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A Charlie Moon Mystery — by James D. Doss
Charlie Moon Series in Order: 17 books
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The Shaman Sings
Book - 1
Daisy Perika has no place in the modern world of cold, rational science. Hers is the realm of the spirit -- of ancient and sacred magic. But visions of Coyote and fire have awakened the aged Ute shaman once again to the Dark One's workings among the ...
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The Shaman Laughs
Book - 2
On Native-American land, in a lonely, mystical place called the Canyon of the Spirit, prize livestock is being slaughtered as part of some strange and secret rite. Darkness is stalking the reservation, and Ute tribal policeman Charlie Moon fears for...
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The Shaman's Bones
Book - 3
A women of the Tohono O'otam tribe has been savagely--and ritually--murdered in Wyoming, outside the jurisdictions of Granite Creek, Colorado, Police Chief Scott Parris and Ute tribal policeman Charlie Moon. But a brutal, unprovoked assault by the su...
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The Shaman's Game
Book - 4
For tribes of the American Southwest, the annual Sun Dance is among the most solemn and sacred of rituals. But lately Death has been an uninvited guest at the hallowed rite. Ute tribal policeman Charlie Moon is puzzled. The deceased Sun Dancers s...
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The Night Visitor
Book - 5
The world of Daisy Perika ia a realm of shadows, omens, and restless spirits. In tribal policeman Charlie Moon's world, good and evil manifest themselves in more explainable, human ways. Yet the irascible old Ute shaman and her huge, good-natured nep...
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Grandmother Spider
Book - 6
A lawman with a hardy appetite for life and an unshakable faith in the explicable, Southern Ute Acting Chief of Police Charlie Moon is not prepared to accept a purely supernatural explanation for the recent strange events of April 1. Nevertheless, so...
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White Shell Woman
Book - 7
The two sandstone monoliths towering over the southern Colorado landscape are wrapped in ancient mystery. To the local tribes, they are the Twin War Gods, sons of the moon goddess, White Shell Woman. Legends tell of strange happenings in their shadow...
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The Witch's Tongue
Book - 9
BIZARRE OCCURENCES CAN HAPPEN Strange things are happening near Granite Creek, Colorado, all in the space of less than twenty-four hours. A Ute shaman dreams of being buried alive and hears the hooting of an owl, signaling impending death. A man wal...
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Shadow Man
Book - 10
TROUBLE SPREADS ITS WINGS Dr. Manfred Blinkoe is one orthodontist with a very checkered past. So when a fellow diner at Cedar Creek's poshest restaurant drops dead from an unseen assailant's bullet, he can't help thinking that he was the intended ta...
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Stone Butterfly
Book - 11
Daisy Perika is no stranger to eerie dreams, but when she has a nightmare, lives could be at stake. Convinced that her visions of a wisp-thin girl with blood dripping from her hands are omens, the old woman calls on her nephew, Charlie Moon. A pa...
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Three Sisters
Book - 12
All Charlie Moon wanted to do was enjoy a night of poker. Scot' with his best friend and Granite Creek police chief Scoia Parris. But that was before Scott's dispatcher cut in with an emergency call. A man was on the phone with his wife when their ca...
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Snake Dreams
Book - 13
In bestselling author James D. Doss's latest novel, one man must bring law, and what's going to have to pass for order, back to his Colorado reservation. Charlie Moon has been fighting crime -- and investigating the truth behind Ute tribal myths -- ...
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The Widow's Revenge
Book - 14
James D. Doss's seven-foot-tall Colorado rancher and Ute tribal investigator Charlie Moon is back in the saddle again -- and making sure that, somehow or other, justice is served. A day's work is never done for part-time P.I. Charlie Moon. As if fig...
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A Dead Man's Tale
Book - 15
At seven feet tall, Colorado rancher and Ute tribal investigator Charlie Moon is a larger-than-life figure -- and a force to be reckoned with, on and off the reservation... Hard times have come to Colorado, and Moon's ranch is feeling the pinch. Not...
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Coffin Man
Book - 16
When Colorado rancher and part-time tribal investigator Charlie Moon gets a call from Wanda Naranjo, she's panicked. Not only is her sink leaking, which Moon graciously fixes, but her sixteen-year-old daughter, Betty, has gone missing. For how long? ...
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The Old Gray Wolf
Book - 17
Colorado rancher and investigator Charlie Moon accidentally kills a purse snatcher with ties to the mob in Doss's latest gem Former police officer, sometime tribal investigator, and current rancher Charlie Moon and Chief of Police Scott Parris did...
