Alex McKnight Books In Order

Publication Order of Alex McKnight Books

The Alex McKnight series of novels is a combination of several highly acclaimed fictional crime novels, written by the Edgar Award winning author, Steve Hamilton. The series is set in the Michigan, a fictional Paradise in the Upper Peninsula beside the Lake Superior. All the novels of the series are based on the mysterious life of the main protagonist Alex McKnight, who is a former police detective from Detroit. The detective series consists of a total of 10 novels along with 2 standalone novels and depict the life of Alex McKnight, who somehow makes his living by renting out his cabins in Michigan before being appointed again as a detective working privately for the Michigan police. The wonderful mystery of the novels of the series has been able to catch the attention of the most their readers, which is one of the prime reasons of the success of the series. The series was published from 1998 to 2013 by the Minotaur Books publishing house. Other than the Edgar Award, the series also received the Shamus Award for one of its novels and also allowed Steve Hamilton to become the finalist for the Shamus Award on two occasions.

The small town of Paradise in Michigan is filled with high crime rates, after which Alex McKnight gets re-appointed as a private investigator, being a former cop in the Detroit police department. He had left his job of the police officer in Detroit after being nearly killed by the criminal named Maximilian Rose. Rose had also killed Alex’s partner which had broken him from inside and he became uninterested in doing anything. There is a bullet still present in his chest, which proves the deadly shootout in which he was caught and feels lucky to have come out alive. He moves to the town of Paradise in Michigan hoping hat it was free from criminal activities and wanted to spend a peaceful life with the small payment he used to receive from the Detroit police department for being injured on duty, which had caused a small disability in him and had made him unfit for active duty. The series is full of lively atmosphere and vivid descriptions of the crime scenes in which the protagonist Alex McKnight gets involved. The settings and depictions of the series remind the works of famous authors like Harlan Coben and Lee Child. The background seems dark throughout the series and is caught in extreme cold. The readers have felt the chill and creepy feelings of the series as the most of the settings of the series are done in winter of Michigan. The winter is described by author Steve Hamilton as quite snowy, windy, rainy and filled with dark cold. The wonderful works of Steve Hamilton in the mystery series is definitely worth checking out for a thrilling and fun filled experience.

The first novel in the Alex McKnight series was published in the year 1998 by the Minotaur Books with the title ‘A Cold Day in Paradise’. The novel is set in the tiny town of Paradise, Michigan, United States, particularly in the Upper Peninsula. It is based entirely on the life of Alex McKnight, a former police inspector for the Detroit police department, and his attempts to bring down the crime rates in the town of Paradise, where he gets reappointed as a private investigator. The plot of the novel opens up with the description of Alex’s miserable as a man with a disability from a previous encounter with a criminal. The deadly encounter had left a bullet in his chest, only about a centimeter from his heart. He is shown in a constant nightmare of his partner’s death and his own fatal injury in the same encounter. However, when he moves to Michigan, he thinks that he will be able to get over the nightmares and lead a peaceful life in Paradise, Michigan, which was believed to be a crime free town. He makes his living through the disability pay he gets from the government and lives in a cabin in the jungle of Michigan, by trading his badge.

Everything goes peacefully as the criminal Maximilian Rose was convicted for his crimes and made to serve as a prisoner in the State prison for a long term. However, things take a shocking turn when a murder takes place in the town. The dead body depicted the typical trademarks of Maximilian’s style of killing. Alex McKnight becomes restless as Maximilian was locked in prison and the his ways of killing had made him sure that there was someone who has studied Maximilian’s tactics in great detail. He was even more shocked by the way the murderer had copied the intimate details of Maximilian’s ways of killing and leaving a blood-red rose at his doorstep, just like Maximilian did as a signature of his crime. Now, Alex has to face the tough job of catching the new killer just like he had caught Maximilian and unravel the truth behind the deadly murders. He gets appointed again as an investigator by the Michigan police department in order to bring back the peace in the town of Paradise. Alex is sure about the fact that he has to go through the same frozen hell once again and nab the deadly criminal, but fears to lose anyone else in the process as he lost his previous partner. The novel went on to win numerous prestigious awards like the Barry Award, the Edgar Award, the Shamus Award and the St. Martin’s Press Award in the year 1999 for being the best debut novel. It was also nominated for the Anthony Award in the same category in 1999.

The second novel of the Alex McKnight series was titled ‘Winter of the Wolf Moon’ and was released in the year 2000 by Minotaur Books. The novel continues from the success of the first installment of the series and shows the life events of Alex McKnight. The plot of the novel starts with a young woman belonging to the Ojibwa tribe asking to stay in one of his cabins in order to save herself from her boyfriend, who was very violent in nature. McKnight agrees to help her and offers a cabin for shelter. However, she goes missing the next day. Alex sets himself up in search of the woman and in his attempt, he comes across a number of suspects and an increasing web of criminal activities. He witnesses deadly encounters and brutal snowstorms, but does not see much success from his attempts. Meanwhile, it becomes clear that the woman was killed and that the killer has been able to spread his hands from the Ojibwa tribe to the silent woods around the Canadian border. With his hard work and determination, Alex McKnight seems to get close to the killer and is about to find himself in the brutal web of the killer. The novel was highly successful and was very much appreciated by the readers all over the world just like the first novel. The fellow authors praised Steve Hamilton’s attempts to write down the wonderful mystery novel and motivated him to continue writing such novels. The success of the novel can be understood from the fact that it went on to be nominated for the Barry Award in the Best Novel category in the year 2001.

One Response to “Alex McKnight”

1. Terry James: 9 months ago

   I wish Mr. Hamilton would write more Alex McKnight novels.

   Reply