Manny Rivera Books in Order
Part ofRich Curtin Books in OrderSee the Manny Rivera books in order by Rich Curtin, with concise summaries, series background, and an easy place to start in Utah's canyon country.
Last updated: July 14, 2026
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Manny Rivera books in publication order
12 books
Artifacts of Death
by Rich Curtin
2011
A ranch hand is murdered in remote canyon country near Moab, leaving behind a bullet and an ancient potsherd. Deputy Sheriff Manny Rivera follows the clues into an artifact-smuggling scheme where greed, local pressure, and a long-hidden cave collide.
February's Files
by Rich Curtin
2012
A skeleton found above Labyrinth Canyon belongs to a controversial journalist who never stopped investigating. Deputy Manny Rivera digs through the dead man's files, uncovering old secrets, a bus accident, and several motives for murder.
Trails of Deception
by Rich Curtin
2013
As protests over looted Native artifacts turn ugly in Moab, a San Francisco collector is found murdered in the LaSal Mountains. Deputy Manny Rivera must separate activism from revenge before more lawless acts spiral out of control.
Moonshadow Murder
by Rich Curtin
2014
When Sunshine, a young resident of an isolated desert commune, is found strangled after a storm, every neighbor becomes a suspect. Deputy Manny Rivera enters the group's strange history and secrets while the killer remains close at hand.
Deadly Games
by Rich Curtin
2015
A powerful industrial chairman wants an environmental congressman defeated, and he hires a political operative to inflame old land-use battles in rural Utah. As the scheme spreads through Moab, dangerous consequences hit the people caught in its path.
Death Saint
by Rich Curtin
2016
New evidence in an old murder sends Deputy Manny Rivera from Moab to an isolated northern New Mexico village. Distrustful residents, local beliefs, and a chain of mysterious deaths complicate his search for a killer who has stayed hidden for years.
The Shaman's Secret
by Rich Curtin
2017
An armed militia member is shot while hunting bighorn sheep poachers in Utah's remote backcountry. Deputy Manny Rivera finds a second crime linked to an old Ute medicine man and must untangle history, murder, and a hard choice about justice.
Coyote's Regret
by Rich Curtin
2019
A San Francisco couple is found shot dead beside an abandoned airstrip in southeast Utah, and the evidence suggests murder-suicide. Manny Rivera is unconvinced, especially when their detour and 1960s-style clothes raise more questions than answers.
Final Arrangements
by Rich Curtin
2020
Moab rockhound Iggy Webb is found shot in his motorhome, with only a crumpled note of figures left behind. Deputy Manny Rivera struggles to find a motive until the case opens onto a conspiracy driven by greed and human weakness.
Cast A Cold Eye
by Rich Curtin
2021
A young historian researching the outlaw past of the Whitmire Ranch is found murdered in the LaSal Mountains. Deputy Manny Rivera must discover what Rusty Randall uncovered, and whether the ranch's old stories conceal a very current danger.
Death of Dreams
by Rich Curtin
2024
After an accident ends his hiking life, backcountry guide Derek Webster uses a camera drone to explore Utah's canyons again. When he is shot dead in the mountains, Manny Rivera suspects the apparent hunting accident was deliberate.
A Cemetery For One
by Rich Curtin
2026
A dog digging near Fisher Mesa uncovers human remains, and Deputy Manny Rivera learns the victim was murdered decades earlier. With no identification and few leads, he faces the hardest task of his career, naming the dead and finding their killer.
Manny Rivera books in chronological order

Artifacts of Death
by Rich Curtin
2011Manny Rivera, Book 1
February's Files
by Rich Curtin
2012Manny Rivera, Book 2
Trails of Deception
by Rich Curtin
2013Manny Rivera, Book 3
Moonshadow Murder
by Rich Curtin
2014Manny Rivera, Book 4
Deadly Games
by Rich Curtin
2015Manny Rivera, Book 5
Death Saint
by Rich Curtin
2016Manny Rivera, Book 6
The Shaman's Secret
by Rich Curtin
2017Manny Rivera, Book 7
Coyote's Regret
by Rich Curtin
2019Manny Rivera, Book 8
Final Arrangements
by Rich Curtin
2020Manny Rivera, Book 9
Cast A Cold Eye
by Rich Curtin
2021Manny Rivera, Book 10
Death of Dreams
by Rich Curtin
2024Manny Rivera, Book 11
A Cemetery For One
by Rich Curtin
2026Manny Rivera, Book 12
Series background & context
Rich Curtin's Manny Rivera series follows a deputy sheriff whose beat covers Moab, Utah, and the wide, difficult country around it. Manny works in Grand County, where a call can lead from town streets to isolated canyons, high desert trails, ranches, and back roads that disappear into the Four Corners landscape. The cases are murder mysteries, but the setting shapes nearly every one of them.
Manny is a steady, observant investigator rather than a grandstanding hero. He pays attention to physical evidence, old records, inconsistent stories, and the quiet details other people dismiss. His cases often begin with a body or an unsettling discovery, then expand into questions about local history, hidden motives, and the risks people take to protect money, reputation, or a long-buried secret.
The opening novel, Artifacts of Death, establishes the pattern. A murdered ranch hand, an ancient potsherd, and a cache of valuable artifacts draw Manny into a crime with roots in both greed and the region's past. February's Files continues that approach when the death of a journalist leads him through a web of old documents and local secrets. The books work as individual investigations, while returning characters and changes in Manny's professional and personal life reward reading them in order.
The desert is never empty for long.
Across the series, Curtin uses the Southwest's history and competing claims on the land to give each case its own shape. Trails of Deception deals with artifact looting and protest. Deadly Games turns to political maneuvering and fights over public land. The Shaman's Secret connects a shooting and wildlife poaching to an older story, while Cast A Cold Eye asks what a researcher may have uncovered at a ranch with an outlaw past. These are mysteries where the past has a habit of showing up in the present.
The tone is measured, outdoorsy, and focused on the work of detection. There are tense moments, including dangerous terrain and suspects with plenty to lose, but the novels give equal weight to interviews, research, and careful reasoning. Moab's tourist economy also adds pressure when violent crime threatens the town's public image and livelihood.
Later entries keep finding fresh ways to test Manny. In Death of Dreams, an injured backcountry explorer uses a drone to reconnect with the wilderness before he is killed. A Cemetery For One begins when a dog uncovers human remains, leaving Manny with a decades-old murder and an unidentified victim. Wherever the case starts, Rivera has to piece together a story from incomplete evidence, stubborn witnesses, and the vast country around him.
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