Country Club Murders Books in Order
Part ofJulie Mulhern Books in OrderSee the Country Club Murders books by Julie Mulhern in order, with summaries, series background, reading tips, and where to start.
Last updated: June 6, 2026
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Publication Order
25 books
Rich Girl
by Julie Mulhern
2026
Libba’s secret marriage to a French count comes crashing back when the man is found stabbed on Ellison’s patio. Clearing Libba means facing twenty years of lies, heartbreak, and unfinished paperwork.
Evil Ways
by Julie Mulhern
2026
Ellison finds another body in this Country Club Murders entry, putting her family, friends, and 1970s Kansas City social circle back under pressure as a new killer disrupts the calm.
Tight Rope
by Julie Mulhern
2025
A body in a car trunk looks like a Kansas City mob message, but the victim belongs to Ellison’s circle. As danger spreads, even Mother may be right about minding one’s business.
Bad Blood
by Julie Mulhern
2025
Prudence Davies and Ellison share ugly history, so when Prudence is murdered after a public fight, Ellison becomes a suspect. Old secrets and a hostile investigator threaten everything she loves.
Somewhere in the Night
by Julie Mulhern
2024
Thanksgiving night brings Ellison’s family to a Plaza Lighting Ceremony viewing party at her great-aunt’s apartment. When a relative falls from a seventeenth-floor balcony, Ellison and Anarchy investigate.
Back in Black
by Julie Mulhern
2024
When fashion-world friend Kay Morrison visits Kansas City, Ellison hosts a chic luncheon that murder promptly ruins. A killing, a cruel theft, and friends under suspicion leave Ellison in a dark mood.
Only the Good Die Young
by Julie Mulhern
2023
With Ellison in Europe, Frances Walford finds a corpse of her own and immediately understands the inconvenience. Solving a murder is hard enough, but keeping Ellison from ever knowing may be harder.
Killing Me Softly
by Julie Mulhern
2023
Libba may finally have chosen a good man in cardiologist Charlie Ardmore, until his patients start dying. If Ellison cannot find the truth, her own father could become the next victim.
Fire and Rain
by Julie Mulhern
2023
Sirens wake Ellison, but this time they are headed across the street. A neighbor’s house is burning, a body is found in the ashes, and Anarchy’s investigation puts the whole block on edge.
Evil Woman
by Julie Mulhern
2022
Ellison returns from her honeymoon hoping for a quiet summer, only to find an older woman has been murdered. With her mother in danger and family chaos rising, sleuthing becomes personal.
Big Shot
by Julie Mulhern
2022
Ellison and Anarchy expect a peaceful weekend in the country with friends, full of riding, fishing, and rest. Instead, Ellison walks into murder, and every friend seems to have a motive.
Night Moves
by Julie Mulhern
2021
When Anarchy investigates the murder of a friend’s husband, Ellison gets pulled into toxic gossip and fresh danger. Wedding plans, teenage turmoil, and an old flame make this case anything but simple.
Lyin' Eyes
by Julie Mulhern
2021
Ellison is planning a patio wedding, but corpses keep appearing in pairs. When a third body makes her a suspect, she must catch a killer before her happily ever after turns into a funeral.
Stayin' Alive
by Julie Mulhern
2020
Ellison chairs a gala tied to a museum’s Chinese funerary exhibit and expects disaster. When a body appears and someone targets her, social obligations become the least dangerous part of spring.
Killer Queen
by Julie Mulhern
2020
Ellison finds a dead woman in her study, and this one claimed to be Mrs. Anarchy Jones. With mothers, wives, and near-fatal surprises circling, Ellison and Anarchy need answers fast.
Telephone Line
by Julie Mulhern
2019
Ellison tries yoga to calm the stress of planning a major gala, only for the instructor to be murdered in class. Soon the killer is calling, and Ellison’s carefully balanced life is wobbling.
