Kaitlyn Dunnett Books In Order

Publication Order of Deadly Edits Books

Publication Order of Liss MacCrimmon Mysteries Books

Kaitlyn Dunnett is a mystery author best known for the Liss MacCrimmon mystery series. The books follow the exploits of an amateur sleuth solving crimes in Moosetookalook, Maine

+Biography

Kaitlyn Dunnett is a pen name used by Kathy Lynn Emerson to write cozy mysteries. Kathy is a widely diverse author whose decision to use pseudonyms is justified by the many genres in which she operates.

Under her real name, Kathy is well known for her historical mysteries and romances. She has also dabbled in nonfiction. A lesser-known pseudonym is Kaitlyn Gorton which the author used to write contemporary romance for Silhouette.

With Kate Emerson, the author tends to focus on stories revolving around the Tudors. Only with the Kaitlyn Dunnett pen name has Kathy written contemporary cozy mysteries.

The author went the route of using pen names because she did not want to confuse her readers with the various genres in which she was writing her stories. Kaitlyn is a native of New York State.

It’s where she was born. It is also where she spent most of her childhood. The author eventually went to Lewiston in Maine where she attended and graduated from Bates College. The author also had an opportunity to study at Old Dominion University.

She went into teaching and enjoyed a stint at Tidewater Community College in Virginia. Kaitlyn Dunnett has since settled down in Maine. She has a husband and more cats than she knows what to do with.

The couple had quite the passion for music, with Kaitlyn taking up the bass drum while her husband obsessed over his bagpipes. But once her books gained momentum, she had little choice but to give up on the bass drum.

+Literary Career

Kaitlyn Dunnett has been writing since she was a child. While other children were content to play house with their dolls, Kaitlyn saw fit to write newspapers for them.

Kaitlyn is a history buff. She loves immersing herself in stories set in the Regency and Victorian eras and the books she has written about that era as Kathy Lynn Emerson prove as much.

But before Kaitlyn began obsessing over Tudor fiction, she was buried in cozy mysteries. The author grew up following the likes of Charlotte MacLeod, Joan Hess, and Dorothy Cannell.

And even though her first attempts at writing and publishing revolved around the historical and romance genres, her passion for cozy mysteries never faded and she eventually came back around to the genre after her curiosity for historical fiction had finally begun to wane.

Kaitlyn Dunnett has been writing for so long that she would be hard-pressed to even remember how she got into the publishing game. The author knows she didn’t have an agent at the time.

It was by her own efforts that she sold her first book. Over the last several years of writing and publishing, Kaitlyn has maintained a relationship with the only two agents she has ever had.

Even though the author has found some success in self-publishing, she almost always comes back to traditional publishing, mostly because she doesn’t always have the time and the patience for the rigors of indie publishing.

Kaitlyn has little patience for people who keep asking her about her secret to writing and succeeding as a publisher. Her only advice for aspiring authors is for them to get up and write.

There is no secret. Kaitlyn personally gets most of her writing done first thing in the morning. She knows just how complicated the day can get. So she makes writing the first thing she gets done in the morning before she touches a book or the newspapers or checks email or even watches Television.

The author doesn’t have a particular word count goal. She just keeps writing until she has something significant on paper. The fact that Kaitlyn is a pantser rather than a plotter might explain why she doesn’t always stick to a particular daily word count goal.

The author likes to make things up as she goes. She isn’t averse to prior planning but she doesn’t bother with detailed outlines of her stories. She prefers to let her characters and their plots evolve as she writes.

While Kaitlyn Dunnett wouldn’t mind seeing her cozy mysteries receive movie adaptations, she has no real interest in being involved. This is mostly because the author’s vision of her books is a little vague in her head.

She cannot visualize her characters with any measure of detail and she would be happy to let the producers do as they wish so long as they do not stray too far from the spirit of her works.

+Kilt Dead

Liss MacCrimmon was the sort of Scottish dancer you remembered. When she started jigging and reeling there was no stopping her. But then an injury ended her career and forced her to go to Moosetookalook, her hometown in Maine.

Liss wasn’t looking for trouble. In fact, helping aunt at the Scottish emporium should have guaranteed peace and quiet. Her aunt doesn’t give her much time to settle before she runs off to Scotland, leaving Liss in charge.

When her aunt’s friend turns up dead soon after, Liss knows there’s trouble looming over the horizon. Catching up with old friends and neighbors takes a backseat as Liss puts her mind to the task of solving the murder.

And luckily for Liss, she has a former classmate by the names of Dan Ruskin to help her out. Together, they realize that their little town has more buried secrets than one might initially assume from its quaint façade.

+Scone Cold Dead

Liss might have solved the murder of her aunt’s nosy neighbor but she doesn’t expect to get mired in any further deaths. Liss just wants to reminisce about her glory days as a Scottish dancer.

When Liss arranges a reception for her old dance group, she doesn’t expect them to be in such a sour mood. And it’s all the fault of Victor Owens. Liss figured that the manager was making the rest of the troupe miserable.

But she didn’t realize how bad things were until Owens tasted one of her scones and died. Now the police think Liss might have had something to do with the murder.

Kaitlyn Dunnett is a very reputed writer from the United States, who is well known for her mystery, thriller, suspense, and crime fiction novels. The name is actually a pen name a popular author named Kathy Lynn Emerson. She is particularly very popular for writing the Mistress Jaffrey book series, the Diana Spaulding ’88 Quartet, the Face Down Mystery series, etc. Her creation of the character of Susanna Appleton, a 16th century, herbalist, sleuth, and gentlewoman is very famous. Author Dunnett is also renowned for coming up with the award winning book on how to write exciting historical mysteries. In addition to all these, she has also penned several other moderately successful books.

