Aaron Stander Books In Order

Publication Order of Ray Elkins Mystery Books

Chronological Order of Ray Elkins Mystery Books

Author Aaron Stander trained writing teachers and taught English courses in Detroit, where he lived for some time in his adult years. He and his wife quit their jobs where they taught and moved to another place in Traverse City. After quitting his job, he started writing fictional stories and got published in the year 2000 with “Summer People”. When he is not writing one of his articles, poems, reviews, and stories, he spends time in his kayak on the shores of Lakes Michigan and Superior. He hosts Michigan Writers on the Air on public radio. He has a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan.

Stander writes about Ray Elkins, the star of his own series of the same name, who is a sheriff that was married to a woman, but she died of cancer before the start of the series. He is aided by his deputy Sue. There are short stories and novels to the series. The series is a police procedural and mystery thriller. Stander self publishes his work in his home town bookstores, but you can order them on his site and other places that sell books as well. Despite being self published, he has still managed to become a bestseller.

“Summer People” written by Aaron Stander is the first book in the “Ray Elkins Mysteries” series that was released in 2000. Summer residents in Michigan’s gold coast resort area are getting used to the summer in late June as tourists are flooding beaches and the highway. This nice image of life is shattered when there is a gangland style killing. Three more murders happen, and the people are summer residents that happen in odd circumstances. The Sheriff, Ray Elkins is held back by the politics in the town and there is tension between the people who live in the area full time and the summer people. That being said, he still goes after the killer of the four victims, and looks for links between them. He is able to sift through everything to find out what happened.

Fans of the novel like that things are given away right at the proper moment, so that things start to fall into place at the correct moment, right when they should and no sooner. The story in the book is paced well. The characters have been developed in the novel well. Some like these books for the way that they are cozy and not so violent. Readers enjoy the way that Stander brings to life the atmosphere and surroundings of Michigan. It makes you feel as if you are there while reading his work. Some find that they have found a new series that they will follow for future installments.

Some did not like the way that Elkins is not given a chance to develop as a character and you do not get to know that much about him in this novel. He feels wooden to some people. The story too was not a very interesting one and dialogue does not feel realistic to some ears. Some do not like the way that Stander just ends the novel without wrapping everything up, and that seems to be something he does in every novel that he writes.

“Color Tour” written by Aaron Stander is the second book in the “Ray Elkins Mysteries” series that was released in 2006. It is a nice morning in the month of October in northwest lower Michigan, where there are cherry orchards, shorelines, and blue lakes in rural paradise. The wonderful feeling that everyone has in the season on that day is shattered when a senior citizen out walking her dog finds a couple that has been murdered in a brutal fashion. Elkins tries to track down who killed the young teacher and finds that the elite private school has quite the dark side to it.

Fans of the novel like the way that sometimes you can tell who committed the murder, but not in this one as things seem a lot less predictable here. There are some really great details that provide a vivid account of what is going on. This is an enjoyable novel and series, certainly one to follow. Some liked that the novel gets a lot of factual details of things correct and has a plausible plot in it too. Readers like Sue’s character, and find Ray to be quite the complicated character in this series. This novel kept fans engaged in the resolution of things and made for quite the page turning experience.

Some did not like the way that upon finishing reading this book, it did not feel as if things were completely wrapped up and finished. Some felt that the novel just ends without a whole lot of satisfaction, it just falls flat for some. Readers found that the novel has too slow of a pace to it and they were unable to keep their attention firmly on the novel. Some found that the novel does nothing special and is pretty average, and while they were not able to figure out who the killer was, it was not shocking when the killer was revealed.

“Deer Season” is the third book in the “Ray Elkins” series that was released in the year 2009. Deer season has just started in late November along the northern shore of Lake Michigan. It is coming up on Thanksgiving, and a young mother with her twin daughters are returning from a yoga class. The mother is a local anchorwoman on television. As she is getting the mail, a bullet rips right through her chest and kills her. Elkins goes up against the people who want to control his investigation and what has gone on in his own department.

Fans of the novel like the fully drawn characters that populate this book and the novel has quite a few plot twists that keep things interesting. There is a nice snap to the pacing that keeps things moving right along.