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Maple Syrup Mysteries Books in Order

Part ofEmily James Books in Order

See the Maple Syrup Mysteries by Emily James in order, with short summaries, series background, and a clear guide to where to start in Fair Haven.

Last updated: July 12, 2026

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Maple Syrup Mysteries books in publication order

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14 books

1

A Sticky Inheritance

by Emily James

2016

When Nicole inherits her uncle's maple syrup farm, she sees a chance to leave criminal defense behind for good. That plan lasts about half a day, until signs point to murder and Fair Haven starts showing its darker side.

2

Bushwhacked

by Emily James

2016

Driving through a snowstorm, Nicole hits what she thinks is a deer, only to discover the local shelter manager. Once it becomes clear the death was murder, she joins the investigation while trying to settle into her new life at Sugarwood.

3

Sapped

by Emily James

2016

Nicole learns on the news that her boyfriend's wife is dead and he may be involved. She wants nothing to do with him, but uncovering the truth may be the only way to stop the killer from turning the case against her.

4

Almost Sleighed

by Emily James

2017

Nicole's first maple syrup season is already stressful when groom-mechanic Noah is found near death in a horse stall. Convinced it was no accident, she digs for answers before the attacker comes back to finish the job.

5

Bucket List

by Emily James

2017

Nicole agrees to defend a museum curator accused of killing an employee, hoping the case will settle whether she still belongs in law. Strange evidence and deeper secrets make the answer harder to find than she expected.

6

Capital Obsession

by Emily James

2017

A short trip back to Washington, D.C. should be a break for Nicole, but threatening messages aimed at her best friend say otherwise. This time the case is deeply personal, and the danger reaches straight into her old life.

7

Deadly Arms

by Emily James

2017

Nicole's mother arrives for an unplanned visit just as a flu outbreak hits Fair Haven and blood turns up in a bed-and-breakfast room. There is no body, no clear motive, and plenty of reasons to fear the killer already knows them.

8

Murder on Tap

by Emily James

2017

A photographer dies during Nicole's farm tour, and her friend Holly quickly becomes the prime suspect, then vanishes. The case looks impossible, but Nicole cannot walk away while an innocent woman may be headed for prison.

9

Tapped Out

by Emily James

2017

Wedding plans and farm work take a back seat when officer Elise Scott is suspended and a case involving her children pulls Nicole back toward defense work. The deeper Nicole digs, the less certain she is about who deserves her trust.

10

End of the Line

by Emily James

2018

Days before her wedding, Nicole faces a missing police chief, a murdered officer, and evidence pointing at her fiancé Mark. Clearing his name means going after corruption and the most dangerous enemy she has met in Fair Haven.

11

Guilty or Knot

by Emily James

2019

Very pregnant Nicole is planning movies in the maple bush when a baffling case lands on her desk. The victim's death fits no easy explanation, and the people closest to her are hiding something of their own.

12

Rooted in Murder

by Emily James

2019

Nicole thinks married life and work have finally brought some peace, until her dog digs up a skeleton where new trees should go. A favor owed to her nemesis drags her into a buried crime with fresh consequences.

13

Slay Bells Ringing

by Emily James

2019

This holiday duet pairs two quick mysteries with very bad timing. Nicole's honeymoon turns into an ocean-liner puzzle, while Isabel investigates the death of a homeless man during the Christmas rush.

14

Stumped

by Emily James

2020

Nicole expects to stop taking cases until after the baby arrives, then a man covered in blood walks into her law firm. With her license still under probation, helping him could put far more than her schedule at risk.

