Virginia Smith Books in Order
Explore Virginia Smith books in order, with quick summaries, series guides, and easy place-to-start picks across her Amish, mystery, and contemporary novels.
Last updated: July 7, 2026
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Publication Order
46 books
Just as I Am
by Virginia Smith
2006
Mayla Strong does not look or act like anyone's idea of a tidy church heroine, and she knows it. As grief, friendship, and faith collide, she has to decide whether grace can reach her exactly where she is.
Bluegrass Peril
by Virginia Smith
2007
Set against a Kentucky backdrop, this suspense tale threads danger through music, memory, and local ties. The deeper the heroine digs, the more the charm of the setting gives way to peril.
Murder By Mushroom
by Virginia Smith
2007
A church potluck turns deadly when food and suspicion mix in all the wrong ways. What starts as a cozy gathering quickly becomes a murder case with nerves, secrets, and real danger underneath.
A Taste of Murder
by Virginia Smith
2008
Classical musician Jasmine Delaney expects an odd wedding gig, not a corpse in the hotel bathtub. Forced into judging a children's pageant, she soon realizes the killer may have chosen a new target.
Sincerely, Mayla
by Virginia Smith
2008
Just when Mayla thinks life with God is finally making sense, everything else falls apart. Job loss, relationship trouble, and a teenager in need push her toward the responsibilities she never wanted.
Stuck in the Middle
by Virginia Smith
2008
Joan Sanderson feels left behind while her sisters' lives move ahead without her. Then a handsome doctor moves next door, and Joan starts wondering whether faith and courage might finally change her story.
Age Before Beauty
by Virginia Smith
2009
Allie Sanderson is juggling new motherhood, work, money, and a marriage under strain. As pressure closes in from every side, she has to decide whether doing everything alone is really strength at all.
Murder at Eagle Summit
by Virginia Smith
2009
A ski resort wedding turns deadly when a frozen body is found on a chair lift. Liz Carmichael may have seen something important, which means working with the ex-fiancé she never really forgot.
Scent of Murder
by Virginia Smith
2009
Caitlin Saylor's final trip with her musical trio should have been a simple wedding job. Instead, a gift candle, an old crime, and a charming factory owner pull her into a fresh round of danger.
A Daughter's Legacy
by Virginia Smith
2010
Family history reaches into the present when a woman is forced to confront the legacy she has inherited. What seems settled at first opens into questions of trust, identity, and love.
Into the Deep
by Virginia Smith
2010
What begins as a diving adventure stretches from Florida to Cozumel and far below the Caribbean surface. Ben and Nikki soon find themselves caught between dangerous criminals and secrets worth killing for.
Third Time's a Charm
by Virginia Smith
2010
Tori Sanderson likes control, designer shoes, and a fast-moving career. Falling for Ryan, a grounded farm boy, forces her to choose between the life she planned and the one she may actually need.
A Deadly Game
by Virginia Smith
2011
After her boss is murdered, Susanna Trent receives a strange package of clues and tokens. Anonymous threats follow, and she must trust wealthy executive Jack Townsend before the game turns fatal.
A Wife's Duty
by Virginia Smith
2011
Bound by obligation and pushed by circumstances, a woman tries to do what honor requires even when her heart leans another way. The story blends sacrifice, quiet strength, and hard-earned romance.
Lost Melody
by Virginia Smith
2011
A terrible accident ends Jill King's dream of becoming a concert pianist, but an even stranger burden is waiting. When she senses looming disaster over her Nova Scotia town, warning people could cost her love and her reputation.
A Plain & Simple Heart
by Virginia Smith
2012
Rebecca Switzer goes looking for a cowboy from her past and instead lands in the middle of a Kansas riot. Sheriff Colin Maddox doubts her story at first, then finds himself losing his heart to a very unexpected woman.
Bullseye
by Virginia Smith
2012
Karina Guerrero refuses to believe her fourteen-year-old brother is a killer. To clear him, she must work with private investigator Mason Sinclair, a man with his own reasons for hating false accusations.
Dangerous Impostor
by Virginia Smith
2012
Lauren Bradley finds her coworker dead in Las Vegas and quickly becomes the top suspect. With evidence mounting against her, only her new boss seems willing to believe she is being framed.
The Heart's Frontier
by Virginia Smith
2012
When bandits leave Emma Switzer's Amish family stranded on the frontier, rough trail boss Luke Carson becomes their unlikely help. Rescue turns into attraction, but their worlds were never meant to fit easily together.
A Bride for Noah
by Virginia Smith
2013
Heartbroken and penniless, Evie Lawrence heads west in 1851 looking for a fresh start. In the raw young settlement of Seattle, she meets Noah Hughes, a man determined not to need a bride.
