Conrad Haynes Books In Order

Publication Order of Professor Harry Bishop Books

Conrad Haynes is the pen name used by a popular United States writer named James Dana Haynes, who is well known for writing mystery, detective fiction, thriller, and thriller novels. He is particularly famous writing the successful mystery series called Professor Harry Bishop series. Author Haynes has created the chief character of this series in the form of Henry Bishop. He is commonly referred to as Harry by his friends and colleagues, and works as a professor in college for elites in Oregon. Henry Bishop is described by author Haynes as an old professor teaching in the political science department of the Jacob Astor College. His colleagues often call him the graying black-sheep of the department. Professor Bishop has a particular liking for drinking scotch early in the morning. He also likes to take short naps in the afternoon in his college office.

In addition to teaching political science to his students at the college, Professor Bishop always gets involved in investigating the mysterious murder cases in the city and solving them by unraveling the real culprit. Because of this habit of the professor, he keeps making new enemies every now and then, and often lands in trouble. Author Haynes has mentioned the college in which Harry Bishop works as a liberal school of arts just like any other in Oregon. It nurtures the sons & daughters of the elite of the city. The college is always seen as a place with ivy-covered walls, and filled with sororities and pep rallies. But, the things take a shocking turn when a murder takes place in the college premises and all the faculty and students start to panic.

The professor takes it upon himself to solve the murder case and help the police authorities in catching the real murderer. He helps preserve the reputation of the college and prevent it from shutting down on security lapse issues. After this case, Professor Bishop becomes very popular for his detective skills. He goes on to solve a few more murders in and around the city. All the books of this particular series became very popular. They managed to draw the attention of a large number of readers from all across the globe. Author Haynes’ writing skills and suspenseful plot description were like and appreciated by one and all. The readers reverted with great reviews for each of the books. Even the prominent critics enjoyed all the aspects of the books and praised author Haynes for coming up with such unique stories.

A number of his fellow writers also wrote great comments about the characters, plots, settings, storylines, etc., in various literary magazines. All of this motivated author Haynes to continue writing many more interesting stories in the future as well. He received a great boost in his confidence as a writer of mystery stories and continued to work on more such stories. Author Haynes wishes that the readers will like his upcoming books as well and will keep loving and supporting him as always. He wishes to add more starts to his already famous career and establish himself among the prominent authors of the mystery genre. Author Haynes’ books have reached out to a large number of audience in many countries of the world. Numerous printed copies of his books have been sold, thereby, helping him to get recognized as a noteworthy writer of mystery and suspense novels.

The Professor Harry Bishop book series written by author Conrad Haynes is comprised of a total of 3 books, which were released between the years 1987 and 1991. Each and every novel of this mystery series features the lead protagonist in the form of Professor Henry Bishop. Author Haynes has done the settings of the stories in Oregon, United States. The debut book of this series is entitled ‘Bishop’s Gambit, Declined’. It was released by the Bantam publication in the year 1987. The book was nominated for an Anthony Award in the category of the Best Paperback Original in 1988. At the start of the book’s story, it is shown that Harry Bishop teaches the subject of political science at the Jacob-Astor College, located in Oregon. One day, the school authorities learn about the brutal killing of the school’s paper’s editor. This spreads the fear among every one of the presence of a ruthless killer in the college campus.

After the initial investigation, it is established that the editor’s murder is linked to the disappearance of a coed from the college around 15 years ago. Harry Bishop studies every aspect of the murder case and then decides that he will carry out a little sleuthing of his own and try to uncover the mystery with the revelation of the killer. He takes in an ally in the form of an egotistical and ambitious reporter named Tucker Nelligan, who he finds unpredictable and unlikely at times. With Harry’s involvement in the murder investigation, the police know that he is capable of finding what they cannot. So, they put a lady officer keep a watch over him. Harry continues the hunt for the murderer. With his unstoppable and dedicated efforts, the killer notices him and makes him his next target. Harry Bishop knows he is now being hunted, but enjoys the game with the killer. He races against time to find enough evidences to reveal the identity of the killer and make him serve prison time for the ruthless killing of the editor.

Another exciting book of this series is called as ‘Perpetual Check’. The Bantam publishers released this book too in 1988. Professor Bishop continues to play the main role. The plot shows him going after the unravelling of another mystery set in the Oregon college where he teaches. At the beginning of the story of the book, it is depicted that Professor Bishop faces a brewing rebellion from the students of his college. This matter comes along with the mysterious murder case of one of the trustees of the college. Before the case comes to his notice, the college’s Trustees Board make him the faculty liaison, but he feels reluctant towards it.

And soon after, an abnoxious and ambitious member gets murdered. So, the Chair asks Professor Harry to investigate and clear the mystery. He teams up with the ambitious journalist Tucker Nelligan again and moves towards digging up the personal life of the victim. He discovers that the victim, Richard Llewelleyn, was a blackmailer. So, it was evident that one of his targets must have stopped his blackmailing business once and for all. And Harry knows he has to just figure out who among the Richard’s victims turned him into a murder victim? The story turns out to be an intriguing mystery and shows various twists & turns throughout the plot. Its unique description helped it to catch the attention of many lovers of mystery stories.