Earlene Fowler Books In Order

Fool’s Puzzle

FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY. Introducing a delightful new mystery series featuring Benni Harper ex cowgirl, quilter, folk art expert, and crackerjack sleuth. When an artist is found dead on the eve of a quilt exhibition, Benni must piece together the clues to clear her cousin of mu

Irish Chain

Investigating the death of the San Celina Senior Citizen Prom king, museum curator Benni Harper goes against the wishes of her police chief boyfriend and uncovers the victim’s fifty year old affiliation with a World War II Japanese blackmailing ring.

Kansas Troubles

FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY. After a whirlwind marriage to the San Celina Police Chief Gabe Ortiz, Benni is excited to visit his hometown in Kansas. At a rowdy backyard barbecue, she meets Tyler Brown, an aspiring country music singer with a promising future and a mysterious past. E

Goose in the Pond

Benni Harper spirited ex cowgirl, quilter, and folk art expert finds herself on the trail of killer in this brand new mystery from Agatha Award nominee Earlene Fowler…
When Benni finds a dead woman lying facedown in the lake, dressed in a Mother Goose costume, her investigation takes her inside the Storyteller?s Guild. There she discovers that Mother Goose was telling more than fairy tales she was a gossip columnist who aired the kind of secrets that destroy lives and inspire revenge…

Dove in the Window

With Fool’s Puzzle, Irish Chain, Kansas Troubles, and Goose in the Pond, two time Agatha Award nominee Earlene Fowler introduced Benni Harper, the ex cowgirl of San Celina, whose talent for piecing together quilts is rivaled only by her talent for piecing together clues. Now Benni is sorting out a complicated patchwork of motives that marks someone very close to her as the possible murder suspect of a talented photographer. Once again, Earlene Fowler succeeds in presenting a mystery filled with puzzling twists, delightful atmosphere, and the wit that has made her a favorite among fans.

Mariner’s Compass

The newest Benni Harper mystery from the three time Agatha Award Nominee and author of Dove in the Window. The ex cowgirl, quilter, and resident sleuth of San Celina, California, is back navigating her way through a stormy sea of puzzling clues to a home she never knew existed…
Jacob Chandler knew everything about Benni Harper, and in his house were pieces of her life: a scrapbook of newspaper clippings that covered her life and work. When Jacob Chandler died, he left his home in Morro Bay and all its contents to Benni the only stipulation being that she had to stay in the house for two weeks, alone, before the inheritance became hers. But Benni Harper has never even heard of Jacob Chandler. To discover whether he is her guardian angel or personal demon, she must follow the scavenger hunt clues he has set up for her throughout his home. The waters are rough and the direction unclear as she finds herself setting a course to a time and place in her own past a place Benni Harper and Jacob Chandler both knew as home…
‘Earlene Fowler writes from the heart, and her Benni Harper is a true original.’ Susan Rogers Cooper, author of Doctors and Lawyers and Such

Seven Sisters

Earlene Fowler’s Agatha Award nominated series featuring sleuthing quilter and rancher Benni Harper is beloved by critics and fans alike for its endearing characters, charming wit, and enchanting folk art elements. In the seventh book in the series, Benni becomes entangled in a feuding family’s tragic past and investigates a brutal crime that hits perilously close to home. Praise for the Benni Harper mysteries: ‘Captivating…
a notable series.’ Publishers Weekly starred review’Fowler writes beautifully about the picturesque Central Coast, ranching and local cuisine, and her sympathetic, witty characters enlighten readers about California history and society.’ Booklist’Breezy, humorous dialogue of the first order…
. Quilt patterns provide a real and metaphorical background.’ Chicago Sun Times’Her plots can be as outrageous as Ellery Queen’s, her turf is Ross Macdonald’s, and her tone is heir to Grafton and Paretsky.’ Nashville Scene’The patchwork quilt provides the guiding metaphor for Earlene Fowler’s Benni Harper series and in her latest, Seven Sisters, it becomes the perfect emblem for a universal sisterhood where women’s hearts are torn and tested, and unite to create a resonant story of complex patterns and hard earned grace.’ Jo Ann Mapson, author of The Wilder Sisters’Brilliantly crafted romantic suspense.’ The Mystery Zone

Arkansas Traveler

Earlene Fowler has earned unprecedented acclaim for her ‘compelling’ Booklist, ‘brilliantly crafted’ The Mystery Zone mysteries featuring folk art expert Benni Harper. In Arkansas Traveler, Benni returns to the small Arkansas town where she spent her childhood summers, hoping to reconnect with her friends and family. But Sugartree isn’t the peaceful place she remembers. It’s torn apart by racial tensions and murder…
AUTHORBIO: Earlene Fowler was raised in La Puente, California, by a Southern mother and a Western father. She lives in Southern California with her husband, Allen, a purple pickup truck, and twenty five pairs of cowboy boots. She is currently working on the next Benni Harper mystery.

