Kurt Hunter Mysteries Books in Order
Part ofSteven Becker Books in OrderSee the Kurt Hunter Mysteries by Steven Becker in order, with quick summaries, series background, and a helpful guide to where to begin.
Last updated: July 2, 2026
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Kurt Hunter Mysteries books in publication order
16 books
Backwater Bay
by Steven Becker
2018
Special Agent Kurt Hunter's first real case begins with a body in the Biscayne mangroves. The trail takes him from quiet park waters to South Beach, and straight back into the spotlight he never wanted.
Backwater Channel
by Steven Becker
2018
Kurt witnesses a murder at the Turkey Point nuclear power plant and ends up on the case. What looks political at first soon opens into a much deadlier game.
Backwater Cove
by Steven Becker
2018
A woman washes up on a remote island in Biscayne National Park, and Kurt has to find out who put her there. The case drags him into a world of money, ambition, and ruthless boosters.
Backwater Key
by Steven Becker
2018
Out of work but not out of stubbornness, Kurt refuses to ignore a gang war spilling through his park. When a body turns up at Boca Chita Lighthouse, he goes back on the hunt.
Backwater Pass
by Steven Becker
2018
A bridge collapse kills six people and leaves Kurt chasing the truth through politics and blame shifting. With the wreckage headed for an artificial reef, time is working against him.
Backwater Tide
by Steven Becker
2018
An adrift boat and a dead treasure hunter kick off one of Kurt's messiest cases. Among shifting alliances and rising bodies, he has to navigate a dangerous crowd obsessed with what lies underwater.
Backwater Flats
by Steven Becker
2019
The murder of an officer in Biscayne National Park hints at rot inside the system. Kurt is told to solve the crime while powerful people work just as hard to keep the truth buried.
Backwater Grave
by Steven Becker
2020
A string of drownings brings the FBI in and pushes Kurt toward a nightmare of politics and personal danger. When the dead all connect back to him, the case turns brutally intimate.
Backwater Diva
by Steven Becker
2021
A murder aboard a yacht draws Kurt into a flashy world he barely recognizes. The case is high-profile, messy, and exactly the kind of attention he never wants.
Backwater Haven
by Steven Becker
2021
South Florida's party coves are getting crowded, reckless, and dangerous. When a boat drifts into the park with a dead DEA agent aboard, Kurt has to dig through sandbar chaos and island history.
Backwater Predator
by Steven Becker
2021
Biscayne National Park becomes a battleground between people who want to use it and people who want to save it. When the fight turns violent, Kurt is stuck in the middle with no easy side to trust.
Backwater Connection
by Steven Becker
2022
When the tides deliver yet another body, Kurt finds himself chasing killers with cartel ties. In Biscayne National Park, even the water can point straight toward organized crime.
Backwater Squall
by Steven Becker
2022
A woman's plea to find her missing husband sends Kurt into Biscayne's most unforgiving waters. Nature is dangerous enough, but the people hiding in the backwaters are worse.
Backwater Glades
by Steven Becker
2023
Following a killer into Everglades City, Kurt discovers just how lethal the Glades can be. Between the terrain and the people hiding in it, staying alive becomes part of the job.
Backwater Virgin
by Steven Becker
2024
A murder in the Virgin Islands pulls Kurt into a case wrapped in reefs, caves, smuggling, and treasure hunting. Paradise turns dangerous fast when the dead man's secrets start to surface.
Backwater Cartel
by Steven Becker
2025
A high-tech surface drone smuggling drugs through protected waters tells Kurt the criminals are changing. To shut the operation down, he has to chase a cartel from Miami to the Upper Keys.
Kurt Hunter Mysteries books in chronological order

Backwater Bay
by Steven Becker
2018Kurt Hunter Mysteries, Book 1
Backwater Channel
by Steven Becker
2018Kurt Hunter Mysteries, Book 2
Backwater Cove
by Steven Becker
2018Kurt Hunter Mysteries, Book 3
Backwater Key
by Steven Becker
2018Kurt Hunter Mysteries, Book 4
Backwater Pass
by Steven Becker
2018Kurt Hunter Mysteries, Book 5
Backwater Tide
by Steven Becker
2018Kurt Hunter Mysteries, Book 6
Backwater Flats
by Steven Becker
2019Kurt Hunter Mysteries, Book 7
Backwater Grave
by Steven Becker
2020Kurt Hunter Mysteries, Book 8
Backwater Diva
by Steven Becker
2021Kurt Hunter Mysteries, Book 9
Backwater Haven
by Steven Becker
2021Kurt Hunter Mysteries, Book 10
Backwater Predator
by Steven Becker
2021Kurt Hunter Mysteries, Book 11
Backwater Squall
by Steven Becker
2022Kurt Hunter Mysteries, Book 12
Backwater Connection
by Steven Becker
2022Kurt Hunter Mysteries, Book 13
Backwater Glades
by Steven Becker
2023Kurt Hunter Mysteries, Book 14
Backwater Virgin
by Steven Becker
2024Kurt Hunter Mysteries, Book 15
Backwater Cartel
by Steven Becker
2025Kurt Hunter Mysteries, Book 16
Series background & context
The Kurt Hunter books move Steven Becker's Florida storytelling into more direct mystery territory. Kurt is a special agent tied to Biscayne National Park, and that job gives the series its shape. He is not working cozy villages or drawing-room crimes. He is dealing with bodies in mangroves, missing people, political pressure, environmental fights, smugglers, cartels, treasure hunters, and the constant problem of trying to protect a national park that sits in the shadow of Miami.
That setting does a lot of heavy lifting. Biscayne is beautiful, open, and easy to underestimate. The park's islands, channels, shallows, and backwaters create the kind of landscape where people can disappear, dump evidence, run contraband, or get lost for good. Becker uses that well. The water is calm until it isn't. A sandbar party can turn into a crime scene. A wreck can be an accident, or not. A floating body can open a door into politics, money, and old grudges.
The park is beautiful. It is also a crime scene.
Kurt himself is a good fit for this world because he does not read like a flashy hero. He often seems tired of attention and wary of bureaucracy, but he keeps doing the work. That matters because many of these cases are not just about solving a murder. They are also about handling overlapping agencies, protecting the park, and deciding how far he can trust the people who are supposed to be on his side. The series keeps bringing him back to the same tension, public duty on one side, messy reality on the other.
The books are case-driven, but they do connect. Early novels like Backwater Bay, Backwater Channel, and Backwater Cove establish Kurt's mix of fieldwork, local knowledge, and institutional frustration. Later entries widen the pressure, pulling in bridge collapses, gang turf wars, ecological battles, missing persons, and high-tech smuggling. Even when the plots get bigger, the stories stay rooted in place. You can feel the heat, the distance, and the way a bad decision can echo across open water.
Tone-wise, this is Becker in mystery and procedural mode, but still with his usual boating and marine action. Expect a stronger investigative thread than in the Mac Travis books, a little more law-enforcement friction, and plenty of coastal atmosphere. If you like mysteries that mix crime-solving with real working landscapes, Kurt Hunter is a solid series to follow.
Edited by
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