🎯 Where Should I Start?
ⓘ About Ellen Hart
Ellen Hart is an award winning writer of currently over thirty mystery novels, with most of them featuring the lead characters of either Jane Lawless or Sophie Greenaway. Hart originally worked as a professional chef in restaurants for over fourteen years, and combined her passion with cooking with her equal passion with writing. The result was the first Jane Lawless book, a mystery novel featuring a female chef as the lead, that has since gone on to become one of the best selling mystery novel series featuring a female lead, and also been the recipient of numerous awards. Personal Life Hart first worked as a chef for over fourteen years in Minnesota before settling down to become a full time mystery writer in 1989, a career that she has been enormously successful at.
All Book Series by Ellen Hart
Cozy Case Files Volume 1
Series opener · book 1 of 23 · published 2017 Anthology · Ellie Alexander,Cynthia Riggs,Mindy Quigley
Cozy Case Files Volume 2
Book 2 of 23 · published 2017 Anthology · Carolyn Haines,Donna Andrews,Hannah Dennison,Cate Conte,Diane Kelly,E.J. Copperman,Ellie Alexander,Cynthia Riggs,Susan C. Shea,Mindy Quigley
Cozy Case Files Volume 3
Book 3 of 23 · published 2017 Anthology · M.C. Beaton,Donna Andrews,Ellie Alexander,Mindy Quigley
Cozy Case Files Volume 5
Book 5 of 23 · published 2018 Anthology · Carolyn Haines,Donna Andrews,Carola Dunn,Sheila Connolly,Ellie Alexander,Susan C. Shea,Judith Flanders,Mindy Quigley,Auralee Wallace
Cozy Case Files Volume 7
Book 7 of 23 · published 2019 Anthology · Donna Andrews,Diane Kelly,Ellen Crosby,Ellie Alexander,Vivien Chien,Ashley Weaver,Mindy Quigley
Cozy Case Files Volume 8
Book 8 of 23 · published 2020 Anthology · M.C. Beaton,Diane Kelly,Vivien Chien,Paige Shelton,SusanCox,Elizabeth Penney,Mindy Quigley
Cozy Case Files Volume 9
Book 9 of 23 · published 2020 Anthology · Carolyn Haines,Donna Andrews,Hannah Dennison,Kylie Logan,Leonard Goldberg,Susanna Calkins,Allison Montclair,Ellie Alexander,Eve Calder,Mindy Quigley
Cozy Case Files Volume 11
Book 11 of 23 · published 2021 Anthology · Diane Kelly,Ellie Alexander,Vivien Chien,Paige Shelton,Mariah Fredericks,Elizabeth Penney,Mindy Quigley
Cozy Case Files Volume 12
Book 12 of 23 · published 2021 Anthology · Carolyn Haines,Donna Andrews,Hannah Dennison,Cate Conte,Kylie Logan,Leonard Goldberg,Allison Montclair,Sheila Connolly,Ellie Alexander,Ashley Weaver,S.C. Perkins,Eve Calder,Jess Dylan,Mindy Quigley,Meri Allen
Cozy Case Files Volume 13
Book 13 of 23 · published 2021 Anthology · Mindy Quigley
Cozy Case Files Volume 14
Book 14 of 23 · published 2022 Anthology · Diane Kelly,Gigi Pandian,Ellie Alexander,Paige Shelton,Mindy Quigley,Korina Moss
Cozy Case Files Volume 15
Book 15 of 23 · published 2022 Anthology · Mindy Quigley
Cozy Case Files Volume 16
Book 16 of 23 · published 2022 Anthology · M.C. Beaton,Carolyn Haines,Donna Andrews,Diane Kelly,Elizabeth Penney,Mindy Quigley,Korina Moss
Cozy Case Files Volume 17
Book 17 of 23 · published 2023 Anthology · Rhys Bowen,Diane Kelly,Gigi Pandian,Ellie Alexander,Paige Shelton,Jean-Luc Bannalec,Olivia Matthews,Olivia Blacke,Mindy Quigley,Clare Broyles,Korina Moss,Anastasia Hastings
Cozy Case Files, Volume 18
Book 18 of 23 · published 2023 Anthology · Carolyn Haines,Donna Andrews,Leonard Goldberg,Allison Montclair,Vivien Chien,Olivia Matthews,Olivia Blacke,Mindy Quigley,Meri Allen,Katharine Schellman,Korina Moss
Cozy Case Files, Volume 19
Book 19 of 23 · published 2023 Anthology · M.C. Beaton,Donna Andrews,Cate Conte,Diane Kelly,Ellie Alexander,Cynthia Riggs,R.W. Green,Elizabeth Penney,Korina Moss,Celeste Connally
Cozy Case Files, Volume 20
Book 20 of 23 · published 2024 Anthology · Rhys Bowen,Gigi Pandian,Ellie Alexander,Paige Shelton,Olivia Matthews,Jennifer J. Chow,Olivia Blacke,Mindy Quigley,Clare Broyles,Anastasia Hastings
Cozy Case Files, Volume 22
Book 21 of 23 · published 2024 Anthology · M.C. Beaton,Carolyn Haines,Donna Andrews,Cate Conte,Ellie Alexander,Paige Shelton,Cynthia Riggs,R.W. Green,Elizabeth Penney,Mindy Quigley,Korina Moss,Celeste Connally
Cozy Case Files, Volume 23
Book 22 of 23 · published 2025 Anthology · Diane Kelly,Gigi Pandian,Ellie Alexander,Vivien Chien,Paige Shelton,Jennifer J. Chow
Cozy Case Files, Volume 24
Latest in the series · book 23 of 23 · published 2025 Anthology · Carolyn Haines,Donna Andrews,Elizabeth Penney,Katharine Schellman,Korina Moss
? Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Ellen Hart?
Ellen Hart is an award winning writer of currently over thirty mystery novels, with most of them featuring the lead characters of either Jane Lawless or Sophie Greenaway. Hart originally worked as a professional chef in restaurants for over fourteen years, and combined her passion with cooking with her equal passion with writing. The result was the first Jane Lawless book, a mystery novel featuring a female chef as the lead, that has since gone on to become one of the best selling mystery novel series featuring a female lead, and also been the recipient of numerous awards.
Which Ellen Hart series should I start with?
The best place to start is the Jane Lawless series, the earliest of Ellen Hart's multi-book series: it opens with Hallowed Murder (1989) and runs to 27 books across 1989–2020, ending with In a Midnight Wood (2020). Ellen Hart's other series stand alone, so they can be read in any order.
How many books has Ellen Hart written?
Ellen Hart has 187 books catalogued in this guide, published between 1989 and 2025. 179 of them belong to 4 named series — the largest being the Jane Lawless series with 27 books — and 8 are standalone titles, collections or anthologies.
In what order should Ellen Hart's series be read?
Read each series in publication order — the numbered entries in each series follow the year each book first appeared. Ellen Hart's series do not depend on one another, so they can be started in any order; by start date they are Jane Lawless (1989–2020, 27 books) and Sophie Greenway (1994–2005, 8 books).
How are Ellen Hart's books organised into series?
This guide splits Ellen Hart's 187 books into 4 named series and 8 titles that stand alone or appear only in collections: Jane Lawless (27 books, 1989–2020); Sophie Greenway (8 books, 1994–2005); Akashic Noir (121 books, 2002–2025); Cozy Case Files Mystery Sampler (23 books, 2017–2025).