Under the pseudonym, she is known to have written the famous Liss MacCrimmon novel series. She has set this series in Moosetookalook, Maine; and has featured the chief protagonist in the form of Liss MacCrimmon. Author Dunnett has described Liss MacCrimmon as a professional dancer of the Scottish style, who returns to her hometown due to an injury to her knee and later gets involved in solving various mysteries around her. Other than Liss MacCrimmon, Dunnett has mentioned several other interesting characters, who help to carry the series forward and keep the readers intrigued till the end. Dunnett has used the pen name for writing another exciting series called Deadly Edits. So far, she has come up with only one book in this particular series, but she has plans to add several more in the years to come.

Deadly Edits novel series takes place in the rural areas of the Sullivan County, New York. Author Dunnett hails from Liberty, New York, United States. She is an active member of the MWA, the Sisters in Crime, and a few more other professional associations. She is also a frequent blogger for the Crime Writers of Maine. Author Dunnett is grateful to all her readers and fans, who have liked her written works and have helped her become a successful author. She hopes that they will continue to like her stories in the future and help her establish herself among the most prominent writers of all time. Dunnett likes to be in touch with her fans and answer their queries regularly. She also keeps giving them updates about the upcoming releases of her books on her blog.

The Liss MacCrimmon series written by author Kaitlyn Dunnett is comprised of a total of 11 books, which were released between the years 2007 and 2018. Each of the books of this successful series features Liss MacCrimmon in the form of a former professional dancer, who lives in Maine, runs a small shop, and helps solve mysteries in and around the town. The debut book of the series is entitled ‘Kilt Dead’. It was released by the Kensington publishers in the year 2007. The primary characters described in this book by author Dunnett include Liss MacCrimmon, Dan Ruskin, Amanda Norris, etc.

At the start of the book’s story, it is shown that when Liss MacCrimmon was a Scottish dancer, she used to perform reels, strathsprays, Highland flings, jigs, etc. But, her career was cut short because of her knee injury, forcing her to come back to her Moosetookalook hometown in Maine. Having no idea what to do in life, Liss decides to assist her aunt in running the Scottish emporium owned by her in Moosetookalook. Soon, a murder takes place in the quiet, idyllic village and forces Liss MacCrimmon to step into her sleuthing shoes. Liss makes a comeback to Moosetookalook after a period of 10 years. But, the little town located in the hilly regions of western Maine seems exactly the way it was when she had left. On the very first day of her return, Liss is given the charge of the emporium as her aunt has to go on Scotland’s tour. As the occasion of the Western Maine’s Highland Games approaches, Liss gets re-acquainted with some of her old friends and also meets some new local people. A few of the interesting ones include an obnoxious agent of real estate, a spoiled girlfriend of the agent, etc.

The girlfriend insists on buying a custom-sewed kilt made from Scotland Flower. Liss seems very happy with her progress in taking over the emporium’s charge and pretty satisfied with the number of sales she made in one day. However, her happiness turns into a worry later that night when she comes back to the shop all exhausted and discovers the dead body of the nosy neighbor of her aunt under the Scotland Flower fabric’s bolt in the shop’s stock room. And as there is no one else around at the time of the discovery, the police consider Liss MacCrimmon as the prime suspect and take her in for questioning. This makes the situation even worse for her. She takes help from a former classmate and neighbor named Dan Ruskin. The two start an investigation of their own and go on to uncover some dark secrets about Moosetookalook’s residents. Liss gets so much disturbed by those secrets that she wishes she hadn’t known them. She collects enough evidences to prove her innocence and then begins her hunt for catching the killer. Liss makes sure that she doesn’t become the next victim of the killer or even someone else close to her land in trouble before closing this chapter once and for all.

Another very exciting book of this mystery series is called ‘Stone Cold Dead’. It was also published by Kensington in 2008. This book consists of the central characters as Victor Owens, Liss MacCrimmon, etc. At the beginning of the story of the book, it is depicted that Liss MacCrimmon gets involved in another murder case soon after successfully solving the first one. As much as she seems excited to help the catch the criminals, she misses her life as a professional dancer for the Scottish dance-company called Strathspey, where she felt she belonged. When Liss learns that the troupe is scheduled to visit Moosetookalook on their tour, she decides to arrange a reception for them based on Scottish themes.

When Liss MacCrimmon meets her dance group after a long time, she realizes that life as a dancer is not all fancy stepping and happy jigs in that group. The company’s manager, Victor Owens, has been doing things that has made the life of the dancers miserable. Troubles coming knocking in Liss MacCrimmon’s life again after victor Owens consumes one of her cocktail scone and dies. This makes Liss and other dancers suspects in Victor’s murder. The police thinks the case is as clear as water knowing the straining relationship of Victor with the rest of the group. They think the killer is one among the dancers. But, Liss doesn’t seem convinced. So, She begins another investigation privately so as to get the real killer behind bars for his deadly crime.

One Response to “Kaitlyn Dunnett”

1. Ann McKissick: 2 years ago

   I just discovered your Deadly Edit series at my local library in Allen Texas. Loving the first book and Calpurnia the cat. I read all the Cat in the Stacks books with Diesel the cat. Can’t wait to read all of them.

   Reply