Susan Gillard Books In Order

Publication Order of Donut Hole Mystery Books

Publication Order of Oceanside Cozy Books

About Susan Gillard

Little is known about the American writer Susan Gillard, as she’s almost as mysterious as her much loved collection of mystery novels. Well known all over the world, she’s become hugely prolific over the years, releasing a large quantity of books in a relatively short amount of time. Knowing the mystery genre well, she’s adept at crafting finely tuned mystery tiles that are both cozy and familiar. This sense of familiarity also ensure that her many readers will return to her novels time and time again, with her stories keeping readers glued to the page.

A highly gifted writer, she’s not only known for writing cozy mysteries, she’s also extremely prolific as a novelist too. With a large number of books in her backlog of work, there’s a huge amount of novels that she’s written over the years. Setting herself apart from other writers within her field, she’s found a niche that is very much her own, making a unique name for herself. Many of her books are cozy mysteries, as she’s entertaining, combining warmth, wit, and heart in each one of her stories.

Another key feature of Gillard’s work is her characters, as each one of them come alive off of the page for the reader. Many of her protagonists are now iconic, such as that of her baker Heather who regularly deals with new murder mysteries. Writing several series featuring the character in the lead, she sets herself apart, all whilst featuring a strong message in each of her mysteries. With more expected to follow, there’s a lot more life left in her writing career, as she has no plans of stopping any time soon.

Early and Personal Life

Growing up in Kansas City, Missouri, the future mystery novelist to be Susan Gillard grew up with a keen passion for both reading and writing. This interest of hers would develop throughout the years, as she would soon come to make a name for herself in time. Focused on her love of mystery novels, she would eventually come to find her own voice, largely writing cozy mystery titles.

Always looking for new and exciting ideas, she has always been interested in baking as well, which is something that also feeds back into her work. In time she would be inspired to combine her love of baking into her mysteries, as many of her stories would feature this as a theme. Currently travelling a lot, she continues to write regularly on a consistent basis, as she’s constantly on the lookout for her next big idea.

Writing Career

One of the things that’s most impressive about Susan Gillard is how consistently good her books are throughout her career. Releasing a large quantity in a relatively short amount of time she’s never missed a bit, with her first book, ‘Strawberry Cream Murder,’ coming out back 2016. This mystery novel would also start the ‘Donut Hole Mystery’ series of novels too, with Heather as the lead character.

She’d also write alongside fellow mystery novelist Karen Sullivan, bringing out the ‘Cookie Lane Mystery’ series of novels. Then there would be the ‘Oceanside Cozy Mystery’ series of novels, which would also feature the character of Heather as the protagonist. There are several omnibus editions of her work too, bringing her ‘Donut Hole Mysteries’ together in a total of five collections released in 2017.

Cinnamon Sugar Murder

First coming out through the ‘Guardian Publishing Group’ imprint, this would initially arrive back in 2017 on the 31st of August. Arriving on the literary scene to an already eagerly awaiting audience, this would be the sixtieth book in the long-running ‘Donut Hole Mystery’ series. Each book is a self-contained mystery, so they don’t need to be read in any particular order, but they all feature the character of Heather the baker in the lead-role.

All ready to move to Key West, Heather is just about to head off when there’s two suspicious murders in Hillside. Called back from her flight, Heather realizes the two deaths were previously business partners, with one killed during a robbery, and the other dying of a heart attack. She believes a mobster may be involved in the deaths, leading to her investigating the cases before returning to baking donuts. Will she be able to find the killer or killers in time, just how is everything connected, and just who is behind the Cinnamon sugar murder?

It’s a fun and easy book to read, as it’s excellent example of its genre, with the character of Heather being extremely well realized. The world of the series is also brought to life, with it building upon the material of the previous books extremely well. There’s plenty to enjoy and admire here, as it really does keep the reader constantly guessing, right until the very last page.

Bourbon, Bacon and Murder

Originally released in 2019 on the 13th of December, this would be published through the Kindle platform this time. This book was the seventy-fifth title in the next long-running series featuring Heather, which was called the ‘Oceanside Cozy Mystery’ series. Following on from the previous books, this mystery is self-contained, and the books themselves don’t need to be read in order.

Dealing with a huge influx of Spring Break customers, Heather is facing a lot of business in her bakery, but rumors of a Great White Shark off the coast are abound. Then a woman is found apparently killed by the shark, but Heather feels murder is afoot, as she intends to get to the bottom of it. Juggling the day-to-day of her bakery, she heads off to investigate who could be behind the killing, and if they’re still at large. Will she find out who the killer is in time, can she discover their true motive, and what will become of all the bourbon, bacon and murder?

Hugely entertaining once again, it’s fun to see Heather taking the lead once more, as it’s both a fun and engaging novel. The book itself is easy to read with a story that’s both compelling and humorous, as all the characters are well managed. It’s a story that reader can easily pick up, but they will have difficulty putting down, as it’s definitely an addictive novel too.