Steps to the Altar

Ninth in the Agatha Award winning series that’s been hailed as ‘engrossing’ Publishers Weekly, Steps to the Altar finds California folk art expert Benni Harper preparing for two upcoming weddings, digging up clues to an decades old unsolved murder and struggling with a very personal crisis of the heart.

Sunshine and Shadow

Spirited ex cowgirl, quilter, and folk art expert Benni Harper is back, investigating the connection between her favorite author, the murder of a family friend, and a crazy quilt. And when she starts receiving strange phone calls and anonymous letters telling her she’ll be the next victim, her interest in the case becomes even more urgent.

Broken Dishes

When Benni Harper’s friend pas*ses away, he leaves his Broken DIS ranch to his daughter Shawna and her husband. Instead of raising cattle, the couple decides to turn it into a dude ranch. And while their intentions may be good, business is not. Leave it to Benni and her family to come to the rescue. Her plan? To tempt vacationers with a quilting and western extravaganza. It works. And soon, Benni and her family are cooking, quilting, and horseback riding with a whole slew of western tenderfoots.’ But the west gets a little too wild when one of the ranch dogs discovers a human bone on the property. It’s enough to scare any reasonable guest away. To top it off, there’s a rumor that one of the visitors is a nationally known travel writer, secretly working on a write up. A bad review could easily kill business. Before long, Benni’s old nemesis, Detective Ford ‘Hud’ Hudson, is on board investigating. Together they uncover the remains of a murdered man buried in a shallow grave. Now, Benni must keep the guests safe and happy while unearthing the truth behind a terrible crime.

Delectable Mountains

When the musical director of Benni Harper’s church is called away, Benni gets ‘volunteered’ to take over a children’s play already in rehearsal. But the production comes to a screeching halt when Benni discovers the body of the church handyman right in front of the altar. With a growing cast of suspects, and a small girl as the only witness to the crime, Benni must unravel a plot of theft and murder before it’s curtains for her.

Tumbling Blocks

New in the Agatha Award winning series!

With Christmas just a few weeks away, Benni’s queenly boss, Constance Sinclair, demands that she investigate the death of a local socialite. It’s not long before Benni recognizes that there may be some deadly truth to Constance’s suspicions. But with a famously reclusive artist about to put Benni’s quilting museum on the map and her daunting mother in law and her ‘surprise’ new husband visiting Benni’s holiday is already hectic. Nevertheless, she’ll need to crack the exclusive circle of suspects before one more gourmet goose gets cooked.

State Fair

‘Each Benni Harper mystery is better than the previous’ Midwest Book Review Folk art museum curator, rancher, and sometime sleuth Benni Harper returns with a long awaited new mystery that has her attending the San Celina Mid State Fair a place for caramel apples and 4 H calves, colorful quilts and homemade jams, and maybe just a little murder…

Spider Web

Benni Harper is back in an unforgettable new mystery from national bestselling author Earlene Fowler. The Memory Festival is a celebration of recollections and loved ones through crafts. But when a local cop is wounded by a mysterious sharpshooter who seems to have a vendetta against the police, Benni fears for her loved ones, especially her police chief husband. Benni is determined to make her hometown safe before their peaceful street fair becomes a day to remember in the worst way.

Benni Harper’s Quilt Album

12 quilts inspired by the Benni Harper mystery seriescplus all new stories!

Love Mercy

New from the national bestselling author of The Saddlemaker’s Wife and the Agatha Award winning Benni Harper mystery series.

After being widowed, Love Mercy Johnson has come to terms with her life in Morro Bay, California. She spends her time writing columns for a regional magazine, helping her in laws work their ranch, and trying to move on. But her dreams of reconciliation with her long estranged grandchildren come true when her eighteen year old brokenhearted granddaughter, Rett, unexpectedly shows up. Together they struggle to co exist while confronting old resentments and painful memories. When a family crisis forges an unexpected connection between the two grieving women, they must discover if by working together, they can change their lives, and the lives of those they love, for the better.

The Saddlemaker’s Wife

After the death of her husband Cole, Ruby McGavin is shocked to learn that she’s inherited part of a cattle ranch in Tokopah County, California. But she’s even more surprised to find out that the family he claimed died years ago is very much alive. Ruby arrives in town intent on simply selling her part of the ranch to the McGavins. But as she comes to know them in particular the handsome saddlemaker Lucas McGavin Ruby learns family secrets about her departed husband and his family that make her wonder if she ever really knew Cole. Driven to uncover the whole story, Ruby discovers a legacy of pain and denial.

Murder on Route 66

Today’s best mystery writers take to the road with a brand new collection of stories featuring the great American highway, Route 66. Take a ride on the wild side with: David August Eleanor Taylor Bland Barbara D’Amato Michael Allen Dymmoch Earlene Fowler Carolyn Hart J.A. Jance Charles Knief John Lutz Doris R. Meredith Gary Phillips Les Roberts Lillian M. Roberts Judith Van Gieson Carolyn Wheat All new stories by Earlene Fowler, Carolyn Hart, J.A. Jance, John Lutz and others