Catherine O’Connell Books In Order

Publication Order of Aspen Mystery Books

Publication Order of High Society Mystery Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Catherine O’Connell is an American author. She is a native of Chicago.

Catherine first became a published writer for the first time with the release of her first novel in the High Society Mystery series. She studied journalism at the University of Colorado.

Catherine has also worked several jobs before becoming a writer, including a bar manager, a hotel maid, sales executive for fine wine, a sommelier, and more. O’Connell says that working in this many jobs gave her a variety of experiences into different ways of life and she has incorporated that into her books.

Catherine also belongs to writing groups that include Sisters in Crime and the famous group, the Mystery Writers of America. She also belongs to the Aspen Writers’ Foundation board and supervises the writers group, which is held once a week. Catherine has also been a moderator for literary programs held at the Aspen Institute. Her work is not only limited to print as she has appeared on a variety of radio programs in addition to television channels that include CBS, the Cox network, NBC, and ABC.

She considers herself to be not only an accomplished author but hiker, biker, skier, and expert on wine, as well as an avid reader. Catherine likes to split her time between home bases up, dividing where she is living between Paris, Chicago, and the mountain air of Aspen.

Catherine O’Connell is the creator and author of the High Society Mystery series of fiction. This series kicked off in 2007 with the release of the debut novel in the series, which is titled Well Bred and Dead. The sequel to this first novel came out in 2009 and is titled Well Read and Dead.

Well Bred and Dead is the fun first novel in the High Society Mystery series by accomplished author Catherine O’Connell! In this book, readers get to meet the main character of Pauline Cook for the first time.

Pauline was once an active member of the upper crust of Chicago. Once upon a time, she mixed and mingled with the elite and everyone who was anyone knew her name. So how did she go from being the toast of the town to yesterday’s special? As it sometimes is in these circles, money ended up being a factor.

She is not only now a widow but on the verge of being broke. This is not the lifestyle that she is used to, but Pauline has bigger problems to deal with. She is still alive after all, and that is more than she can say for her friend Ethan Campbell.

Ethan has recently departed for the next world, and Pauline is left behind to pick up the pieces. This includes herself emotionally, since she was the one who was unlucky enough to be the one to discover his body. Ethan was a writer who enjoyed capturing the elegant lives, outfits, and romances of the most elegant women on the Gold Coast.

It appears that Ethan decided to take his own life, and do so while he was wearing his old boxers. Not much of a way to go out. Now that he’s dead, no one is coming forward from Ethan’s family in order to claim his remains. Pauline waits, but no one comes to lay a claim.

Now it is up to Pauline to do what she can for Ethan and get his affairs in order for the final time. But with her own finances running low, it will be all that she can do to send him off in the style that he deserves. Can Pauline pull it together and settle Ethan’s last affairs?

In the middle of all this chaos, she’s also starting to wonder whether his death really was a suicide or something is up. Could this have been a murder? After all, Ethan was not wearing what one would usually consider someone would be wearing when they know they would have been discovered. Then there’s the matter of the many birth certificates that have been found in his apartment.

Pauline is going to have to figure out what exactly is going on before she even thinks about settling all of Ethan’s affairs. Before he can be laid to rest, his friend is going to have to play detective and figure out whether someone is responsible for this whole mess in the first place.

What will Pauline do, and does she have the cash for a real funeral? Can she catch the killer, or was Ethan simply in too much pain to go on? You’re going to have to pick up this intriguing murder mystery to find out!

Well Read and Dead is the exciting second sequel in the High Society series by Chicago writer Catherine O’Connell. When the readers last left Pauline Cook, she was trying to do her best to get to the bottom of a murder or suicide case. With her friend passed on, this fashion lover and high society princess is trying to move on with her life, desperate to forget what has happened with the past events regarding Ethan.

Things just seem to keep popping up around her, and now her friend Whitney Anderson has gone missing. Pauline figures that she may as well try to get to the bottom of it– after all, she kind of has a knack for solving mysteries.

Pauline has returned to Chicago, fresh back from Europe. Her love affair did not last long and was a total disaster. This socialite is too happy to return to the city, but then she is greeted with the horrible reality of her life. Her finances are nearly gone, the co-op she lives in is a mess, her cat is gone, and so is her best friend. What happened while she was away?

Whitney’s husband has offered a reward for her return, but Pauline thinks that there’s something fishy about his act. But when a book club member mentions something, this socialite will go to Thailand to try and find out the truth. Can she track down her friend, or is Pauline too far from high society to be protected? Check out this engaging second installment of the High Society series to find out!