San Juan Islands Mystery Books in Order
Part ofDW Ulsterman Books in OrderSee the San Juan Islands Mystery books by D.W. Ulsterman in order, with short summaries, series background, and guidance for starting with Adele Plank.
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San Juan Islands Mystery books in publication order
16 books
Dark Waters
by DW Ulsterman
2016
After college, aspiring journalist Adele Plank returns to the San Juan Islands and finds a young woman's murder shaking the community. Doubts about the new sheriff and an unexpected clue leave Adele unsure whom she can trust.
The Writer
by DW Ulsterman
2016
College journalist Adele Plank receives a rare interview with reclusive novelist Decklan Stone on his private island. Her assignment soon becomes a deadly investigation into a tragedy that someone has worked very hard to hide.
Murder on Matia
by DW Ulsterman
2017
Winter brings death and unanswered questions to the San Juan Islands. Reporter Adele Plank travels by land and sea to piece together a dangerous puzzle, while hidden enemies decide whether she should survive it.
Rosario's Revenge
by DW Ulsterman
2017
When a man is shot and Adele Plank's friend is accused of murder, the island reporter follows a trail toward a Russian crime lord. To clear the name of someone she cares about, she must stay ahead of killers.
Roche Harbor Rogue
by DW Ulsterman
2019
A message from a dead mentor sends Adele Plank searching for answers in Roche Harbor. A stranger, an island shaman, and the threat of an old enemy pull her toward a mystery with roots in both past and future.
Turn Point Massacre
by DW Ulsterman
2020
Reporter Adele Plank faces an adversary determined to return to the San Juan Islands and avenge a brother's death. With trust in short supply and a personal crisis looming, she must uncover who is planning the next strike.
Deadman Island:
by DW Ulsterman
2021
Two dead kayakers and a badly injured child draw reporter Adele Plank into a terrifying new island mystery. As the danger deepens, Adele is pushed to confront both the case and the limits of her own resolve.
The Truthing Tree
by DW Ulsterman
2022
Reporter Adele Plank’s search for a missing friend takes a darker turn when a body washes up on a beach. An island mystery reaching back more than a century threatens the people closest to her.
The Book of Bloodbone
by DW Ulsterman
2023
A long-hidden journal exposes ancient secrets surrounding the islands. As friends gather and a painful farewell approaches, Adele Plank must confront choices about her future while enemies try to keep the book’s dangerous knowledge concealed.
Anacortes Haunting
by DW Ulsterman
2024
A young woman’s fall from an isolated physician’s home leaves questions about what happened there. Offered a large payment to spend a week in the house, Adele Plank investigates its disturbing nights and the owner’s fears.
The Walking Ones
by DW Ulsterman
2024
Adele Plank searches for a missing friend with help from a disgraced former Irish police officer. Their investigation encounters the secretive, violent Walking Ones, while an old enemy’s return brings another threat to the island community.
Fear in Fairhaven
by DW Ulsterman
2025
Tragic news about an old friend draws Adele Plank back to her former college town on the mainland. Investigating a murder exposes a darker side of familiar Fairhaven and puts her in the path of danger.
Roland's Lament
by DW Ulsterman
2025
A gift arriving before Adele Plank’s birthday begins a nightmare that threatens her life. With her mental resilience already strained, she faces a new enemy willing to exploit her vulnerability and endanger those around her.
Lucas
by DW Ulsterman
2026
The death of a childhood friend brings Sheriff Lucas Pine face to face with forces threatening his island community. As outsiders spread a dangerous disease, he must prevent further tragedy while questioning what his own future holds.
Tilda
by DW Ulsterman
2026
Tilda Ashland’s past returns as an ancient evil threatens Roche Harbor. Joining Adele, Sheriff Lucas, and the wealthy Roland Soros, she must protect the community she has long defended from a danger that refuses to stay buried.
Kill List
by DW Ulsterman
2027
A brutal attack on a deputy signals a new stage in the islands’ struggle for survival. With Vlad Vasa’s return approaching and a Bloodbone kill list looming, Adele and her allies prepare for enemies threatening their community.
San Juan Islands Mystery books in chronological order
Series background & context
The San Juan Islands Mystery series follows Adele Plank, a young journalist whose drive to find the truth repeatedly pulls her into danger. The books are set among the islands and waterways of northwestern Washington, where ferries, marinas, private shorelines, isolated homes, and small communities create an ideal setting for secrets.
Adele begins in The Writer as a college journalist granted a rare interview with Decklan Stone, a famous novelist who has withdrawn to a private island after a long-ago tragedy. What begins as a promising assignment becomes a much darker investigation. The novel establishes Adele as curious, compassionate, and not especially good at walking away once she knows something is wrong.
By Dark Waters, Adele has returned to the islands after graduation and is working toward a future in reporting. A young woman's murder shakes the community, raises doubts about the local sheriff, and makes Adele decide who deserves her trust. Each later book gives her another mystery while also allowing the people around her to become a larger part of the story.
The islands are more than a pretty backdrop.
Adele's life is rooted around Roche Harbor, including the marina where she lives aboard her sailboat. Friends, local residents, law enforcement figures, and the people she meets through her reporting create a close community where almost everyone has a history with someone else. That closeness gives the mysteries their tension. News travels quickly, but the truth often arrives slowly.
The series moves through winter deaths, shootings, old grudges, threats from outside the islands, and crimes that bring buried history to the surface. Murder on Matia, Rosario's Revenge, Roche Harbor Rogue, Turn Point Massacre, and Deadman Island all build on Adele's changing relationships and growing experience as an investigative reporter. The mysteries can be tense and sometimes violent, but the books also make room for friendship, romance, humor, and the routines of island life.
Readers should start with The Writer. The individual cases have their own central problems, but Adele's personal story and the meaning of her relationships develop over time. Reading in order makes the emotional stakes clearer, especially as earlier events and old enemies return.
This is an atmospheric mystery series with a strong sense of place. Expect Pacific Northwest scenery, recurring characters, personal fallout, and a reporter who keeps asking questions when it would be much safer to stop.
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