Julie Kramer Books In Order

Publication Order of Riley Spartz Books

Julie Kramer is American author of mystery and thriller novels famously known as the author of Riley Spartz series. Kramer was first published in 2008 when Stalking Susan the first book in Riley Spartz series was released. The author has won Minnesota Book Award, Daphne du Maurier ward and RT Book Reviewer for the best first mystery. Julie Kramer has been a finalist in Barry, Anthony, Shamus, Mary Higgins, Clark, and RT Best Amateur Sleuth Awards.

Julie was born and raised in Minnesota-Iowa state in the fourth generation of a family that grew cattle and did corn farming for more than a century. Most of her childhood days were spent eagerly waiting for the bookmobile to bring her another copy of Phyllis A. Whitney novel. As an avid reader, she was tired of Television reporters who were always portrayed as extremely unpleasant secondary characters who could be quickly killed whenever the plot started dragging.

Before switching to full-time writing, Kramer spends most of her career as a TV news producer, doing field work, investigative stories, newscasts, and live shots.

Stalking Susan

Stalking Susan is the debut novel in Riley Spartz series by Julie Kramer. The series opener takes place in Twin City and features a main character named Riley Spartz, a television investigative reporter working for a fictional Channel 3. Riley is out to solve the mystery crime of a serial murderer who targets women named Susan.
The author knows some little more than the world of television news. Before embarking on her career as a freelance television producer for NBC (Nightly News, Today Show, Dateline) where she has covered a lot including 9/11 to the Larry Craig airport incident to the Interstate 35W bridge collapse, Julie has won several awards thanks to her investigative reports.

It was the piece of Julie did for WCCO with Caroline Lowe two case homicides that was the greatest source of inspiration for Stalking Susan. The two cases involved women named Susan killed in St. Paul on the same day but two years apart. Susan Granger aged 28 was strangled to death on 17th May 1983 and her body found in Highland Park Street. Then Susan Jean Rheineck aged 16 was suffocated on 17th May 1985. Her body was found proximal to Mississippi river. The two cases remain unsolved to this date.

In her debut novel, Stalking Susan, the two victims last names, occupations, ages, time and the scene of deaths were changed, but the first names remained the same.
The book’s main character is an intrepid investigative reporter named Riley Spartz. She is smart and fierce. While the author admits that she shares some similarities with her heroine, the character is actually a composite of the colleagues she has worked with over the years as an investigative journalist. The author stated that three of her former workmates were the primary inspirations behind her main character: Trish Van Pilsum, KMSP investigative journalist; Lowe; and Kevyn Burger, FM 107 radio show host.

Julie was focused on creating a television reporter who wasn’t illustrated as the irritating bimbo who gets murdered when the plot starts dragging. Not only does the author make Spartz a respectable heroine but she also wanted to expose what she terms as the desperate world of Television ratings.

Riley suffers from crushed personal life; she has a hard news director to handle, a soon to expire contract hanging loose, and stories with high rating potential to produce. Then there is the blurry world where she lives in where source and reporter intermingle a little too freely.

The characters featured in the story are all fictional but are somehow a reflection of the many people that Julie Kramer has ever worked with for or even against. Some are composites while others are pure imaginations.

Missing Mark

Missing Mark is the second book in Riley Spartz series by Julie Kramer, and it’s exciting and intriguing as the debut novel Stalking Susan. The second book in the series is set in Twin Cities of Minneapolis as in the first book. Riley Spartz, the investigative television journalist, is trying to comes up with an exciting story for the upcoming “sweeps week” when TV ratings are much more crucial than usual. Perusing through the adverts in the newspapers, she comes across an advertisement that captures her intention.

Surprised, she responds to the advertisement on the pretense of wanting to purchase the dress to learn why the bride-to-be never got to wear the dress. However it turns out the bride was left at the altar, and the groom vanished into thin air about six months ago, and Riley is shocked to find why no one has to find the man.
Riley comes clean to Madelin Post, the bride confesses to her and convinces her that she is doing a story that might give leads to Marks whereabouts.

While Riley is investigating the disappearance mystery, she discovers fascinating secrets about the groom, the bride as well as several other people. Her boss is not quite interested in the story and wants Riley only to cover on the abducting a huge lake bass from Underwater Adventures part at the Mall of America, a radical animal rights activists taking credit, but all these smells fishy to Riley.

Silencing Sam

In the third book in Riley Spartz series Riley the main character finds herself a suspect in the murder of a newspaper gossip columnist who had thrown some bad bonne bouche about her in his column. The two had been seen arguing and Riley threw alcohol at the time and had no alibi.

Even worse, a new reporter from Texas is stealing all the good stories and infuriating Riley to death with his snobbish attitude, even calling her a little lady after she had requested him to stop.

Since Riley is not allowed near Sam Pierce case, she is determined to solve the murder mystery. At the same time, she continues working on a story of someone trying to wreck wind turbines on a local wind farm located southern Twin Cities where her parents reside. Overall Riley Spartz series is a beautiful series, fast paced, well connected from chapter to chapter and book to book.