Agnes Barton Senior Sleuths Mysteries Books In Order

Publication Order of Agnes Barton Senior Sleuths Mystery Books

Agnes Barton lives in Tadium, Michigan (which is a small town that is mostly made up of retired people) near Lake Huron and is a senior citizen. She is 72 years old. Agnes frequents Victoria Secret, drives a red mustang, sticks her nose where it does not belong, and is the fly in police officials Vaseline. Needless to say, she is not like most people’s grandmothers.

On her cases, a woman that Agnes knows named Eleanor Mason tags along; serving as a partner for Agnes. She carries a revolver (that comes in handy for the pair), flirts with anyone that she comes across (male or female), and tangles with her rival (Dorothy Alton); but at the same time is a lovable woman. She is also 82 years old and a major gossip.

“Armed and Outrageous” is the first book in the “Agnes Barton Senior Sleuths Mysteries” series of books by Madison Johns. A missing tourist named Jennifer Martin has something to do with a murder that happened over forty years before. Just how, no one is sure, but Agnes Barton aims to find out. She will not let the fact that she is in her seventies interfere with her mission to find out the truth. The sheriff (Clem Peterson), whom she always has to go up against, is acting strange. Even more so than he usually is. Which makes her wonder if he is hiding something from her.

Fans of the novel like the way Johns is able to weave romance into the story and have the senior citizens experience love in a realistic way. Most readers enjoyed the sense of humor that the novel has in it; as well as the warmth and charm the book has. Johns is able to capture their enthusiasm, their courage, friendship, and confidence well; it depicts two women who are not just crime solvers, but best friends. The novel contains a wonderful mystery that was scary; the book is put together nicely, with great pacing, action, a great climax, and danger.

Some readers felt like the book needed better storytelling in it, and the fact that Madison Johns tried a little too hard to make Agnes a little more edgy and cool. Some felt that it was far too violent and had too much sex and drug use and drinking in it. They felt the book was not very realistic, and not very cozy. Others felt that the novel was just ridiculous and full of poor editing. With all of Johns’s portrayal of a realistic elderly person, she does not point out how exhausted seniors can get too.

“Grannies, Guns, and Ghosts” is the second book in the “Agnes Barton Senior Sleuths Mysteries” series of books by Madison Johns. Agnes Barton has taken to living in a recreational vehicle at a campground in East Tawas, Michigan. This is as a result of her home being firebombed. Her and her friend, Eleanor Martin, had planned on getting their license so that they could legally start a detective agency, but there were complications with that. They are the go to gals when a dead body turns up anyway, not that a license would change the fact that they look into the crimes anyway. They get a frantic phone call that makes them race to another crime scene. A man named Herman Butler has fallen from a third story window; the widow (Betty Lou) is acting odd, either going for an Oscar or is full of grief. Betty Lou is nuts, that is one thing that Agnes and her sparring partner Sheriff Peterson can agree on. Involved in the case, is ghosts; one is potential suspect and there are all kinds of sightings of ghosts all over town.

Fans of the novel like that even though the characters are elderly, that does not mean that they cannot still have love lives. Readers liked the wacky humor, wacky plot, and wacky characters in the book; they also enjoyed the way the author was writing about older women solving crimes. Fans of the series enjoyed the way Johns captured how human senior citizens can be in the way they react, what they observe, and their intuitions. Some even liked the way the two seniors do not act like the stereotypes of seniors, but rather like actual senior citizens.

Some feel that the pair (Eleanor and Agnes) have not matured past adolescence, and Betty Lou did not add anything to the reading. Some readers did not like the characters in the book and felt that it was not necessary to finish reading the book to know what would happen next, it was that predictable.

“Senior Snoops” is the third book in the “Agnes Barton Senior Sleuths Mysteries” series of books by Madison Johns. On their way to Florida, Agnes and Eleanor witness two men shoot the pilot of the Cessna they were on. When they get to Florida, they have to answer questions for what happened to their pilot; asking them are some Homeland Security agents. The agents want to know if Agnes or Eleanor saw a packet of information on the plane; the answer is yes, and it is currently in Agnes’s purse.

Fans of the series enjoy Madison Johns’s ability to provide a full range of intelligence, crime solving ability, emotion, and romance for these elderly women. Fans love how fun the novels are to read. Provides great laughs for readers, and will remind them of their own grandmothers. Wonderful plot to the novel.

Some feel that the way the two characters in the novel talk is a lot like that of pre-teens, not older women. Some readers were left hoping that it would get better, but it did not get better for them.

The series, according to Madison Johns, is not meant to be taken seriously. But she does note to readers that, while working with patients at a elderly care facility, they will certainly act the way they do in her book. Some have described the series as “Murder, She Wrote” meets “The Golden Girls”.

Agnes Barton and Eleanor are part of other series as well. There’s the holiday books, the books they appear in with Kimberly Steele, and the paranormal books that sees the two senior sleuths investigating ghosts.

The series is a USA Today bestselling series.