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Owen McKenna Books in Order

Part ofTodd Borg Books in Order

See the Owen McKenna books in order by Todd Borg, with short summaries, Tahoe series background, reading order, and an easy place to start.

Last updated: June 10, 2026

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Owen McKenna books in publication order

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23 books

1

Tahoe Blowup

by Todd Borg

2001

After Owen's cabin barely survives an arson fire, he is hired to investigate a string of deadly blazes around Tahoe. The case turns personal when the firestarter kidnaps Street Casey and plans a devastating blowup.

2

Tahoe Deathfall

by Todd Borg

2001

Eight years after Melissa Salazar dies in a fall above Emerald Bay, her twin Jennifer hires Owen McKenna to reopen the case. What looked like a childhood accident leads to buried family secrets and a killer who is still watching.

3

Tahoe Ice Grave

by Todd Borg

2002

Young Thos Kahale is murdered in the icy lake, and Owen uncovers a family mystery tied to Hawaii and a lost Mark Twain manuscript. The killer is hunting the hidden treasure too, and will kill again to get it.

4

Tahoe Killshot

by Todd Borg

2004

When pop star Glory dies in a supposed mountain biking accident, Owen is warned it was murder. His investigation leads to a huge land scam and a taunting killer with a synthetic voice.

5

Tahoe Silence

by Todd Borg

2007

Silence Ramirez is a gifted autistic artist who cannot speak, and someone kidnaps her for the secret locked in her mind. Owen and Spot race through biker gang violence toward a terrifying deadline.

6

Tahoe Avalanche

by Todd Borg

2008

When March Carrera disappears the night a massive avalanche crashes into Emerald Bay, his uncle asks Owen for help. Buried bodies, old money and a long-hidden secret send the case deeper into Tahoe's winter danger.

7

Tahoe Night

by Todd Borg

2009

Former talk show host Leah Printner is already shattered by a fatal car wreck when her father is murdered. Owen hides her while tracing clues about stalking, old master forgeries and killers obsessed with Grendel.

8

Tahoe Heat

by Todd Borg

2010

Biotech founder Ryan Lear fears his partner's fatal fall was murder, then more violence follows. Owen hunts a killer circling a valuable discovery, a threatened company and a wild Mustang roaming the Tahoe woods.

9

Tahoe Hijack

by Todd Borg

2011

A boat hijacking pulls Owen back into the old murder of Grace Sun. To save Grace's long-hidden daughter Anna Quinn, he must outrun a killer chasing both a woman and a rumored treasure.

10

Tahoe Trap

by Todd Borg

2012

Young Paco secretly calls Owen from the back of a speeding pickup after witnessing his foster mother's murder. With Vegas contract killers hunting the boy, Owen has to find him fast and turn the trap around.

11

Tahoe Chase

by Todd Borg

2013

When an elderly former Olympic skier asks Owen to investigate his wife's suspicious fall, the trail leads to development fights and a string of staged accidents. Meanwhile, vulnerable Simone Bonnaire is being hunted through the wilderness.

12

Tahoe Ghost Boat

by Todd Borg

2014

Fifteen-year-old Gertie O'Leary becomes the centerpiece of a brutal extortion plot after her stepfather dies in an apparent boating accident. Owen steps in as her defender against blackmail, kidnappers and a killer who will not back off.

13

Tahoe Blue Fire

by Todd Borg

2015

Owen dismisses a frightened woman's fears until she is murdered. The case links a Renaissance artifact, several threatened lives and former football star Adam Simms, whose brain injuries make him either vulnerable or terrifying.

14

Tahoe Dark

by Todd Borg

2016

A kidnapping and an armored truck robbery pull Owen into a case that seems to point straight at young house cleaner Evan Rosen. He thinks she is innocent, but proving it means finding a ruthless killer first.

15

Tahoe Payback

by Todd Borg

2017

A missing woman turns up dead on Fannette Island, and Owen learns she ran a fake charity. As more scam artists are killed, Street Casey faces a threat from the violent father who once went to prison because of her testimony.

16

Tahoe Skydrop

by Todd Borg

2018

Tech visionary Yardley LaMotte builds a robotics company worth a fortune, then killers set out to steal his software. When a brilliant child tied to the password is kidnapped, Owen plans a desperate rescue from the sky.

17

Tahoe Deep

by Todd Borg

2019

Eighty years after blind teenager Danny Callahan witnessed the sinking of the SS Tahoe, someone assaults the elderly Daniel for answers. Owen is drawn into a lake-bottom secret that has already cost lives.

18

Tahoe Hit

by Todd Borg

2020

Two recent deaths look accidental, but Owen suspects a carefully staged poisoning. To stop a revenge scheme and save a kidnapped boy, he has to trace a mystery that reaches back twenty years and echoes Hamlet.

19

Tahoe Jade

by Todd Borg

2021

Firefighter Jade Jaso survives an assault and a warehouse fire, then her father dies and she disappears. Owen finds a hidden Abraham Lincoln letter, a coded message and a treasure hunt with deadly stakes.

20

Tahoe Moon

by Todd Borg

2022

Owen finds eight-year-old Camille Dexter alone and waiting for her missing grandfather. When the grandfather turns up dead, he realizes the bright young deaf girl may be the killer's true target.

21

Tahoe Flight

by Todd Borg

2023

A man Owen helped send to prison years ago is back and hungry for revenge on both Owen and oncologist Benito Diaz. A doctors' reunion, old grudges and a crazed pilot turn the case into a fight for survival.

22

Tahoe Rescue

by Todd Borg

2024

Livvy Paar loses her dream job and safe new life when her wealthy employer dies in a suspicious crash. Owen's investigation pulls him toward stolen art, modern pirates and Livvy's kidnapping.

