Alan Russell Books In Order

Publication Order of Hotel Detective Books

Publication Order of Gideon and Sirius Books

Publication Order of Detective Orson Cheever Books

Publication Order of Stuart Winter Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Nick "Deke" Deketomis Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Alan Russell is a one of the noteworthy novelists of America who has written a few successful novels based on the mystery, suspense and thriller genres. He was born on June 04, 1956 in Sunnyvale, California, United States and was the youngest among his 4 siblings. He was born to Carolyn Lois Russell and Mark E. Russell and spent the growing years of his childhood in Sunnyvale, California, as his father was stationed there as a Mayor and City Councilman. The political background ran in his family background as his grandfather as well as his great-grandfather were also respectable mayors of the of the town. Russell has said in his interviews that his parents met in a very romantic way while serving on duty in the NAvy. His mother was a naval flight nurse, who used to attend the injured officers while his father was a second in command in Alaska. Later, his mother went on to become a member of an international organization of the female pilots, called as the Ninety-Nines. As a child. Russell spent his time in Sunnyvale, California as well as in Short Hills, New Jersey, United States. In the year 1972, his family shifted to La Jolla in California.

Russell used to play varsity basketball in his school days for almost 2 years. In his senior year, he became the part of the second-team of his school in the All Coast League. Later, he went to UC San Diego and became the first Triton player to make it to the varsity football team as a fresher. However, a back injury caused him to stop playing basketball and he had to quit from his team at the end of the season. While in his healing process, Russell saw a writing outlet in one of the student newspapers, The Triton Times and was inspired by its content. Hence, when he became a senior student of his school, he had become the editor-in-chief of the student newspaper. And it was during his tenure as the editor that the newspaper went on to become independent of the University and was renamed later as The Guardian. After completing his graduation from UC San Diego, Russell worked in the hospital industry for about 20 years. All these times, he used to write and sell magazine and newspaper articles as part of his writing hobby. Then, he began using his experience in the hospital industry to begin writing novels. He kept on seeing success in his attempts and completed a few very exciting novels set around the hospital industry. Russell also used to write several short stories and one of his short stories titled ‘Married to a Murderer’ was chosen as one of the 25 finest mystery and crime stories of the year in 1997. It was also performed as a stage play in Carlsbad, California.

In the year 1990, Russell collaborated with Walker & Company, which began publishing his novels. Even The New York Times had started giving positive reviews to his standalone novels and short stories. After that, Russell also wrote a few comedic mysteries in the form of The Fat Innkeeper and The Hotel Detective, which helped him to win The Lefty award in the category of the best comedic mystery of the year, as well as a Critics’ Choice Award. He was also nominated for the Macavity Award and the Anthony Award for his other novels. Then, Russell changed his course from mystery novels to the suspense novels and wrote a few psychologically suspenseful novels. In all, Russell ha written and published around 12 novels in his writing career as well as a few other nonfiction books. He even wrote an interesting screenplay for Disney and many of his novels were adapted into films. The novel, Guardians of the Night written by Russell recently has made its way to the number one spot on the Amazon’s bestseller list. Russell is happily married to Laura, who works as a licensed social worker and the couple is blessed with 3 children named Brooke, Hart and Luke.

One of the initial novels written by Alan Russell was The Hotel Detective, which was published by the Mysterious Press publishing house in the year 1994. The novel is the story of a sly and wry hotel detective, who has a decidedly negligent approach towards his job. The plot of the novel gives an account of a mystery setting in a lighthearted way. In the opening sequence of the novel, the main protagonist Am Caulfield is introduced as the assistant general manager of Hotel California. However, his boss Manager Raymond Kendrick asks him to become the security director as well along with his primary job as an assistant manager. Am believes that his appointment as the security director is not because of his abilities, but is an act of revenge from Kendrick as he had imitated Kendrick at a recent party. As soon as he begins his duty as the security director of the hotel, problems begin to arise in the hotel. Robberies begin to take place as the personal items regular female guest are stolen as well as the 200 entries of the pastry competition from the locked kitchen. Even a death takes place in the hotel when a man falls down from his balcony on the seventh floor.

However, these problems seem very small compared to the double murder that had taken place in the room 605 of the hotel. A lawyer and his client are found dead, stabbed with one of the carving knives of the hotel. To make the matters worse for Am Caulfield, the 160 members of the Bob Johnson Society, all of whom are named Bob Johnson, check in to the hotel for the Murder Mayhem Weekend. Even though Am was new to the detective job, he was determined and dedicated as any other detective and keeps track of the suspicious guests. Amidst all the drama involving a temperamental chef, an attractive intern with a hidden agenda, and a lost bellhop, Am Caulfield works his way thorough in his own relaxed way to prove his worth as the Hotel Detective. One of the other novels written by Russell under the Hotel Detective series was titled ‘The Fat Innkeeper’ and was published in the year 1995 by the Warner Books publishing house. This novel continues to show the comedic detective works of the main protagonist, Am Caulfield. Caught in a new investigation about the death of the doctor who was investigating the frauds taking place at the Union of Near Death Experiences Retreat (UNDER), Am’s life has become more hectic than usual. In the presence of the new owner named Hiroshi Yamada or The fat Innkeeper, who always keeps a watch on Am’s activities and the crazy swingers, he begins to investigate the practitioners at UNDER in relation to the death of the investigating doctor. Soon, he finds himself on the trail of a very ruthless and clever murderer.