Red River Mystery Books In Order

Publication Order of Red River Mystery Books

The Red River Mystery series is a successful series of historical mystery, fiction, crime, thriller, suspense, and adult novels. It is written by a reputed American novelist named Reavis Z. Wortham. The series consists of a total of 7 books, which were released between the years 2011 and 2017. All the books of this thriller and mystery series feature the main protagonist in the role of Ned Parker. Ned is described as a part time constable and farmer living in Center Springs, Lamar County, Texas, during the mid 1960s. Other than Ned Parker, the other important characters mentioned by author Wortham in the series’ books include John Washington, Judge O C Rains, Pepper, Top, Cody Parker, etc. In addition to these main characters, many other secondary characters are also depicted by author Reavis Wortham, who play important roles to carry the series forward. The plots of the series’ books take place throughout the 1960s, showing Ned Parker trying to solve the various mysterious cases that keep coming his way in Center Springs. Most of the time, Ned Parker is assisted by the mythical deputy sheriff from the nearby town of Paris named John Washington. The various twists and turns take place throughout the series that make the books even more interesting to read. Author Wortham feels grateful that his books have succeeded in reaching out to a large number of readers throughout the world. The readers in return have liked the books and appreciated the characters very much. They have provided each of the books with rave reviews on various platforms. All such reviews and ratings have helped the books to do much more business in all the places of their publishing. The immense success of the novels has also helped to increase the popularity of author Wortham. He has managed to successfully establish himself among the prominent authors of the mystery genre of this generation. He has also received nominations for several noteworthy awards for his novels. Now, Wortham is looking forward to write and publish several more titles in his critically acclaimed mystery series. He is working to develop several stories and is expected to a few books very soon in the coming days.

Reavis Z. Wortham is a reputed author hailing from Paris, Texas, United States. He was born in the year 1954. Wortham is particularly famous for his Red River series. One of this series’ books, The Rock Hole, was nominated for the Benjamin Franklin Award. Author Wortham took retirement from his previous job in 2011 and has been working very hard since then to bring up exciting mystery stories. His debut novel, which is also the first one of the Red River novel series, has been listed by Kirkus Reviews in its top twelve mysteries of the year 2011. Another of his novels, Dark Places, was included as 2015’s best 12 modern westerns by the True West Magazine. The Providence Journal has written about author Wortham that his books read are hidden gems and read like the work of some very famous writer. In 2017, author Wortham began another series of mystery novels. The first book of the new, high octane, contemporary thriller Sonny Hawke series was published in June 2017 by the Kensington Publishing. Reavis Wortham feels blessed to have the huge fan base and is determined to keep developing intriguing mysteries for them every year. In all the years of his writing career, Wortham has always remained motivated and dedicated towards his work. He hopes to continue doing so in the days to come.

The debut book of the Red River Mystery series written by author Reavis Z Wortham is entitled ‘The Rock Hole’. It was released by the Poisoned-Pen Press publishing in the year 2011. The storyline of this book is set in 1964 by Wortham and included the important characters as Ned Parker, Pepper, John Washington, Top, OC Rains, etc. At the start of the book’s story, it is shown that Ned Parker is a farmer and a Constable on a part time basis in Center Springs. He forms a team with the black deputy sheriff of Paris, John Washington, for tracking down a mentally disturbed individual. This man is known to have become a great threat to the entire Center Springs community of Texas. Ned Parker receives a summon to visit a cornfield in the town for examining a brutally tortured bird-dog’s remains. The crime scene makes Ned Parker realize that there is the presence of a dark force in the quiet community. As Ned Parker is well aware of the trade of farming, he is very confident in handling drunks, domestic disputes, and moonshiners. But, the animal atrocities turning to murder seems something that he didn’t see before. Therefore, he feels that dealing with such cases is beyond his capabilities. A close friend of Ned Parker, Judge Rains, contacts the FBI after going through a series of twists, dead ends, and eccentric characters. When Ned investigates about this, he learns about the sinister warnings that threaten to target Rains’ family. Ned follows the warning displays and discovers something that makes him sure that he knows the killer too well. The mystery finally comes to an end after the killer attempts a failed kidnapping of Rains’ grandchildren and falls in the hands of the FBI. And Ned Parker’s role in catching the culprit is well appreciated by the FBI.

The next installment of this series is known as ‘Burrows’. It was also published by Poisoned Pen in 2012. This book has the lead characters as Cody Parker, Lyndon B. Johnson, John Washington, Top, Ned Parker, Pepper, etc. At the beginning of the story of the book, it is depicted that Ned retires from his post of constable and decides to live the rest of his life peacefully by doing cotton farming. But, his fate has some other plans. He receives a call that leads him to a dead body in Red River. Subsequently, he gets involved in an investigation that is headed by the new constable, Cody Parker, who is also the nephew of Ned. The two join hands to put a stop to the killing spree all across northern Texas. Pepper and Top appear to be struggling to overcome the trauma that they had faced some months back and Ned takes notice of this. The kids think that they are facing a bigger nightmare and no one can get them out from it. John Washington and Cody Parker follow a small lead from the community to an abandoned warehouse of the Cotton Exchange in Chisum. They see shocking things at the exchange and inform Ned about it. Ned warns Cody not to enter the building as it could be dangerous for him, but he does not listen. Later, Cody finds himself under attack and uses his military training to save John Washington and himself. However, the murder spree continues and moves to the neighboring states.