Shadow Dancing
by Julie Mulhern
2018
A psychic predicts death around Ellison, and a corpse soon appears in her driveway. With a difficult neighbor, an unexpected houseguest, and trouble with Anarchy, Ellison has plenty to solve before death catches up.
Diamond Girl
by Julie Mulhern
2018
Aggie DeLucci, Ellison’s housekeeper and a former assistant private investigator, gets her own case when her new beau Mac is accused of theft. Clearing his name means dusting off her old investigative skills.
Back Stabbers
by Julie Mulhern
2018
Ellison visits her broker for a portfolio update and finds him dead instead. An unexpected guest, a troublesome cat, and a rising body count leave her juggling family drama and a killer’s trail.
Watching the Detectives
by Julie Mulhern
2017
Ellison wants a decorator, not a corpse, but the Whites turn up dead in her home in alarmingly theatrical fashion. As gossip builds, Detective Jones’s new partner starts looking at Ellison too closely.
Cold as Ice
by Julie Mulhern
2017
Grace is testing limits, her inheritance may be at risk, and Ellison’s country club meeting ends with a body. To protect her daughter’s future, Ellison must uncover a killer and face hard truths about power.
Send in the Clowns
by Julie Mulhern
2016
A haunted house becomes too real when a knife-wielding clown leaves Brooks Harney dead. Ellison must sort through costumes, motives, family meddling, and one very bad date before the killer strikes again.
Clouds in My Coffee
by Julie Mulhern
2016
Ellison brushes off a near miss at a benefactors’ party until bullets, poison, and a firebomb prove someone wants her dead. Family guests and a handsome detective in the guesthouse only complicate the hunt.
The Deep End
by Julie Mulhern
2015
In 1974 Kansas City, artist Ellison Russell finds her husband’s mistress dead in the country club pool. When suspicion turns toward her, Ellison must untangle blackmail, lies, and society gossip before the killer closes in.
Guaranteed to Bleed
by Julie Mulhern
2015
A dying student asks Ellison Russell to deliver one last message, pulling her into a search for a missing girlfriend and a murderer. Teen drama, family trouble, and another body make staying uninvolved impossible.
Series background & context
The Country Club Murders begin in 1974 Kansas City, inside the well-dressed world of country clubs, charity galas, bridge tables, and family expectations. Ellison Russell is an artist, a mother, and a woman who has learned to keep smiling even when her marriage has gone cold. Then she swims into the body of her husband’s mistress, and polite society gets a lot less polite.
That first case in The Deep End sets the pattern, but the series keeps growing. Ellison does not set out to become an investigator. She wants to raise her daughter Grace, paint, drink coffee, survive her mother’s opinions, and avoid scandal. Unfortunately, bodies keep appearing in places she cannot ignore, from pools and gardens to studies, country club events, and neighborhood streets.
The setting does a lot of work.
Mulhern uses 1970s Kansas City for more than shag carpet and period jokes, though there are plenty of period details to enjoy. Ellison lives at a time when women are pushing against old rules, but the old rules still have teeth. Money, marriage, reputation, and family name matter. So do secrets. That gives every murder a social cost as well as a criminal one.
The recurring cast is a big part of the appeal. Frances Walford, Ellison’s mother, can turn disapproval into a full-body workout. Grace brings teenage complications and real stakes to Ellison’s choices. Housekeeper Aggie DeLucci is practical, loyal, and sharper than most people expect. Detective Anarchy Jones starts as the homicide detective who would very much like Ellison to stop finding bodies, then becomes one of the series’ emotional anchors.
The books are cozy mysteries with bite. The violence stays mostly off-page, but the motives are not always soft. Mulhern writes about social climbing, bad marriages, blackmail, old money, sexism, grief, and the weird ways people behave when they think appearances matter more than truth.
And yes, there is coffee.
Read these in order if you can. The murder plots stand on their own, but Ellison’s personal life, family ties, confidence, and relationships change from book to book. Starting with The Deep End gives the cleanest view of how a country club wife becomes a reluctant sleuth, and how a woman trained to be agreeable learns to trust her own nerve.
Edited by
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