Charlaine Harris Books in Order

This page lists Charlaine Harris books in publication order, series order, and recommended reading paths across Aurora Teagarden, Lily Bard, Sookie Stackhouse, Harper Connelly, Midnight, Texas, Cemetery Girl, and Gunnie Rose.

Quick Index

  • Scope: Charlaine Harris novels, major series, graphic novels, collections, and key related works
  • Default Order: Series order
  • Best Starting Point: Real Murders, Dead Until Dark, An Easy Death, or Midnight Crossroad
  • Order Matters: Yes for Sookie Stackhouse, Harper Connelly, Midnight, Texas, Gunnie Rose, Lily Bard, and Cemetery Girl
  • Includes: Cozy mystery, urban fantasy, paranormal mystery, alternate history fantasy, graphic novels, and edited anthologies
  • Also Published As: Charlaine Harris Schulz in some bibliography records
  • Not to be confused with: Thomas Harris or Joanne Harris, separate authors

Reading Paths

1. Publication Order

Use this route for a complete catalog view from early mystery standalones through the Gunnie Rose series.

  1. Early standalones
  2. Aurora Teagarden
  3. Lily Bard
  4. Sookie Stackhouse
  5. Harper Connelly
  6. Cemetery Girl
  7. Midnight, Texas
  8. Gunnie Rose
  9. Collections, edited anthologies, and related works

2. Series Order

Best for continuity inside each title group.

  1. Aurora Teagarden
  2. Lily Bard
  3. Sookie Stackhouse
  4. Harper Connelly
  5. Cemetery Girl
  6. Midnight, Texas
  7. Gunnie Rose

3. Beginner Path

A compact route by subgenre.

  1. Real Murders (1990) – Novel – Aurora Teagarden #1
  2. Shakespeare’s Landlord (1996) – Novel – Lily Bard #1
  3. Dead Until Dark (2001) – Novel – Sookie Stackhouse #1
  4. Grave Sight (2005) – Novel – Harper Connelly #1
  5. Midnight Crossroad (2014) – Novel – Midnight, Texas #1
  6. An Easy Death (2018) – Novel – Gunnie Rose #1

4. Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Mystery Path

Use this path for Harris’s best-known supernatural catalog.

  1. Dead Until Dark (2001) – Novel – Sookie Stackhouse #1
  2. Grave Sight (2005) – Novel – Harper Connelly #1
  3. Midnight Crossroad (2014) – Novel – Midnight, Texas #1
  4. An Easy Death (2018) – Novel – Gunnie Rose #1

5. Mystery-First Path

Best for traditional mystery before urban fantasy.

  1. Sweet and Deadly (1981) – Novel – Standalone
  2. A Secret Rage (1984) – Novel – Standalone
  3. Real Murders (1990) – Novel – Aurora Teagarden #1
  4. Shakespeare’s Landlord (1996) – Novel – Lily Bard #1

Publication Order Master List

Current series groupings are based on the author’s official series pages and current bibliography listings, which identify Aurora Teagarden, Lily Bard, Sookie Stackhouse, Harper Connelly, Cemetery Girl, Midnight, Texas, and Gunnie Rose as the main series groups.

