Joseph Heywood Books In Order

Publication Order of Beau Valentine Books

Publication Order of Woods Cop Mysteries Books

Publication Order of Woods Cop Mysteries Collections

Publication Order of Lute Bapcat Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Non-Fiction Books

Joseph Heywood is a Michigan author who writes stories primarily about the Conservation Officers who work in the heavily wooded and rural Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Born on 10-18-1943 in Michigan he is the son of a career Air Force Officer and his mother was a housewife. He attended Rudyard High School in Chippewa County Michigan and graduated in 1961. He was an avid athlete in high school participating in football, baseball, track, and basketball.

After graduating high school he attended Michigan State University, studied Journalism, and was a member of the Michigan State University Lacrosse team. He was also a member of the Reserve Officers Training Corps and became a commissioned officer in the Air Force after graduating college in 1965. 1965 is the same year he married his first wife, Sandra V. Heywood, and together they had 5 children.

From 1965 to 1970 he served as an officer in the Air Force, served in Vietnam, and was an Instructor Navigator for the KC-135 tanker. He earned many military awards including an Air Medal with 6 Oak Leaf Clusters.

After leaving the Air Force he settled in the northern Michigan area and went to work for the The Upjohn Company (now Pfizer) and worked there from 1970 to 2000, retiring as the Vice President for Worldwide Public Relations. During this time he also attended Western Michigan University from 1974 to 1975. He studied to get his MA degree in English Literature but didn’t obtain a degree.

Heywood is a dedicated outdoors man and has hunted, fished, hiked, and camped the Michigan woods since 1958. His prefers togo alone on his excursions into the woods and he also walks daily regardless of the weather. He enjoys hiking alone at night without the use of a flashlight, navigating by his surroundings and seeing by ambient light. He isn’t reckless and takes a backpack containing survival equipment and supplies.

A very prolific and creative person, Heywood also takes photographs, paints, draws cartoons, and writes poetry. He always takes his camera while he is out on his trips and he uses some of these photos for his paintings. Part of his writing routine is he likes to read and write poetry to help him with his fiction writing, Heywood says it helps him with the economy of his words. A trip to his web site reveals he is a prolific poet himself, with dozens of poems written over the years.

Heywood’s first few published works were centered around the military during World War II, the Cold War and Vietnam War. These books were very popular and widely accepted by Vietnam Veterans. They appreciated the books were written by a fellow veteran who had been where they had been and had similar experiences. His first series, Woods Cop, debuted in 2000. this series is centered around the work of a Conservation Officer, Grady Service, in the great expanse of woods in Norther Michigan.

The Woods Cop series begins with “Ice Hunter”, Grady Service discovers there are diamonds in his woods and before long there are two murders and an arson that occur. He believes they are all connected and races to find out how they are related and who is responsible for the crimes.

Heywood followed the “Ice Hunter” with “Blue Wolf in Green Fire”. There is a wolf sanctuary in the woods Grady protects and they are getting ready to release some of them into the wild. One of them is a rare “blue wolf”, a wolf with a blue coat. The local indians view a blue wold as good luck while local poachers view the animal as a way to make a quick buck. When a double murder occurs at the sanctuary Grady’s life goes from complicated to more complicated.

Grady Service is exactly the kind of man you would want working in the backwoods of Michigan. A 47 year old Vietnam Veteran, he is dedicated to the protection of the Mosquito Woods where he is based in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Like many cops he is divorced, dedicated, and mainly works alone as he tries to keep his part of the world safe from poachers and other criminals. He has a new female girlfriend, another Conservation Officer, to figure out and he must work tirelessly to keep the woods as safe as possible.

Joseph Heywood is intent on keeping the Woods Cop series honest to the conservation officer world. Every year he rides with the officers for one month in all weather, where ever they have to go for their service calls. He has worked in 15 counties in the Upper Peninsula with them under all kinds of conditions during all times of the day. All of the hiking he does alone is to prepare himself for the outings he does with the conservation officers.

He has successfully translated his experiences into his books. Heywood is a fan of the Upper Peninsula area and he wants to do more than just have the reader read about the conservation officers and their investigations. He also chooses locales from the upper peninsula that are real and most people wouldn’t be exposed to. Heywood loves that area of Michigan and wants people to know about its beauty.

