Nancy Skopin Books In Order

Publication Order of Nikki Hunter Books

Author Nancy Skopkin is a California native, currently living on the Oregon coast, with Max Ferry (her husband), and Turq (their dog).

She is an avid student of human nature, and she is happiest when she spends her time imagining the worst and best mankind is capable of, and putting these ideas into her stories starring Nikki Hunter.

Just like Nikki, Nancy lived aboard a yacht in the San Francisco Bay Area for thirteen years, before settling onto solid ground.

She worked for two years with a private investigator for research for her quirky mystery serial killer series. During this time, she learned the intricacies of the whole business. Nancy specifically learned the art of restaurant and bar “mystery shopping”.

Nancy writes the “Nikki Hunter” series of mystery novels, which began publication in the year 2015, when “Murder on the Menu”. Nikki is the only child of an ex-nun and a Cossack, and is a tenacious and smart woman in her mid-thirties. She rents an office on the ground floor in the marina complex where her boat is docked.

“Murder on the Menu” is the first novel in the “Nikki Hunter” series, which was released in the year 2015. Nicoli “Nikki” Hunter, a Private Investigator, has lost her enthusiasm for the restaurant and bar surveys that pay her bills but do not challenge her anymore. The brutal murder of a socialite (and stripper) Laura Howard hits her desk, she has found a case that is worthy of her talent, at last.

The murder goes unsolved, and the mother of the victim contacts Nikki, who agrees to perform a preliminary investigation. She finds that Laura was close to inheriting several million bucks. The suspect list gets bigger while Nikki digs into Laura’s past. Nikki makes a friend in Bill Anderson, a Homicide Detective, and he tells her that a trio of recent murders, which includes Laura’s, all have odd similarities.

Nikki enlists Elizabeth Gaultier, her best friend and a fellow boat-dweller, to help her. While the pair conduct their interviews, they find out they are being followed by another private investigator. The people they interview wind up dead, Nikki informs Detective Anderson of all she has found out, but it is too late. She is already the murderer’s next target.

Fans felt this was a great way to kick off an interesting series. Nikki is gutsy and is able to keep on thinking, even when she is under some extreme stress. This has a superb mystery in it, and the entire book makes for a stellar thriller.

“Murder Over Cocktails” is the second novel in the “Nikki Hunter” series, which was released in the year 2015. Nikki has just recovered from almost being killed during an encounter with a serial murderer, and is stoked to get back to her restaurant and bar surveillance jobs. The universe has other things planned out for her. One night, while she is posing as a victim/decoy to attract a bartender that is bent on sexual harassment, a guy named Jack “The Cat” McGuire is going to tell her a story that is going to alter the course of her life.

Jack is a professional cat burglar who comes across video tapes of five brutal murders while he is robbing the murderer’s house. Nikki divides her time between the complicated aspects of her regular surveillance work and working on Jack’s case. For obvious reasons, he is unable to go the police, and so he hires Nikki, after their chance meeting, hoping she can stop the killer before he kills anyone else.

After Nikki’s urging, Jack goes back to the killer’s home, stealing and copying the tapes, and then brings them into her office. Nikki sees the horrors first hand, and commits to stopping this monster who is responsible.

At first, Nikki tries to get the help of Bill Anderson, her sometimes significant other, but he is a cop that is by-the-book and is unwilling to break the rules. Even if it is for Nikki. Without either the police’s help, or Bill’s, Nikki has to play the victim/decoy again. This time it will be to risk her life to catch a sadistic murderer in the act.

This is another great read that the author is filled with a ton of action, twists and turns, a bunch of well drawn and interesting characters, and a bit of romance for Nikki. The scenery is brought to life in a way that makes it feel tangible.

“Dinner and a Murder” is the third novel in the “Nikki Hunter” series, which was released in the year 2015. After surviving multiple attempts on her life, Nikki decides to do something normal and attend her high school reunion. It is here that she is reacquainted with Paul Marks, an old flame who is now an air traffic control supervisor. Nikki agrees to go to lunch with him the following day. During lunch, she is convinced that something is horribly wrong, and has to persuade him to find out the truth. He tells her that three controllers that report to him have died in the previous two months. All three have died under suspicious circumstances.

Nikki insists on looking into the deaths, and quickly finds out, with the aid of her old mentor Sam Pettigrew, that Paul is the next target of a brutal killer. So much for normalcy. Nikki has to risk her own life again, in order to save Paul’s life.

“Murder A La Carte” is the fourth novel in the “Nikki Hunter” series, which was released in the year 2015. Nikki is visited by an abused by a nine year old boy. He asks if she will find the person who killed his mother.

At the same time, Bill Anderson is investigating the homicide of a registered sex offender. Nikki quickly figures out how these cases, as well as many other local killings, are connected. She is in for a wild roller coaster ride hunting down a vigilante whose mission is to kill as many sexual predators as they can.

2 Responses to “Nancy Skopin”

1. Pam Roberts: 1 year ago

   I love the Nikki Hunter books. I want to know if her and Bill get married? I have read all nine of them of course and wondering when the next one will be released?

   Pam

   Reply
2. jean smith: 2 years ago

   Does Nancy Skopin plan to write any more Nikki Hunter books? I enjoy that series but she has published nothing since 2019. Thanks

   Reply