  • Sweet and Deadly (1981) – Novel – Standalone, also published as Dead Dog
  • A Secret Rage (1984) – Novel – Standalone
  • Real Murders (1990) – Novel – Aurora Teagarden #1
  • A Bone to Pick (1992) – Novel – Aurora Teagarden #2
  • Three Bedrooms, One Corpse (1994) – Novel – Aurora Teagarden #3
  • The Julius House (1994) – Novel – Aurora Teagarden #4
  • Dead Over Heels (1996) – Novel – Aurora Teagarden #5
  • Shakespeare’s Landlord (1996) – Novel – Lily Bard #1
  • Shakespeare’s Champion (1997) – Novel – Lily Bard #2
  • Shakespeare’s Christmas (1998) – Novel – Lily Bard #3
  • A Fool and His Honey (1999) – Novel – Aurora Teagarden #6
  • Shakespeare’s Trollop (2000) – Novel – Lily Bard #4
  • Dead Until Dark (2001) – Novel – Sookie Stackhouse #1
  • Shakespeare’s Counselor (2001) – Novel – Lily Bard #5
  • Living Dead in Dallas (2002) – Novel – Sookie Stackhouse #2
  • Last Scene Alive (2002) – Novel – Aurora Teagarden #7
  • Club Dead (2003) – Novel – Sookie Stackhouse #3
  • Poppy Done to Death (2003) – Novel – Aurora Teagarden #8
  • Dead to the World (2004) – Novel – Sookie Stackhouse #4
  • Night’s Edge (2004) – Collection – With Barbara Hambly and Maggie Shayne
  • Dead as a Doornail (2005) – Novel – Sookie Stackhouse #5
  • Grave Sight (2005) – Novel – Harper Connelly #1
  • Definitely Dead (2006) – Novel – Sookie Stackhouse #6
  • Grave Surprise (2006) – Novel – Harper Connelly #2
  • All Together Dead (2007) – Novel – Sookie Stackhouse #7
  • An Ice Cold Grave (2007) – Novel – Harper Connelly #3
  • Many Bloody Returns (2007) – Anthology – Edited with Toni L.P. Kelner
  • From Dead to Worse (2008) – Novel – Sookie Stackhouse #8
  • Wolfsbane and Mistletoe (2008) – Anthology – Edited with Toni L.P. Kelner
  • Dead and Gone (2009) – Novel – Sookie Stackhouse #9
  • A Touch of Dead (2009) – Collection – Sookie Stackhouse short stories
  • Grave Secret (2009) – Novel – Harper Connelly #4
  • Must Love Hellhounds (2009) – Collection – With others
  • Dead in the Family (2010) – Novel – Sookie Stackhouse #10
  • Crimes by Moonlight (2010) – Anthology – Edited
  • Death’s Excellent Vacation (2010) – Anthology – Edited with Toni L.P. Kelner
  • Dead Reckoning (2011) – Novel – Sookie Stackhouse #11
  • The Sookie Stackhouse Companion (2011) – Companion – Sookie Stackhouse
  • Home Improvement: Undead Edition (2011) – Anthology – Edited with Toni L.P. Kelner
  • An Apple for the Creature (2012) – Anthology – Edited with Toni L.P. Kelner
  • Deadlocked (2012) – Novel – Sookie Stackhouse #12
  • Dead Ever After (2013) – Novel – Sookie Stackhouse #13
  • After Dead (2013) – Companion – Sookie Stackhouse #13.5
  • Inherit the Dead (2013) – Collaborative novel – With others
  • The Pretenders (2014) – Graphic novel – Cemetery Girl #1, with Christopher Golden
  • Midnight Crossroad (2014) – Novel – Midnight, Texas #1
  • Games Creatures Play (2014) – Anthology – Edited with Toni L.P. Kelner
  • Dead But Not Forgotten (2014) – Anthology – Sookie Stackhouse world, with Toni L.P. Kelner
  • Day Shift (2015) – Novel – Midnight, Texas #2
  • Inheritance (2015) – Graphic novel – Cemetery Girl #2, with Christopher Golden
  • Night Shift (2016) – Novel – Midnight, Texas #3
  • All the Little Liars (2016) – Novel – Aurora Teagarden #9
  • Indigo (2017) – Collaborative novel – With Christopher Golden, Tim Lebbon, Jonathan Maberry, Kat Richardson, Cherie Priest, James A. Moore, Mark Morris, and Kelley Armstrong
  • Sleep Like a Baby (2017) – Novel – Aurora Teagarden #10
  • The Complete Sookie Stackhouse Stories (2017) – Collection – Sookie Stackhouse
  • Don’t Go Alone (2017) – Collection – With others
  • Dancers in the Dark / Layla Steps Up (2017) – Collection – Sookie-related novella and standalone novella
  • Haunted (2018) – Graphic novel – Cemetery Girl #3, with Christopher Golden
  • An Easy Death (2018) – Novel – Gunnie Rose #1
  • Layla Steps Up (2018) – Novella – Standalone
  • Small Kingdoms and Other Stories (2019) – Collection – Short fiction
  • A Longer Fall (2020) – Novel – Gunnie Rose #2
  • The Russian Cage (2021) – Novel – Gunnie Rose #3
  • The Serpent in Heaven (2022) – Novel – Gunnie Rose #4
  • All the Dead Shall Weep (2023) – Novel – Gunnie Rose #5
  • The Last Wizards’ Ball (2025) – Novel – Gunnie Rose #6, final Gunnie Rose installment