A Cowboy at Heart
by Virginia Smith
2013
Restless reformed cowboy Jesse Montgomery wants a real future, not just a borrowed place in Apple Grove. When he is wounded defending Amish land, widow Katie Miller must decide whether she can trust her heart to an Englisch man.
A Home in the West
by Virginia Smith
2013
Young Amish farmer Jonas Switzer dreams of land, independence, and winning Caroline Hersberger's heart. This short prequel follows one hopeful plan westward and the quiet courage it takes to chase a home of his own.
Prime Suspect
by Virginia Smith
2013
A fresh start turns into a nightmare when a woman discovers a body and becomes the obvious suspect. Clearing her name means digging through secrets before the real killer strikes again.
The Days of Noah
by Virginia Smith
2013
This retelling steps into the world around Noah and the flood with a close, human focus. Instead of treating the story like distant legend, it explores fear, obedience, and survival from the inside.
Rainy Day Dreams
by Virginia Smith
2014
When Kathryn Burgert is dragged to Seattle in 1852, she hates the rough settlement and everything it represents. Then she meets lumberjack Jason and discovers her future may be tied to the town's fight to survive.
Dr. Horatio vs. the Six-Toed Cat
by Virginia Smith
2015
This Goose Creek novella drops readers into a town where even a cat can stir up outsized trouble. With humor, nosy neighbors, and a touch of chaos, it sets the stage for the series' quirky charm.
The Most Famous Illegal Goose Creek Parade
by Virginia Smith
2015
Al Richardson wants a quiet path to retirement, but his wife Millie has plans for a bed-and-breakfast. As Goose Creek argues over a water tower and resists a new veterinarian, the town barrels toward one unforgettable parade.
A Goose Creek Christmas
by Virginia Smith
2016
Weeks before Christmas, Al Richardson is pushed into early retirement and keeps it secret from Millie. In a town like Goose Creek, that plan was never going to stay hidden for long.
Renovating the Richardsons
by Virginia Smith
2016
Millie's dream of turning an old Victorian house into a B&B is proving expensive and chaotic. Add a disastrous softball team, town gossip, and fresh local trouble, and Goose Creek is busy again.
The Room with the Second-Best View
by Virginia Smith
2016
The Goose Creek B&B is finally opening just as the town prepares for a big anniversary and a wedding. Millie wants everything perfect, but difficult guests and local feuding have other ideas.
Horse and Burglary
by Virginia Smith
2017
Liz Eckardt buys a few items at an auction after a local woman is murdered, then discovers those purchases may matter far more than she thought. Theft, vandalism, and an unwelcome relative pull her deeper into the case.
The Amish Widower
by Virginia Smith
2017
After losing two wives, Seth Hostetler cannot imagine risking love again. But pottery, family pressure, and a guarded Englisch woman begin to open parts of his heart he thought were buried for good.
Triple Layer Treachery
by Virginia Smith
2017
At The Chocolate Shoppe Bakery, a special event turns complicated when suspicion starts creeping in with the sweets. Jillian Green has to sort through gossip, motive, and danger before the next blow lands.
Just Desserts
by Virginia Smith
2018
Wedding desserts are the talk of Moss Hollow until Sheriff Henderson is shot and everything changes. Jillian Green and Deputy Gooder Jones soon find themselves surrounded by suspects and bad decisions.
Out to Pasture
by Virginia Smith
2018
A life stage that looks like an ending becomes the start of a messier, more hopeful chapter. With country humor and a warm heart, the story reminds its characters that they are not finished yet.
The Zookeeper's Daughter
by Virginia Smith
2019
Kelli hates zoos for reasons she would rather not revisit, but her late mother's will sends her into temporary zookeeping anyway. Porcupines, meerkats, a runaway skunk, and one troubling lion force her to face the past.
Thorn to Secrecy
by Virginia Smith
2019
Old secrets begin pushing through the surface in a community that would rather leave them buried. The more the heroine learns, the clearer it becomes that silence can be as dangerous as any weapon.
The Last Drop of Oil: Adaliah's Story
by Virginia Smith
2020
After a fire leaves her widowed and shunned, Adaliah struggles to feed her son and survive the rumors around her. Then the prophet Elijah appears asking for the last bit of oil she has left.
Burning Danger
by Virginia Smith
2021
A fire is only the beginning of a threat that reaches deeper into the past. As danger spreads, the heroine has to decide whom she can trust before everything around her goes up in smoke.
Guilty Secrets
by Virginia Smith
2021
Rylee takes on a decades-old cold case and discovers that old crimes do not stay buried quietly. The deeper she digs, the more dangerous the past becomes for everyone still living with it.
