Edna Buchanan Books In Order

Publication Order of Britt Montero Books

Publication Order of Craig Burch Books

Publication Order of Michael Venturi Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

Edna Buchanan is American writer and journalist. She is popularly known for her true crime nonfiction and fiction/mystery novels. She was born in Paterson, New Jersey and went to Montclair State College. She was amongst the first female crime journalist in Miami and wrote articles for The Miami Herald and Miami Beach Daily Sun. in 1986; the author won Pulitzer Prize for her brilliant police beat reporting. Subsequently, she was nominated for 1995 Edgar Award for her novel Miami; It’s Murder.

Buchanan autobiographical novel, The Corpse Had A Familiar Face inspired two television movies featuring Elizabeth Montgomery. Nobody Lives Forever was adapted into a television film in 1998. Buchanan became a published author in 1979 when her first nonfiction book, Carr: Five Years of Rape and Murder was published. She became a published novelist in 1990 when Nobody Lives Forever; her standalone novel was published.

Cold Case Squad

Cold Case Squad is the first book in Craig Burch series. In a particular strip club in Miami Beach, a man and a woman are shot dead. Some few moments later, an explosion happens during a birthday party which kills a father of three. These murders go unsolved, and the explosion is considered an accident. Fast forward twelve years later, after the explosion, we meet Buchanan, working for the Miami Police, she has been seeing her husband wherever she goes. But seeing her husband is not the problem, the problem is that her husband has been dead for twelve years. Buchanan team of detectives- a complicated team with each member having their problem- is ready to handle this cold case and find out what transpired to the killing of the father of three twelve years ago.

Shadows

The Shadows is a 1920’s historic house that inspires the developer’s schemes and preservationist dreams. The house was built by an infamous rumrunner who disappeared at sea, and it was later inherited by the rumrunner’s son, a war hero, a local athlete who continued to live down his notorious father reputation. The son served a term as a Miami mayor and raised his children in this house until when he was ambushed and killed 44 years ago. His death remains a mystery, and the killer was never found.

Now a young preservationist seeks help from the Cold Case Squad to stop a developer who is planning on bulldozing the building to build high rise towers. The squad visits the long abandoned house now surrounded by an overgrown subtropical forest and discover the rumrunner secret underground tunnel to Biscayne Bay, a limestone cellar and some heart breaking mysteries of a lost generation.

The Cold Case Squad approaches the former mayor widow and children seeking answers. But all are elusive, and suspicious haunted by guilt, lies, and the complicated past that each one of them recalls differently. Ultimately the squad discovers that the killer is still at large, and the old unsolved case is now hotter than ever.

Contents Under Pressure

This is the first novel in Brit Montero series; the book introduces the readers to Britt Montero, a journalist of Cuban-Angelo origin. She works for a Miami print media covering police news, and so she is always present when a crime is committed. She has many connections both on the force and in the streets.
Then a famous football player is killed, and it is upon Britt to write a story about how the player died. She suspects a cover-up behind the allegations that the footballer died following a police chase and she now must find out the truth. Her investigative technique takes her from the intensity of the newsroom to riding a deadly and aggressive midnight beat with the police officers. The first novel in Britt Montero series is a well-written book.

The main character is Britt who has a distinct perspective than either a private investigator or police. The narrative is exciting, and it is a kind of “cross breed” between a cozy mystery/thriller and police procedural. The main character, even though a journalist is tough, but also compassionate. She is a focused lady and always gets whatever she wants. She always wanted to be a journalist despite attempts from her mother to join the fashion world. She is a likable character, always developing healthy relationships with several cops (an example being the female officer working the midnight shift), other journalists, (Lottie). She is a multifaceted character, and despite interacting well with some of her colleagues, she also has a negative interaction with Editor Gretchen. The secondary characters in the series are also enjoyable and add some fun to the narrative.

Miami It’s Murder

After the first novel in Britt Montero series contents under pressure was mentioned as one of the best mysteries of the year by the San Francisco Chronicle and Los Angeles Times, and also won millions of fans, Buchanan wove another fascinating sequel.

In this novel, Britt is back again in action, this time she is investigating a series of mysterious deaths involving electrocution, terminal sex, and freshly poured concrete. With the help of her dying detective, Britt starts investigating an unsolved sex murder of a young girl. She is also following a trail of a rapist who attacks career women in the restrooms.

Her search leads her to from the antiseptic police crime lab and its forensic experts, into the heart of evil Santeria, a religion linked to symbols, spells, the occult, and sacrifice. Angered by Britt stories in the press, the rapist wages more havoc and focuses his attention on her and now being hunted by a lethal rapist while hunting down a serial killer, Britt life could be in more danger than before.

No other writer writes best about Miami than Edna Buchanan where she has reported more than three thousand homicides and commanded the Miami Herald for 18 years. The novel is well woven with an intriguing plot and lots of twists and turns to keep you reading from the first page to the last. The character, both the main (Britt) and the supporting characters are well woven and their interaction which each other is brilliant. You will love the good guys and find yourself hating the bad guys even more.