Related Works and Where They Fit

Aurora Teagarden

  • Real Murders (1990) – Novel – Aurora Teagarden #1
  • A Bone to Pick (1992) – Novel – Aurora Teagarden #2
  • Three Bedrooms, One Corpse (1994) – Novel – Aurora Teagarden #3
  • The Julius House (1994) – Novel – Aurora Teagarden #4
  • Dead Over Heels (1996) – Novel – Aurora Teagarden #5
  • A Fool and His Honey (1999) – Novel – Aurora Teagarden #6
  • Last Scene Alive (2002) – Novel – Aurora Teagarden #7
  • Poppy Done to Death (2003) – Novel – Aurora Teagarden #8
  • All the Little Liars (2016) – Novel – Aurora Teagarden #9
  • Sleep Like a Baby (2017) – Novel – Aurora Teagarden #10

The author’s official Aurora page identifies Sleep Like a Baby as the latest Aurora Teagarden installment.

Lily Bard, Shakespeare Mysteries

  • Shakespeare’s Landlord (1996) – Novel – Lily Bard #1
  • Shakespeare’s Champion (1997) – Novel – Lily Bard #2
  • Shakespeare’s Christmas (1998) – Novel – Lily Bard #3
  • Shakespeare’s Trollop (2000) – Novel – Lily Bard #4
  • Shakespeare’s Counselor (2001) – Novel – Lily Bard #5

Sookie Stackhouse

  • Dead Until Dark (2001) – Novel – Sookie Stackhouse #1
  • Living Dead in Dallas (2002) – Novel – Sookie Stackhouse #2
  • Club Dead (2003) – Novel – Sookie Stackhouse #3
  • Dead to the World (2004) – Novel – Sookie Stackhouse #4
  • Dead as a Doornail (2005) – Novel – Sookie Stackhouse #5
  • Definitely Dead (2006) – Novel – Sookie Stackhouse #6
  • All Together Dead (2007) – Novel – Sookie Stackhouse #7
  • From Dead to Worse (2008) – Novel – Sookie Stackhouse #8
  • Dead and Gone (2009) – Novel – Sookie Stackhouse #9
  • Dead in the Family (2010) – Novel – Sookie Stackhouse #10
  • Dead Reckoning (2011) – Novel – Sookie Stackhouse #11
  • Deadlocked (2012) – Novel – Sookie Stackhouse #12
  • Dead Ever After (2013) – Novel – Sookie Stackhouse #13
  • After Dead (2013) – Companion – Sookie Stackhouse #13.5

The author’s official Sookie page states that Dead Ever After marked the end of the Sookie Stackhouse series.

Sookie Stackhouse Related Stories and Companions

  • A Touch of Dead (2009) – Collection – Sookie short stories
  • The Sookie Stackhouse Companion (2011) – Companion – Sookie Stackhouse
  • If I Had a Hammer (2011) – Short story – Sookie Stackhouse #11.5, in Home Improvement
  • Dead But Not Forgotten (2014) – Anthology – Stories from the Sookie Stackhouse world
  • The Complete Sookie Stackhouse Stories (2017) – Collection – Sookie short fiction

Harper Connelly

  • Grave Sight (2005) – Novel – Harper Connelly #1
  • Grave Surprise (2006) – Novel – Harper Connelly #2
  • An Ice Cold Grave (2007) – Novel – Harper Connelly #3
  • Grave Secret (2009) – Novel – Harper Connelly #4

The author’s Harper Connelly page lists the four novels and separate graphic-novel adaptations.

Cemetery Girl

  • The Pretenders (2014) – Graphic novel – Cemetery Girl #1, with Christopher Golden
  • Inheritance (2015) – Graphic novel – Cemetery Girl #2, with Christopher Golden
  • Haunted (2018) – Graphic novel – Cemetery Girl #3, with Christopher Golden

The official Cemetery Girl page lists The Pretenders, Inheritance, and Haunted as the trilogy entries.

Midnight, Texas

  • Midnight Crossroad (2014) – Novel – Midnight, Texas #1
  • Day Shift (2015) – Novel – Midnight, Texas #2
  • Night Shift (2016) – Novel – Midnight, Texas #3

The author’s Midnight, Texas page lists the trilogy in this order.

Gunnie Rose

  • An Easy Death (2018) – Novel – Gunnie Rose #1
  • A Longer Fall (2020) – Novel – Gunnie Rose #2
  • The Russian Cage (2021) – Novel – Gunnie Rose #3
  • The Serpent in Heaven (2022) – Novel – Gunnie Rose #4
  • All the Dead Shall Weep (2023) – Novel – Gunnie Rose #5
  • The Last Wizards’ Ball (2025) – Novel – Gunnie Rose #6

Simon & Schuster identifies The Last Wizards’ Ball as book six and the final Gunnie Rose installment.

