Jessica Huntington Books In Order

Publication Order of Jessica Huntington Books

The “Jessica Huntington” series is a set of novels by Anna Celeste Burke, a cozy mystery and paranormal author. Celeste has had quite the rollercoaster of a life. Very early on, she was arrested enroute to Oahu where she was going to join her rocker husband that she had recently married in Tijuana. She would eventually be released and go to Oahu where she was told the rock band was no more and they would have to find other means of mahjong a living. The two would go to Walt Disney World University where they would be trained and become world class chefs. While he loved to call himself a high school dropout, it was not long before her husband got his GED. A few years later, they surprised everyone when they got jobs in the world of academia. Both of them are now PhD graduates of the University of Michigan. They would also become professors of the Ohio State University. Celeste majored in social work and behavioral science which she taught for several years before she thought she should try hyer hand at fiction writing. During her time working as a professor, she published all manner of volumes in addition to many consultations, training and courses on geeky topics.

According to Anna Celeste Burke, her work as a university professor which involved a lot of research prepared her for her later career as a mystery author. Mystery usually has a lot to do with the search for the truth and the same is true for mystery novels. Finding the truth usually involves finding and then collating often complex puzzles that allow you to solve what had previously looked like unsolvable problems. As such, it can be argued that the mystery sleuth and the science professor have a lot in common. Celeste is still married to her rocker husband and the two live in one of the many towns in the Sonoran desert. She has said that the desert is often an inspiration for many of her settings. From her home in Palm Springs, she also gets to think about the many mysteries in life. When she is not writing she loves to hike, paint, read and tend to her Siamese cat.

The “Jessica Huntington” series of novels introduce amateur sleuth Jessica Huntington. She had caught her husband having sex with another woman and the pain was too much that she decided to leave. She goes to a ritzy area of Palm Springs but soon finds it may not be the escape she hoped for. Very early on, she has to help Laura Stone, her best friend who needs legal expertise. Jessica is not a divroce lawyer but she hires a detective to work with her on the case and it is not long before she is hooked into the mystery. She had grown up as a pampered child who could get anything she wanted. She had been quite the brat as a teenager since what she valued most is the security of a loving and intact family had been taken from her. She had a constant fear of abandonment having seen her parents lose their love for each other leaving her to wonder if they would also stop loving her. As an adult, she is caring and generous but can also be vulnerable and anxious. When her husband becomes a blatant philanderer she seeks an escape in becoming an amateur sleuth. She is surprisingly very good at it. The novels are as entertaining as they are informative with their description of the desert cities of Southern California including their history, playgrounds for the wealthy, unique lifestyle and natural beauty. There are also glimpses into the world of large law firms and the criminal justice system.

The debut novel of the Jessica Huntington series is “A Dead Husband” which introduces the lead. Jessica Huntingotn is a smart, rich and beautiful woman who runs from betrayal to find a home in Palm Springs that is a paradise of sorts until it is not. Her well planned life is thrown into chaos when she finds her dead husband. Her law career had been battered by the recession and even though she thought she had handled being a housewife well, she had not. In the end she had put on some fat given her thirty something hormone even though she had no baby. But then she had walked in on her husband having sex with a popular blond from Hollywood. She makes the decision to go back to the Palm Springs, the desert resort town to Rancho Mirage where she was brought up. But then the husband of her best friend is killed and Jessica teams with her friends to try to resolve the mystery. But they are being hunted by villains in Armani suits, pantyhose, Bruno Magli shoes and stilettos. They soon learn that Roger Stone had something people wanted and he had died for it. The people that killed him will do anything to get it back.

“A Dead Sister” by Anna Celeste Burke opens with Jessica being drawn into the case of a hit and run accident in which one of her friends from high school had been killed. The dead girl was named Kelly Fontana and was the cousin to Frank and sister to Tommy Fontana. These are the people that had been working with her on the previous case, trying to find what happened to Laura’s husband. Frank the police detective had just been informed that a meth addict was a witness to the accident and he intends to give some information to the cops. But the scumbag wants a reduced sentence in exchange for the information. It has been more than a decade since Kelly died and the family has never had closure. Under the watchful eye of her mother’s estate manager Bernadette, Jessica and her friends who love to refer to themselves as the “Cat Pack” work on the case. Fortunately, Jessica has a Black AMEX Card, the inside track with police departments in three cities and a retainer with a security firm. She also has a new law office where she has made some loyal friends and connections at the hospital thanks to Laura. Things get interesting pretty fast with dead bodies, missing witnesses and clues that point to a prominent music producer.

Anna Celeste Burke’s “A Dead Daughter” opens with Jessica Huntington having to deal with mayhem and murder. She met with Libby Van Der Woert, a disturbed daughter of one of her wealthy clients. Libby had told her that she had information about Shannon Donnelly, her friend who is the daughter of famous and rich parents that had gone missing. It has been more than a week since she dissapeared with her car being found abandoned at a parking lot. It becomes quite the story when Libby insists that they meet in the wilderness in Mt. San Jacinto since the manic and wild girl believes she is being followed. Things go downhill pretty fast when her psychiatrist comes to the scene with his gun. Jessica and her friends now have to battle against more well heeled villains as their investigation sets off a whirlwind tour of haute hangouts, fashionable enclaves, restaurants, upscale rehab clinics, and shops.