Author Information
Terry Shames's Latest Book

Newest Release

  • Bibliography:
    13 Books (1 Series)
  • First Book:
    July 2013
  • Latest Book:
    April 2024
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Full Series List in Order

A Samuel Craddock Mystery

1 - A Killing at Cotton Hill (Jul-2013)
2 - The Last Death of Jack Harbin (Jan-2014)
3 - Dead Broke in Jarrett Creek (Oct-2014)
4 - A Deadly Affair at Bobtail Ridge (Apr-2015)
5 - The Necessary Murder of Nonie Blake (Jan-2016)
6 - A Violent End at Blake Ranch (Jan-2016)
7 - A Reckoning in the Back Country (Jan-2018)
8 - A Risky Undertaking for Loretta Singletary (Jan-2019)
9 - Murder at the Jubilee Rally (Oct-2022)
10 - Guilt Strikes at Granger's Store (Oct-2023)

Book List in Order: 13 titles



  • The chief of police of Jarrett Creek, Texas, doubles as the town drunk. So when Dora Lee Parjeter is murdered, her old friend and former police chief Samuel Craddock steps in. He discovers that a lot of people had it in for Dora Lee. The conniving ra...



  • Small town mystery and veteran's issues collide as retired police chief Samuel Craddock investigates a murder. Right before the outbreak of the Gulf War, two eighteen-year-old football stars and best friends from Jarrett Creek signed up for the army....



  • The small town of Jarrett Creek is bankrupt. Samuel Craddock thought he was retired but now he's been asked to return as police chief. Gary Dellmore, heir apparent to the main bank, is dead, apparently murdered. Dellmore supposedly had a roving eye, ...



  • Someone is trying to kill Jenny Sandstone and she might know who it is. But how can Samuel Craddock protect her when she seems hell-bent on protecting the attempted killer's identity? Craddock has learned to accept that his neighbor and friend Jenny'...



  • Nonie Blake is back home from a mental institution where she has spent the last twenty years, and people are worried. Maybe too worried, for within a week of her return, Nonie is murdered. Police Chief Samuel Craddock thinks the only possible suspect...



  • Nonie Blake is back home from a mental institution where she has spent the last twenty years, and people are worried. Maybe too worried, for within a week of her return, Nonie is murdered. Police Chief Samuel Craddock thinks the only possible suspect...



  • When the Jarrett Creek Fire Department is called to douse a blaze on the outskirts of town, they discover a grisly scene: five black young people have been murdered. Newly elected Chief of Police Samuel Craddock, just back from a stint in the Air For...



  • Acting Police Chief Samuel Craddock investigates the murder of a visiting physician, whose mangled body is found in the woods. When Lewis Wilkins, a physician with a vacation home in Jarrett Creek, is attacked by vicious dogs, and several pet dogs in...



  • A FAVORITE SERIES CHARACTER FINDS HERSELF IN HARM'S WAY. After using an online dating site for senior citizens, town favorite Loretta Singletary--maker of cinnamon rolls and arbiter of town gossip--goes missing. Chief Samuel Craddock's old friend Lor...






  • The Malice Domestic anthology series returns with a new take on mysteries in the Agatha Christie tradition -- 36 original tales with a culinary bent! Included are: A Cup of Tea, by Parnell Hall Brown Recluse, by Marcia Adair A Slice of Heaven,, by La...



  • Chief of Police Samuel Craddock faces a race against time to solve a perplexing murder at a motorcycle rally before the event comes to an end."Suggest for fans of mysteries featuring small-town police forces, including novels by Claire Booth, Steven ...



  • Trouble hits an animal feed store in a small Texas town, leaving Samuel Craddock grappling with a deadly mystery."The Samuel Craddock series may be the best regional crime series around today. This installment is no exception" Library Journal Starred...



  • FBI dive instructor Jessie Madison's survival skills are stretched to breaking point when she is plunged into danger in this exhilarating thriller - the first in a pulsating new series.Jessie Madison escaped to the Bahamas when she made a terrifying ...


Award-Winning Books by Terry Shames

A Killing at Cotton Hill
2014 Macavity Award -- First Mystery
The Necessary Murder of Nonie Blake
2016 RT Reviewers Choice Award -- Contemporary Mystery


Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Terry Shames has published 13 books.

Terry Shames does not have a new book coming out soon. The latest book, Perilous Waters, was published in April 2024.

The first book by Terry Shames, A Killing at Cotton Hill, was published in July 2013.

Yes. Terry Shames has 1 series.