Series Premise
The core premise centers on Charlie Moon, a tall, laconic Ute rancher and part-time tribal investigator living on the Southern Ute reservation in southern Colorado. When violent crimes—murders, disappearances, thefts tied to greed or old grudges—disrupt the fragile peace of the region, Charlie is drawn in, often at the request of local law enforcement or tribal authorities. He relies on keen observation, dry logic, and an unhurried approach to unravel complex cases that frequently involve outsiders clashing with reservation life or hidden motives rooted in history. Complementing his methodical style is the invaluable (if unpredictable) assistance of his elderly aunt, Daisy Perika, a traditional Ute shaman whose prophetic dreams, visions, and knowledge of tribal lore provide crucial, sometimes cryptic, insights that Charlie interprets with grounded skepticism. Together, they bridge the material and spiritual worlds, solving puzzles that baffle conventional detectives while highlighting the enduring strength of cultural heritage amid modern pressures.
Charlie Moon Series Reading Order
🔄 Best Read in Order · Start with Book 1: The Shaman Sings
Standalone stories, but characters and relationships develop across the series.
The series benefits greatly from being read in chronological order. Although each novel presents a standalone mystery with its own satisfying resolution, recurring personal developments—family dynamics, evolving relationships, subtle shifts in Charlie's life on the ranch, and Daisy's ongoing spiritual encounters—unfold progressively. Following the sequence allows readers to appreciate the gradual deepening of characters, the accumulation of shared history, and the way past events occasionally echo in later investigations, enriching the emotional and cultural layers without requiring prior knowledge for individual enjoyment.
Explanation of reading order types
Charlie Moon Series Characters
Charlie Moon anchors the series with his tall, quiet presence: a man of few words, dry wit, and understated strength, equally at home roping cattle or piecing together clues. Practical and unflappable, he navigates two worlds with ease, respecting tradition while embracing modernity. His Aunt Daisy Perika is the vibrant counterpoint: feisty, opinionated, deeply spiritual, and prone to vivid dreams that foretell danger or reveal truths. Living in a remote trailer, she dispenses wisdom, sarcasm, and occasional exasperation, serving as both mentor and comic relief. Supporting figures include Scott Parris, the pragmatic Anglo police chief of Granite Creek, whose friendship and professional collaboration with Charlie form a key alliance; various tribal elders, ranch hands, and locals who add texture; and a rotating cast of suspects, victims, and eccentrics—scientists, treasure hunters, drifters—whose intrusions spark conflict. These recurring relationships ground the stories in community and continuity.
Setting of the Charlie Moon Series
The setting is richly evoked: the high desert and canyon country of southern Colorado, centered on the Southern Ute reservation near the fictional town of Granite Creek. Vast ranches stretch under big skies, piñon pines dot rocky mesas, ancient petroglyphs guard silent canyons, and the Twin Sisters peaks loom as silent sentinels. Life moves to the rhythms of cattle ranching, tribal ceremonies, seasonal changes, and the interplay between reservation communities and encroaching Anglo towns. The landscape feels alive—harsh yet beautiful, sacred yet scarred by history—providing a vivid backdrop that influences both crimes and solutions, with elements like remote canyons, dusty roads, tribal headquarters, and isolated homesteads shaping the plots.
Tone & Themes of the Charlie Moon Series
The tone is understated yet engaging: dryly humorous, contemplative, and laced with gentle irony rather than high-octane thrills. Doss favors a measured pace that mirrors Charlie's deliberate nature, allowing tension to build through atmosphere and character rather than constant action. Humor emerges from eccentric personalities, cultural misunderstandings, and Daisy's sharp-tongued observations. Themes explore the collision of traditional Native ways with contemporary American society, the persistence of ancestral wisdom in a skeptical world, justice tempered by compassion, the impact of greed and prejudice on marginalized communities, and the quiet power of family bonds and cultural identity. Spirituality is treated with authenticity—never sensationalized—portraying shamanism as a practical, lived force that offers guidance alongside, not in opposition to, rational inquiry.
In the end, the Charlie Moon Mystery series is a thoughtful, immersive journey into a world where mysteries are solved not just with evidence, but with insight drawn from deep cultural roots and human connection. James D. Doss invites readers to slow down, listen to the land, and appreciate the subtle magic in ordinary lives touched by ancient ways. For those who savor intelligent, character-rich mysteries infused with Southwestern soul and a touch of the mystical, Charlie Moon's world offers a rare, resonant escape—like a quiet trail ride at dusk, where every shadow holds a story and every solution feels earned and true.
Books in this series fall into the following genres
Genres
People / Creatures
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