Recently Heywood has introduced another series about the Michigan Conservation Officers from the early 1900’s. The Lute Bapcat series is centered around of the first game wardens in Michigan, Lute Bapcat. Bapcat is an orphan, veteran of Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders, a former cowboy, and a loner who loves his woods. He must defend them from expanding industrialization as the country grows into areas that were once considered uninhabitable. The latest edition to this series was released in September of 2014 and already this series has gained a strong following among law enforcement officials, conservationists, wildlife lovers, and mystery fans.

Joseph Heywood clearly loves the area of Michigan where he works and lives and wants to introduce other people to the beauty of the woods. His books are great introductions to the world of conservation officers, the wilderness they work in and the hazards they face. Heywood’s love and experience of the woods is conveyed in each novel and they all stand on their own as good introductions to rural law enforcement mysteries.

8 Responses to “Joseph Heywood”

1. Kathy: 2 years ago

   Started reading Woods cop series because we love to vacation in the UP. We have been as far as Copper Harbor and Isle Royals and many places between there and Ohio, where we live. So many beautiful places to see and experience. More Woods cop mysteries wood be very welcomed. Love reading about places we have been to.

   Reply
2. Rob Miller: 2 years ago

   I’m hooked on both Grady and Lute and have gone through all of them. Entertaining and I’ve learned a few things about the UP along the way. Thank you.

   Reply
3. Christine Studor: 2 years ago

   I just became aware of the Bobcat hooks and will be ordering them-read all the Grady Service. I have sent several people “The Snowflyl as gifts and they couldn’t put it down. The next one I will send is to our fishing guide in Wyoming (caught 17 inch cuty). There are plenty of us gals out there who love your books and hopefully their will be
   More.
   Chris

   Reply
4. Sam Hudnutt: 3 years ago

   Thank You for your wonderful novels. I have read them all and have
   enjoyed getting my friends hooked on them also.
   I am about 8 months old than you, also graduated from MSU (1966),
   and am a Vietnam Vet (‘67-‘68). Your references to those areas make
   reading your books that much more personal for me.
   If I would choose the reply, I would like a list of the books about
   Vietnam that you wrote. It will be only the second book I will have
   read the first being a book called “Replacements”, written by Alan
   Quale who was my best friend and Supply Seargent in my infantry company. It is fictional, but has a whole lot of truth woven in and also references me as Sam Brown, company clerk, which I was.

   Thanks again, Sam Hudnutt

   Reply
5. Judd Knaup: 3 years ago

   Mr. Heywood – we need more novels with Grady Service!!!!! Hopefully you have one in the works that we can all buy soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Very much looking forward to your next one, or two, or three………

   Reply
6. Robin Dianne Murphy: 3 years ago

   I am a 65 year old retired U.S.P.S. Mail Carrier. A loner and fascinated with the Alaskan wilderness. My oldest son gifted me the first book in your Woods Cop Mystery series for Christmas in 2020. I was immediately hooked. I purchased your entire Woods Cop series as well as The Snow Fly, The Berkut and the Domino Conspiracy. The Lute Bapcat books. Thank you for your stunning work. Your intelligence, research and humor in all your writings have been phenomenal. Thoroughly enjoyed. You deserve tremendous credit and recognition for your work. Thank you! Robin Murphy

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7. Wally Loney: 3 years ago

   I was born October 12, 1941 in Cleveland, Ohio. I too am a Viet Nam veteran (1967-1968) having served in the IV Corps area, a small town named Soc Trang. I’ve read all the Woods Cop stories and the first two Lut Bapcat books. I just bought “Beyond Beyond” today and I’m looking forward to learning about Russia from a Michigander’s point of view.
   My wife and I currently reside in Gaylord, MI. Moved here from Bristol, IN in 1983.

   Reply
8. Wally Loney: 3 years ago

   Please tell me where the Mosquito Wilderness is. The Mosquito River, as I’m sure you know, is short and flows into Lake Superior. There isn’t much wilderness there. I’ve studied my maps at length and can find no such area. My reading indicates it would have to be near Arnold, perhaps toward Rock. But I can’t find it.

   Reply