Raised for a Purpose, Talia's Story
by Virginia Smith
2021
Talia grows up under pressures she does not fully understand, only to learn her life has been shaped for more than simple survival. This biblical retelling follows a young woman toward courage, trust, and calling.
Web of Lies
by Virginia Smith
2021
When a death is ruled homicide, Brooke finds herself named the prime suspect. To clear her name, she must cut through a carefully spun web of lies before it tightens around her completely.
A Deadly Brew
by Virginia Smith
2024
Former matchmaker Penny Cavanaugh heads to Ireland for a break and lands in a murder case instead. When a visitor dies and suspicion falls on her grandmother's tearoom, Penny starts asking dangerous questions.
Druid on Arrival
by Virginia Smith
2024
Penny Cavanaugh's stay in Ireland grows more dangerous when local lore and fresh murder collide in Blarney Green. Between family ties and village secrets, she has to uncover the truth before someone else pays for it.
The Woman Warrior Deborah's Story
by Virginia Smith
2024
This biblical retelling brings Deborah down from the page and into the strain of leadership, faith, and war. It is a story about courage under pressure, not just victory after the fact.
The Key Question
by Virginia Smith
2025
One key clue opens the door to a mystery bigger than it first appears. In quiet Blackberry Valley, a single question leads to secrets that could unsettle the whole town.
Where should I start?
If you want warm, funny small-town fiction: The Most Famous Illegal Goose Creek Parade → Renovating the Richardsons → The Room with the Second-Best View
If you like family drama with romance and faith: Stuck in the Middle → Age Before Beauty → Third Time's a Charm
If you want historical romance first: The Heart's Frontier → A Plain & Simple Heart → A Cowboy at Heart
If you want suspense and mystery: A Deadly Brew → A Taste of Murder → Dangerous Impostor
Author bio
Virginia Smith writes the kind of fiction that can make room for a murder, a laugh, a family argument, and a moment of faith, sometimes all in the same chapter. Her books range from contemporary women's fiction to romantic suspense, Amish stories, historical novels, and cozy mysteries, which helps explain why readers who find one corner of her work often end up exploring the rest.
Before books became her full-time job, she spent twenty years as a corporate director.
That earlier career shows up in her voice in a useful way. She is clear, organized, and good at getting a story moving, but she also has a soft spot for ordinary people who feel stuck, overlooked, or a little out of step with the world around them. Her first novel, Just As I Am, was published in 2006. After that, she kept building, one book at a time, until she had written more than fifty novels, along with children's books, articles, and short fiction.
She doesn't stay in one lane for long.
If you want to see Smith's lighter side, Stuck in the Middle and the rest of the Sister-to-Sister books are a good place to look. They follow the Sanderson sisters through rivalry, romance, and the kind of family chaos that feels funny because it is also true. Readers who like small-town comfort often land on The Most Famous Illegal Goose Creek Parade, the first Goose Creek novel, where retirement plans, local politics, and a Kentucky bed-and-breakfast create a warm, busy world full of neighbors with opinions.
She can turn quickly from funny to tense. In books like A Deadly Brew, Into the Deep, and Guilty Secrets, the stakes rise fast and the settings matter. Ireland, the Caribbean, the Pacific Northwest, Amish country, and Kentucky all show up in her work, and she has said more than once that research makes stories better. She has gone scuba diving in Cozumel while researching Into the Deep, worked in a zoo for The Zookeeper's Daughter, learned pottery for The Amish Widower, and traveled through the Pacific Northwest for the Seattle Brides books.
That curiosity helps explain why her bibliography feels so varied. One series may center on a small-town bakery, another on a former matchmaker in Ireland, and another on women from the Bible brought to life through close-up historical storytelling. Even with all that range, certain things stay consistent. Smith likes capable women, communities under pressure, second chances, and characters who have to make hard choices before they can move forward.
The career results are easy to spot, even without much fuss. Her Goose Creek debut was a top monthly pick from Library Journal. Two of her novels received Holt Medallion Awards of Merit. Her books have sold in the millions worldwide, and Guilty Secrets was adapted into a feature-length film under the title The Lies We Bury.
These days she lives in central Kentucky with her husband, a flock of chickens, a barn cat named Kit Cat, and a Maltese named Max. Kentucky turns up in her fiction more than once, and it seems to suit her work: grounded, friendly, a little wry, and interested in the lives people build together.
That mix is really her lane.
Virginia Smith writes stories with humor, heart, suspense, and a strong sense that grace often meets people right in the middle of their mess.
Edited by
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