Standalones and Collaborative Novels

  • Sweet and Deadly (1981) – Novel – Standalone, also published as Dead Dog
  • A Secret Rage (1984) – Novel – Standalone
  • Inherit the Dead (2013) – Collaborative novel – With others
  • Indigo (2017) – Collaborative novel – With others
  • Layla Steps Up (2018) – Novella – Standalone

Edited Anthologies

  • Many Bloody Returns (2007) – Anthology – Edited with Toni L.P. Kelner
  • Wolfsbane and Mistletoe (2008) – Anthology – Edited with Toni L.P. Kelner
  • Crimes by Moonlight (2010) – Anthology – Edited
  • Death’s Excellent Vacation (2010) – Anthology – Edited with Toni L.P. Kelner
  • Home Improvement: Undead Edition (2011) – Anthology – Edited with Toni L.P. Kelner
  • An Apple for the Creature (2012) – Anthology – Edited with Toni L.P. Kelner
  • Games Creatures Play (2014) – Anthology – Edited with Toni L.P. Kelner

Collections and Omnibus Editions

  • Night’s Edge (2004) – Collection – With Barbara Hambly and Maggie Shayne
  • A Touch of Dead (2009) – Collection – Sookie Stackhouse
  • The Sookie Stackhouse Companion (2011) – Companion – Sookie Stackhouse
  • Sweet and Deadly / A Secret Rage (2013) – Omnibus – Standalone novels
  • Dead But Not Forgotten (2014) – Anthology – Sookie Stackhouse world
  • Dancers in the Dark / Layla Steps Up (2017) – Collection – Novellas
  • The Complete Sookie Stackhouse Stories (2017) – Collection – Sookie Stackhouse
  • Small Kingdoms and Other Stories (2019) – Collection – Short fiction

Dependencies & Notes

  • Publication order means first known release order, not adaptation order.
  • Read Aurora Teagarden in numbered order. The later books resume Roe’s story after a long publication gap.
  • Read Lily Bard in numbered order because character history carries across all five books.
  • Read Sookie Stackhouse in numbered order. Related stories are optional but fit best after the nearby novels.
  • Read Harper Connelly in numbered order. The four books form one closed paranormal mystery sequence.
  • Read Midnight, Texas after Harper Connelly and Sookie Stackhouse if you want to recognize crossover background.
  • Read Cemetery Girl in graphic-novel order: The Pretenders, Inheritance, then Haunted.
  • Read Gunnie Rose in numbered order. The Last Wizards’ Ball completes the sequence.
  • Dead But Not Forgotten is an anthology set in the Sookie Stackhouse world. It is not Sookie Stackhouse #14.
  • After Dead is a companion volume, not a full novel.
  • The Hallmark Aurora Teagarden movies and HBO’s True Blood are adaptations, not book entries.

FAQs

Do you need to read Charlaine Harris books in order?

Read each series in order. Standalones, edited anthologies, and most short-story collections can be read separately.

What is the best Charlaine Harris book to start with?

Start with Real Murders for cozy mystery, Dead Until Dark for Sookie Stackhouse, An Easy Death for Gunnie Rose, or Midnight Crossroad for Midnight, Texas.

Are Sookie Stackhouse and True Blood the same?

True Blood is the HBO television adaptation based on the Sookie Stackhouse novels. The books begin with Dead Until Dark.

Is Dead Ever After the last Sookie Stackhouse book?

Yes. Dead Ever After is the thirteenth and final Sookie Stackhouse novel. After Dead is a companion volume.

Should Midnight, Texas be read after Sookie Stackhouse?

It is not required, but it helps. Midnight, Texas has character links to Harris’s earlier supernatural series.

Is Gunnie Rose complete?

Yes. The Last Wizards’ Ball is identified by the publisher as the sixth and final Gunnie Rose installment.

What is Charlaine Harris’s newest book?

The Last Wizards’ Ball is the newest known Charlaine Harris book included here. It was published in 2025 as Gunnie Rose #6.

Change Log

  • Last checked: June 15, 2026
  • What changed: Added The Last Wizards’ Ball as Gunnie Rose #6 and noted it as the final Gunnie Rose installment; separated novels, graphic novels, companions, edited anthologies, and collections.
  • Most recent known release included: The Last Wizards’ Ball (2025)