Maple Syrup Mysteries books in chronological order

  1. Book cover for "A Sticky Inheritance"

    A Sticky Inheritance

    by Emily James

    2016Maple Syrup Mysteries, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "Sapped"

    Sapped

    by Emily James

    2016Maple Syrup Mysteries, Book 2
  3. Book cover for "Bushwhacked"

    Bushwhacked

    by Emily James

    2016Maple Syrup Mysteries, Book 3
  4. Book cover for "Almost Sleighed"

    Almost Sleighed

    by Emily James

    2017Maple Syrup Mysteries, Book 4
  5. Book cover for "Murder on Tap"

    Murder on Tap

    by Emily James

    2017Maple Syrup Mysteries, Book 5
  6. Book cover for "Deadly Arms"

    Deadly Arms

    by Emily James

    2017Maple Syrup Mysteries, Book 6
  7. Book cover for "Capital Obsession"

    Capital Obsession

    by Emily James

    2017Maple Syrup Mysteries, Book 7
  8. Book cover for "Tapped Out"

    Tapped Out

    by Emily James

    2017Maple Syrup Mysteries, Book 8
  9. Book cover for "Bucket List"

    Bucket List

    by Emily James

    2017Maple Syrup Mysteries, Book 9
  10. Book cover for "End of the Line"

    End of the Line

    by Emily James

    2018Maple Syrup Mysteries, Book 10
  11. Book cover for "Slay Bells Ringing"

    Slay Bells Ringing

    by Emily James

    2019Maple Syrup Mysteries, Book 11
  12. Book cover for "Rooted in Murder"

    Rooted in Murder

    by Emily James

    2019Maple Syrup Mysteries, Book 12
  13. Book cover for "Guilty or Knot"

    Guilty or Knot

    by Emily James

    2019Maple Syrup Mysteries, Book 13
  14. Book cover for "Stumped"

    Stumped

    by Emily James

    2020Maple Syrup Mysteries, Book 14

Series background & context

The Maple Syrup Mysteries begin with a woman who is trying very hard to leave one kind of life behind and accidentally walks straight into another. Nicole Fitzhenry-Dawes is a former criminal defense attorney from Washington, D.C. In A Sticky Inheritance, she heads to Fair Haven, Michigan, to take over her late uncle's maple syrup farm, Sugarwood. Nicole expects distance from liars, killers, and courtroom drama. What she gets instead is a suspicious death, a small town full of secrets, and a very fast reminder that trouble can find you anywhere.

Fair Haven looks cozy on the surface and messy underneath.

That contrast is a big part of the fun. The series leans hard into its setting, and not just as wallpaper. The maple syrup business shapes the rhythm of the books, from sap season and farm tours to antique sap buckets, animal shelters, town festivals, and new tree plantings. Fair Haven is a tourist town, which means appearances matter, and that gives Nicole plenty to push against when officials would rather keep a scandal quiet than admit something ugly happened close to home.

Nicole makes a strong long-running lead because she is not guessing her way through every case. She knows how to read a witness, test an alibi, and spot the difference between suspicion and proof. Some books feel more like classic amateur sleuth mysteries. Others lean into legal puzzles, missing-person questions, or cases where Nicole has to decide whether she is still willing to use her law background for real. Her relationship with county medical examiner Mark adds warmth and continuity without taking over the books.

Reading the series in order is especially rewarding because Nicole's life keeps changing. In Bushwhacked and Almost Sleighed, she is still figuring out how to live at Sugarwood and where she fits in town. Later books like Tapped Out, Bucket List, and End of the Line pull her deeper into questions about career, marriage, police corruption, and what kind of future she actually wants. By the time you reach Rooted in Murder, Guilty or Knot, and Stumped, the appeal is not just the latest case. It is seeing how much more rooted Nicole has become, even when she would prefer a week without a corpse.

The mysteries cover a lot of ground, locked-room problems, missing bodies, cold cases, blackmail, buried secrets, and holiday trouble. Even when the stakes rise, the books keep a clean, readable feel. There are animals, food, town gossip, and the kind of side characters who make Fair Haven feel lived in rather than decorative.

If you want a cozy series that can move from sugar shacks to courtrooms without losing its small-town charm, this is the Emily James series that sets the tone for everything that follows.

Edited by

Richard Reis

Software engineer whose passion for tracking book recommendations from podcasts inspired the creation of MRB.

Anurag Ramdasan

Lead investor at 3one4 Capital whose startup expertise and love for books helped shaped MRB and its growth.

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