Miranda James Books in Order

Co-written with Jean Swanson, this reference guide surveys mystery fiction by women and helps readers discover key authors, characters, and themes. It is a smart snapshot of the genre and the writers who shaped it.

This reader’s guide matches mystery and suspense books to the kinds of stories people already enjoy in novels, films, and television. It is built to help readers branch out and find their next favorite crime writer.

A short story by Harlan Coben, originally published in the anthology *Malice Domestic 7*. It showcases his signature ability to craft a tight mystery with a clever twist in a compact format.

Graduate student Maggie McLendon goes to Jackson, Mississippi, hoping a family reunion might heal an old rift. Instead she walks into murder, buried grief, and secrets surrounding her grandmother’s death.

Retired English teacher Ernestine Carpenter is asked to look into a writer’s suspicious drowning at a Mississippi estate. The case leads her through literary feuds, hidden manuscripts, and a house full of people with reasons to lie.

Simon Kirby-Jones has finally settled into his dream English village, despite being American, gay, and secretly a vampire. When a hated postmistress is murdered after a church committee quarrel, Simon starts uncovering Snupperton’s nastier secrets.

At a crime writers’ conference, Simon Kirby-Jones is furious to find someone posing as one of his pen names. When the imposter is killed, the gathering turns into a sharp-tongued mystery full of vanity, gossip, and very nervous authors.

Co-written with Jean Swanson, this companion offers a guide to Dick Francis’s racing thrillers, recurring patterns, and major characters. It also includes background on Francis’s life and a closer look at how the books work.

Simon attends a country-house tea for a celebrity decorator who insults nearly everyone in sight. When the designer ends up dead in a classic locked-room setup, Simon has plenty of suspects and very little patience.

A medieval reenactment in the village turns ugly when a development plan sparks rivalries and a poisoned pastry kills the wrong man. Simon has to sort through role-playing grudges, old relationships, and a very theatrical suspect list.

Wanda Nell Culpepper is exhausted from two jobs and family chaos when her no-good ex-husband blows back into town flashing cash. The next morning he is dead with her missing pink flamingo stuck in him, and Wanda Nell is suddenly in the middle of murder.

Co-written with Elizabeth Foxwell, this companion maps Robert B. Parker’s fiction, characters, settings, and screen adaptations. It is a handy guide for readers who want context on Spenser, Jesse Stone, Sunny Randall, and more.

Wanda Nell is juggling two jobs and a household full of demands when a fellow waitress turns up dead. Her boss Melvin becomes the obvious suspect, and Wanda Nell starts asking questions no one wants answered.

Wanda Nell’s long-absent brother Rusty suddenly reappears, stirring up old pain and fresh trouble. After a man he fought with is murdered and Rusty disappears, Wanda Nell has to find him before the sheriff does.

Recent widow Emma Diamond is trying to rebuild her life in a Houston neighborhood where bridge games matter almost as much as gossip. When a hateful homeowners’ association leader dies during a game, Emma gets dealt a murder case.

An extra shift at a private bachelor party sounds like easy money for Wanda Nell until the groom drops dead after a crude toast. With the groom’s brother arrested, she starts digging into family rivalry and hidden motives.

Newly married Wanda Nell barely gets a moment to enjoy honeymoon plans before a long-unsolved killing resurfaces. A young woman’s body, an old suspect, and a fresh death turn the cold case into something far more urgent.

Emma Diamond heads to the Texas Hill Country for a bridge retreat with friends and lands in the middle of a feud between rival bridge experts. When one of them is killed, Emma has to read the room as carefully as the cards.

When arrogant hometown horror writer Godfrey Priest returns to Athena, Mississippi, he makes enemies fast and winds up dead before the day is over. Librarian Charlie Harris and his Maine Coon cat Diesel start sorting through old grudges to find the killer.

Charlie Harris is hired to inventory eccentric collector James Delacorte’s rare books, only to find the old man murdered at his desk. With a priceless Poe volume missing and family tensions rising, Charlie and Diesel follow the clues.

