Kathleen Delaney Books In Order

Publication Order of Ellen McKenzie Books

Publication Order of Mary McGill Dog Mystery Books

Author Kathleen Delaney became an author late in life. She raised five kids, a ton of cats and dogs, quite a few horses, not to mention all kinds of 4H animals. She bred and showed (winning nationally) half and pure blood Arabian horses. She worked as a real estate broker in Paso Robles (a small town in the state of California). While doing this work, she found that she wanted to write on top of the reading that she did. She made her fiction debut with the novel, which is called “Dying For a Change”, and was released in the year 2002. She lives and writes with a dog and a cat; she lives near her grand kids, who have no problem sharing their own animals with her, should she get too lonely. Kathleen Delaney has a total of eight grandchildren.

Delaney writes the “Mary McGill Dog Mystery” series and “Ellen McKenzie” series. Her work is from the cozy mysteries genre.

BookSense Notable Book named “And Murder for Dessert” for the month of September 2007. “Dying For a Change” wound up being a finalist in St. Martin’s Malice Domestic contest.

“Dying For a Change” is the first novel in the “Ellen McKenzie” series and was released in the year 2002. Ellen McKenzie is newly divorced and newly registered to sell real estate goes back home to Santa Louisa. She headed back for one reason: nothing ever happens. She needs peace and some time to find out if forty is too old to start over. The town has changed since she has been gone. A huge box store has divided the town as it wants to build a store there. Both sides are planning to go to war. Ellen gets ready to show her first house, but instead of finding her new client, she finds a dead body of man. The man was beaten to death and left in the walk in closet. The man was Hank Sawyer. Could his death have anything to do with that new store that is coming to the town? He was a huge supporter of it coming. Is it more personal? Half of the people that work at Harper’s Land Sales (where Ellen now works) had some reason to hate Hank. Ellen finds out pretty quick why he was killed, and is almost killed herself.

Fans of the novel found that the novel was hard to put down and that the pages just kept on turning. The novel is well written and full of well rounded characters, especially Ellen; all of the characters will remind readers of people that they already know. Ellen is a strong female character. This is a series that some will be looking forward to reading all the books of. Provides a light read, and has a lot of action in it.

“Give First Place to Murder” is the second novel in the “Ellen McKenzie” series and was released in the year 2004. It should not be possible that a murder should happen at an Arabian horse show as part of a small county fair. Nonetheless, Ellen McKenzie sees a young man pinned to a bale of hay by a pitchfork. Who would have wanted this young groom dead? As it turns out, many people, and all of them are connected in some way to the show barn that Ellen’s daughter has just gotten a summer job at. Ellen is worried that Susannah could be in danger and she starts asking questions. The barn’s trainer is found dead in a bathroom in Santa Barbara where the prestigious Region 11 Arabian show is taking place. Ellen figures out that she needs to find the killer quick, before they strike again. She does not catch him in time. Susannah and Ellen end up in a horse van, locked in, as van hurtles to what just may be their death.

Fans of the novel found this to be a fun and enjoyable read. Some find that they have enjoyed getting to know Ellen and all the other characters. Readers enjoy the way that Ellen is more interested in her daughter’s safety, before jumping in and taking the case on to try and solve it. The ending surprised them, even though they knew who the killer was already. Yet another winner that readers could not put down and had to keep on reading to figure out what happened next.

“And Murder For Dessert” is the third novel in the “Ellen McKenzie” series and was released in the year 2007. Ellen McKenzie and her fiance Dan Dunham (the Chief of Police) are going to the upscale Harvest Festival Dinner; it is hosted by Sabrina (who is Ellen’s niece) and her husband Mark Tortelli. They are long time winery professionals, so there is not a lot that could go wrong. Right? They are new to this winery (Silver Springs Winery) and the Tortellis are worried that their job will depend on how well the event goes. It does not help that the guest chef’s reputation does not help calm this belief. Otto Messinger is well known for throwing temper tantrums. Ellen hopes that he will keep things in check. Dan hopes that the Tortellis will be able to have a good night and be able to move out, as they have been staying with Dan and Ellen for a month now. The guests are pretty much everyone who has had any beef with Otto; which is something that Otto enjoys quite a bit. There is no disaster as the dinner goes on, although things move shakily. It is time for dessert, but no one has seen Otto in a while. Sabrina finds him, dead and in a tank for fermenting wine. How did he get into it. Dan thinks Sabrina is the one that did it. Ellen wants him to look at other suspects, as there are many others in this case.

Fans of the novel found the novel to be realistic, believable, and incredibly entertaining. There are characters that readers will like and the author gives insight on both wines and tastings. Kathleen Delaney is great at writing great mysteries that keep you wondering what is going to happen next and who the killer is. Fans cannot get enough of this series and want more.

3 Responses to “Kathleen Delaney”

1. Camilla Harry: 2 years ago

   Wishing another book would come out in either or both of these series. Might anything be in the works since the last one was published a few years ago?

   Reply
2. Teresa M Carter: 3 years ago

   I just finished Lake News, and I’m trying to find the next book in this series.
   Thank you

   Reply
   • Graeme: 3 years ago

     Do you mean Lake News by Barbara Delinsky? If so it’s an Accidental Woman. List here: https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/barbara-delinsky/

     Reply