Working Stiffs Mystery Books in Order

The Working Stiffs books follow Charmaine Digby, usually called Char, a former pastry chef with an unusual gift for spotting lies. When she heads back to her hometown of Port Merritt, Washington, she lands a job with the county coroner's office and quickly discovers that a talent for reading people can be just as useful as formal training. Every book hands her a fresh death to question, but the real engine of the series is Char herself, curious, stubborn, funny, and rarely willing to leave a bad explanation alone.

Port Merritt is half the fun.

Delaney sets the series in a fictional waterfront town across Puget Sound from Seattle, and the place matters. This is the kind of town where gossip travels faster than official news, neighbors notice who parked where, and a quiet meal can turn into an unofficial case briefing. The older residents, shopkeepers, relatives, and regulars at local hangouts are not just background color. They become witnesses, suspects, meddlers, and comic relief, sometimes all in the same chapter.

The first book, Trudy, Madly, Deeply, sets the pattern. A suspicious death hits close to home, Char starts asking questions, and Detective Steve Sixkiller wishes she would stop. That push and pull runs through the whole series. Steve knows Char is smart and often right, but he also knows she has a gift for finding trouble. Their long history, mutual irritation, and slow-burn romance give the books a continuing emotional thread beyond the murder of the week.

Char's lie-detecting ability gives the series its hook, but it does not make the mysteries easy. In books like There's Something about Marty, You Can't Go Gnome Again, and Dogs, Lies, and Alibis, she still has to work through family grudges, shaky alibis, town politics, and people who are hiding things for reasons that have nothing to do with murder. Her instincts help, but they also get her into awkward, risky situations. That keeps the stories grounded. Char feels capable, but never untouchable.

Nobody in Port Merritt keeps a secret for long.

The supporting cast is a big part of why the series feels so inviting. Char's dramatic mother can turn any event into a spectacle. Gram, Duke, Alice, and Char's friends bring warmth, friction, and a lot of very human interruption to the investigations. There is food, family noise, and the sense that even when Char is chasing a killer, life in Port Merritt keeps rolling along. That mix gives the books a cozy feel without making the crimes weightless.

If you like mysteries with a strong sense of place, recurring relationships, and a lead who solves problems by paying very close attention, Working Stiffs is easy to settle into. The cases stand on their own, but the personal story keeps building from book to book, especially as Char's job, confidence, and future with Steve start to take shape.