The Bucket List Mysteries
A recovering ICU nurse who wanted a quiet life. A former tween TV detective who wants to be remembered. A tiny Texas town that keeps throwing festivals, and keeps finding bodies.
Newest case · Book 4
When a small-town romance festival turns deadly, the only match made is between murder and a forty-year-old secret.
A romance festival, a stolen manuscript, a teenager who vanished in 1986, and a car at the bottom of the Guadalupe River. Levi's mayoral future rides on the festival. Sho's sobriety rides on staying out of it.
Now playing: Songs from Bluebonnet Hills, the companion album →Reading order
Every case stands on its own, but the friendship builds from book to book. This is the order Ryan recommends.
Prequel novella
He came to stay out of trouble. Then a new friendship pulled him deep into danger.
Book 1
When this odd couple signs up to be extras in a fitness video, it’s lights, camera… murder.
Holiday collection
With Arbor Day Can Be Deadly and Masquerade Mayhem Can Be Deadly
Spooky decorations. Murderous intentions. It’s not a party until someone ends up dead.
Book 2
When this barbecue competition goes up in smoke, the heat is on to catch a killer.
Book 4
When a small-town romance festival turns deadly, the only match made is between murder and a forty-year-old secret.
Book 5
Ryan is working on it. Newsletter readers hear first.
What readers say
Only Murders in the Building vibe. Witty, fast-paced, and full of heart.
The banter between Sho and Levi is snort-worthy at times.
This story was more than just a quirky mystery. There are real issues discussed within.
I laughed, and quietly giggled, throughout the entire book.
Far funnier than I expected it to be and I loved every bit of it.
All the Bucket List Mysteries are a sanity-restoring vacation from reality.
The detectives
Case file · The star
Ex-tween TV detective · Bluebonnet Hills mayor
Levi played a detective on TV as a kid and never quite stopped. He has a bucket list, a fan museum, and a father whose illness he's afraid he'll inherit. He also has a deep conviction that every crime scene is his cue.
Case file · Narrator
Former ICU nurse · reluctant sidekick
Sho came to Texas to get his life back after a prescription-drug addiction cost him his ICU job. He wants normal. He gets murder. He tells every story, and his medical eye often catches what the police missed.
Case file · Known associate
Brussels griffon · Levi's dog
Snorts when annoyed. Adores Levi. Bites culprits. Travels by BabyBjörn.
The scene of the crimes
Bluebonnet Hills, Texas
Hill Country, between Austin and San Antonio, on the Guadalupe River.
About the author
By day, Ryan teaches technical writing and stops the spread of unnecessary adverbs and vague pronoun references. By mid-afternoon/early evening, he fights crime with his trusty sidekick/toddler son. Together they have uncovered who, in fact, has got your nose and tracked the elusive Peekaboo. They live and eat and occasionally sleep in North Texas with their Brussels griffon pup.
Free prequel novella
New books first, launch-day deals, and the occasional dispatch from Bluebonnet Hills.
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