, and real danger keep colliding. She designs fashion for dog lovers, raises and exhibits Samoyeds, and keeps getting pulled into crimes that are far bigger than an amateur sleuth should have to handle.

That mix is the hook.

The series opens with Fashion Goes to the Dogs, where a trip to New York for a famous dog show and runway event turns into murder and espionage. From there, the books stay connected to the dog world, but the stakes spread wider. Theft, organized crime, national security threats, missing people, and long-buried secrets all enter the picture. These are not quiet drawing-room puzzles. They are fast-moving suspense novels with a strong mystery spine.

Kate never works alone for long. Former FBI agent Harry Foyle becomes her closest partner, and their relationship is one of the things that carries the series forward. There is romance here, but it is tied tightly to the action rather than set off to the side. The books follow the change from early attraction to marriage and family pressure, while still keeping the crime plot front and center. Around them is a big Irish-American family with deep ties to law enforcement and investigation, which gives the series a strong sense of home even when the danger gets large.

The dogs matter here.

Dillon, Liam, Quinn, and the other dogs in Kate's orbit are not just background color. They track, warn, protect, and sometimes help break a case open. Gaffney's long experience with Samoyeds gives the books a lived-in feel, especially in scenes about breeding, training, exhibiting, and simply sharing a house with intelligent dogs. If you like mysteries where animals truly affect the story, this series delivers that in a bigger, more action-heavy way than most pet-centered whodunits.

Setting matters, too. The books move through dog shows, snowy search-and-rescue work, Connecticut homes crowded with relatives, and Adirondack getaway plans that go badly wrong. Search, North Country Honeymoon, and Guard Kate show how often personal milestones and dangerous cases crash into each other. Later books like Cold Case and Vanished keep the family stakes close while opening the door to older threats and new trouble.

Overall, the Kate Killoy books sit between mystery, thriller, and romantic suspense. They have warmth and humor, but they also like motion: chases, storms, threats, kidnappings, and the feeling that Kate and Harry are usually only a step behind something serious. If you want a series with dogs at the center, a capable couple, and mysteries that aim bigger than the average pet mystery, this is a very good place to start.