23

Tahoe Speed

by Todd Borg

2025

Genevieve Laurent's life collapses when champion speed skier Colin Burns dies on a course in France. Owen suspects it was no accident, and his search brings danger to Genevieve and her Truckee restaurant.

Owen McKenna books in chronological order

  1. Book cover for "Tahoe Deathfall"

    Tahoe Deathfall

    by Todd Borg

    2001Owen McKenna, Book 1
  2. Book cover for "Tahoe Blowup"

    Tahoe Blowup

    by Todd Borg

    2001Owen McKenna, Book 2
  3. Book cover for "Tahoe Ice Grave"

    Tahoe Ice Grave

    by Todd Borg

    2002Owen McKenna, Book 3
  4. Book cover for "Tahoe Killshot"

    Tahoe Killshot

    by Todd Borg

    2004Owen McKenna, Book 4
  5. Book cover for "Tahoe Silence"

    Tahoe Silence

    by Todd Borg

    2007Owen McKenna, Book 5
  6. Book cover for "Tahoe Avalanche"

    Tahoe Avalanche

    by Todd Borg

    2008Owen McKenna, Book 6
  7. Book cover for "Tahoe Night"

    Tahoe Night

    by Todd Borg

    2009Owen McKenna, Book 7
  8. Book cover for "Tahoe Heat"

    Tahoe Heat

    by Todd Borg

    2010Owen McKenna, Book 8
  9. Book cover for "Tahoe Hijack"

    Tahoe Hijack

    by Todd Borg

    2011Owen McKenna, Book 9
  10. Book cover for "Tahoe Trap"

    Tahoe Trap

    by Todd Borg

    2012Owen McKenna, Book 10
  11. Book cover for "Tahoe Chase"

    Tahoe Chase

    by Todd Borg

    2013Owen McKenna, Book 11
  12. Book cover for "Tahoe Ghost Boat"

    Tahoe Ghost Boat

    by Todd Borg

    2014Owen McKenna, Book 12
  13. Book cover for "Tahoe Blue Fire"

    Tahoe Blue Fire

    by Todd Borg

    2015Owen McKenna, Book 13
  14. Book cover for "Tahoe Dark"

    Tahoe Dark

    by Todd Borg

    2016Owen McKenna, Book 14
  15. Book cover for "Tahoe Payback"

    Tahoe Payback

    by Todd Borg

    2017Owen McKenna, Book 15
  16. Book cover for "Tahoe Skydrop"

    Tahoe Skydrop

    by Todd Borg

    2018Owen McKenna, Book 16
  17. Book cover for "Tahoe Deep"

    Tahoe Deep

    by Todd Borg

    2019Owen McKenna, Book 17
  18. Book cover for "Tahoe Hit"

    Tahoe Hit

    by Todd Borg

    2020Owen McKenna, Book 18
  19. Book cover for "Tahoe Jade"

    Tahoe Jade

    by Todd Borg

    2021Owen McKenna, Book 19
  20. Book cover for "Tahoe Moon"

    Tahoe Moon

    by Todd Borg

    2022Owen McKenna, Book 20
  21. Book cover for "Tahoe Flight"

    Tahoe Flight

    by Todd Borg

    2023Owen McKenna, Book 21
  22. Book cover for "Tahoe Rescue"

    Tahoe Rescue

    by Todd Borg

    2024Owen McKenna, Book 22
  23. Book cover for "Tahoe Speed"

    Tahoe Speed

    by Todd Borg

    2025Owen McKenna, Book 23

Series background & context

The Owen McKenna books are Tahoe mysteries, but they are not cozy little puzzles tucked safely indoors. Owen is a former San Francisco homicide inspector who walked away from police work after a traumatic event and rebuilt his life at Lake Tahoe. Now he works as a private investigator out of Kingsbury Grade and lives in a tiny cabin high above the East Shore with his Harlequin Great Dane, Spot. That setup tells you a lot about the series right away, classic detective roots, but with mountain weather, lake water, and rough country always waiting to complicate things.

Spot is part of the job.

From Tahoe Deathfall onward, the cases often begin with something personal and specific, a childhood death, a suspicious fire, a missing witness, an avalanche victim, a hijacking, a lost child. Then the books widen. Hidden family history turns into murder, local crimes touch bigger money, and Tahoe's landscape becomes part of the pressure. In these stories, cliffs, forests, marinas, snowfields, cabins, and winding roads are not just scenery. They are tools, hiding places, traps, and deadlines.

Owen is steady company through all of it. He is thoughtful, decent, and less flashy than many thriller detectives, but he is stubborn when someone vulnerable needs help. The most important person in his life is Street Casey, a forensic entomologist whose scientific work often sharpens the investigation and whose guarded personal history gives the series emotional weight. Around them is a small but useful circle of law enforcement friends and local allies. Still, the heart of the books is Owen, Street, and Spot, and the way their bond deepens from one case to the next.

The tone sits in a satisfying middle ground. These are detective novels, but they also lean into survival suspense and regional adventure. One book may involve arson, another art forgery, another hidden treasure, old ships, historical papers, or a child in danger. Borg likes history, art, science, and local lore, and he threads those interests into the stories without losing the chase. The books move quickly, but they also have room for human details, especially Owen's habit of noticing beauty even when the case is getting ugly.

Lake Tahoe really is a character here.

If you read the series in order, you get the fullest version of the story because the relationships carry forward and the world gets richer book by book. Still, each novel has its own central case and its own engine. If you want a long-running mystery series with a humane lead, a memorable dog, and a strong sense of place, Owen McKenna is easy to settle into. Just do not expect the mountains to stay calm for long.

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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