A famous playwright comes back to Athena as writer in residence, and Charlie’s daughter Laura is drawn into the drama through an old romance. When the playwright is killed, Charlie and Diesel have to clear her name.

A feud over Athena’s library fundraiser turns deadly when the abrasive Vera Cassity is murdered at the gala. Charlie Harris investigates to protect his housekeeper Azalea, who looks far too guilty for comfort.

Graduate student Andy Carpenter finds a fellow history student murdered in the university library, and his ex Rob becomes the prime suspect. With Maggie McLendon helping, he digs into jealousy, plagiarism, and academic scheming.

While pet-sitting Diesel in Athena, sisters An’gel and Dickce Ducote are drawn into the troubles of an old sorority friend and her greedy children. Once inheritance questions turn murderous, the sisters step in.

During National Library Week, Athena hosts a rare appearance by legendary author Electra Barnes Cartwright. The celebration sours when collectors and superfans start circling rumored unpublished manuscripts, and Charlie realizes someone is willing to kill for them.

Civil War diaries donated to Athena College promise political prestige, academic advantage, and plenty of trouble. When rivalry over the papers turns murderous, Charlie and Diesel must figure out why the past is suddenly worth killing for.

An’gel and Dickce travel to Louisiana for a family wedding and find the celebration loaded with money tensions and bad feeling. When the bride dies in a storm, the sisters start picking apart the lies around the marriage.

The Ducote sisters are busy with a spring homes tour when a body appears on the Partridge estate after a storm. Old disappearance rumors, marriage ambitions, and town gossip make the case messier by the minute.

The new library director wants budget cuts, fewer archives, and absolutely no animals in the stacks, making him unpopular before anyone finds his body. Charlie investigates to clear Melba, whose sharp tongue and planted evidence make her an easy target.

Asked to visit a grand Natchez house plagued by strange happenings, An’gel and Dickce suspect human mischief rather than ghosts. Then a family member dies in the infamous French Room, and the sisters dig into a haunted-looking past.

Charlie is already stressed by a major librarians’ conference at Athena College, especially with an old enemy set to speak. Then the keynote guest is murdered, trapping Charlie in a room full of suspects who all know how to hide information.

A mysterious visitor digging into Charlie’s family history brings an old murder back into the open. As Charlie and Diesel chase links between genealogy, a true-crime writer, and a dangerous stranger, the cold case starts feeling very personal.

Just before Christmas, Charlie finds five kittens abandoned on his doorstep and takes them in alongside Diesel. Then a flashy real estate agent dies at her holiday party, and seasonal goodwill vanishes fast.

Back in the classroom for a medieval history course, Charlie stumbles into a campus tangle of jealousy, secrets, and bad marriages. When a fellow student is killed, he and Diesel trace the case through gossip, ambition, and academic egos.

Charlie plans to stay out of murder until his daughter Laura is accused after an obnoxious guest actor dies onstage. To save her, Charlie and Diesel return to sleuthing behind the scenes of a troubled college production.

Charlie, Helen Louise, and Diesel head to Asheville for a mystery readers’ getaway that should be restful and bookish. Instead, an uninvited guest turns up dead, and old grudges follow the group into the mountains.

When Charlie unexpectedly inherits his grandfather’s old house, he and Diesel find more than memories waiting inside. A skeleton in a closet and a fresh death on the property force Charlie into a mystery tied to his own family.

Rock star Wil Threadgill returns to Athena for a short residency and quickly stirs up admiration, resentment, and trouble. After the harassment around him turns deadly, Charlie and Diesel dig into the past to protect Melba and unmask the killer.

With Charlie and Helen Louise’s wedding close at hand, a timid new worker at the bistro and archive brings fresh unease into their lives. When Tara Martin is attacked, Charlie and Diesel uncover a hidden past that may ruin everything.

Charlie and Helen Louise spend their honeymoon in Ireland, only to arrive at a family castle just as a baron falls from the roof. With Diesel nearby and a ghostly cat in the mix, the trip turns into a locked-in murder case.