Sheila Connolly Books in Order: Orchard, County Cork, Museum Mysteries, and More
Sheila Connolly’s books have a knack for turning ordinary places into the center of a murder investigation. An apple orchard, a museum, a village built around Victorian architecture, or a pub in Ireland can all become the setting for a mystery.
Rather than treating her bibliography as one enormous list, it makes more sense to choose a series based on its setting and central character. The Orchard Mysteries are a natural starting point for readers who like small-town life and apple-growing details. The Museum Mysteries offer a different atmosphere, while the County Cork books bring Irish history, music, and local relationships into the story.
Connolly’s bibliography also includes a series written as Sarah Atwell, two standalone novels, and several shorter works. The lists below separate those categories so you can see where each book belongs.
Start Here: Sheila Connolly’s Series at a Glance
| Series | First book | Best known for |
| Orchard Mysteries | One Bad Apple (2008) | Apple orchards and small-town murder |
| Glassblowing Mysteries | Through a Glass, Deadly (2008) | Glass art and crime; published as Sarah Atwell |
| Museum Mysteries | Fundraising the Dead (2010) | Museums, historic collections, and suspicious deaths |
| County Cork Mysteries | Buried in a Bog (2013) | Irish village life, music, and local secrets |
| Relatively Dead Mysteries | Relatively Dead (2013) | Family connections and the supernatural |
| Victorian Village Mysteries | Murder at the Mansion (2018) | Historic buildings, preservation, and a village redevelopment |
1. Orchard Mysteries: All 12 Books in Order
The Orchard Mysteries follow Meg Corey, who leaves her former life in Boston and finds herself responsible for an old house and apple orchard in Granford, Massachusetts. The orchard gives her a new direction, but small-town life also brings her into contact with suspicious deaths and secrets that seem to grow alongside the trees.
This is Connolly’s longest-running series and a good place to begin if you enjoy traditional cozy mysteries with a strong sense of place.
- One Bad Apple (2008)
- Rotten to the Core (2009)
- Red Delicious Death (2010)
- A Killer Crop (2010)
- Bitter Harvest (2011)
- Sour Apples (2012)
- Golden Malicious (2013)
- Picked to Die (2014)
- A Gala Event (2015)
- Seeds of Deception (2016)
- A Late Frost (2017)
- Nipped in the Bud (2018)
Short story to add: Called Home (2011) is a shorter Orchard-related story. It is supplementary reading rather than one of the 12 numbered novels.
Recommended starting point: Read One Bad Apple first. It introduces Meg, her unexpected move into orchard life, and the setting that shapes the series.
2. Glassblowing Mysteries: The Sarah Atwell Books
These three mysteries were published under Connolly’s pen name, Sarah Atwell. The protagonist is Emmeline Dowell, a glassblower whose work and personal life become tangled in murder investigations. If you are collecting Connolly’s complete bibliography, this series belongs on your list even though her better-known name is not on the original covers.
- Through a Glass, Deadly (2008)
- Pane of Death (2008)
- Snake in the Glass (2009)
The glassblowing setting gives these books a different texture from the orchard and museum mysteries. Art, craft, and the people around Emmeline are part of the world in which the crimes unfold.
Reading tip: Start with Through a Glass, Deadly. It is both the first book in the series and Connolly’s debut novel under the Sarah Atwell name.
3. Museum Mysteries: Nell Pratt’s Investigations
The Museum Mysteries follow Nell Pratt, a development director connected to Pennsylvania’s historical and museum world. When a suspicious death is dismissed too quickly, Nell becomes involved in investigating what really happened. The series draws on the peculiarities of museums, collections, historic objects, and the people who work around them.
Read the books in this order:
- Fundraising the Dead (2010)
- Let’s Play Dead (2011)
- Fire Engine Dead (2012)
- Monument to the Dead (2013)
- Razing the Dead (2014)
- Privy to the Dead (2015)
- Dead End Street (2016)
- Digging Up History (2019)
Short story: Dead Letters (2012) is a shorter companion to the series. It is often listed separately from the full-length novels and can be added after the second book, Let’s Play Dead, for a publication-order reading experience.
The museum setting is one of the series’ biggest attractions. Connolly brings together historic collections, institutional politics, and mysteries that reach beyond the objects displayed to the public.
4. County Cork Mysteries: Eight Novels and a Novella
The County Cork Mysteries move to Ireland, where American expat Maura Donovan becomes part of the community around a local pub. The books blend murder investigations with village life, music, family histories, and the particular rhythms of a place where people often know more about one another than they admit.
The main novels are:
- Buried in a Bog (2013)
- Scandal in Skibbereen (2014)
- An Early Wake (2015)
- A Turn for the Bad (2016)
- Cruel Winter (2017)
- Many a Twist (2018)
- The Lost Traveller (2019)
- Fatal Roots (2020)
Novella: Tied Up With a Bow (2018) is a shorter County Cork story. For publication order, read it around the period of Many a Twist, before continuing to The Lost Traveller.
The Irish setting gives this series a distinct identity. The pub is more than a backdrop: it brings people together, reveals community tensions, and provides a natural place for information to surface.
5. Relatively Dead Mysteries: Six Books
The Relatively Dead Mysteries combine cozy mystery elements with a supernatural angle. The title hints at the series’ interest in family connections, the dead, and the ways unresolved matters can reach into the present.
Follow the series in this order:
- Relatively Dead (2013)
- Seeing the Dead (2014)
- Defending the Dead (2015)
- Watch for the Dead (2015)
- Search for the Dead (2016)
- Revealing the Dead (2018)
This series is a good choice for readers who enjoy a little paranormal mystery alongside their crime-solving. Start with Relatively Dead so the later developments have their proper context.
6. Victorian Village Mysteries: Three Books
The Victorian Village Mysteries center on Kate Hamilton, a hotelier who becomes involved in plans to transform her hometown of Asheboro, Maryland, into a Victorian village and tourist destination. The redevelopment project brings historic buildings, local ambitions, money problems, and dangerous secrets into the same story.
The reading order is:
- Murder at the Mansion (2018)
- Killer in the Carriage House (2019)
- The Secret Staircase (2020)
The appeal here is the combination of historic preservation and cozy mystery. The buildings and their pasts matter, and the plans for the village give the characters reasons to cooperate, compete, and occasionally conceal what they know.
7. Sheila Connolly’s Standalone Novels
Connolly also wrote two standalone novels. They do not belong to the six main series above, so readers can pick them up without following a longer character arc.
Once She Knew (2012)
A standalone mystery for readers who want to try Connolly’s work outside her recurring series. It can be read independently.
Reunion with Death (2013)
Another standalone title, separate from the Orchard, Museum, County Cork, Relatively Dead, Victorian Village, and Glassblowing series.
If you are reading Connolly for the first time, the standalone novels are optional. Her series books are the better starting point if you want recurring characters and familiar settings.
8. Short Stories and Other Shorter Fiction
Connolly’s short fiction is spread across individual releases and shared anthologies. These works are easy to miss when looking only at novel lists, so they are worth separating from the main series.
The following shorter titles appear in her bibliography:
- Size Matters (2010)
- The Rising of the Moon (2012)
- Kept in the Dark (2012)
- An Open Book (2012)
- Under the Hill (2014)
- A Necessary Death (2015)
Some short works are associated with a particular series, while others are standalone stories. Their publication formats and placement can differ between bibliographies, so it is best not to treat all of them as numbered novels.
Connolly also contributed stories to crime and cozy-mystery anthologies, including collections such as Thin Ice: Crime Stories by New England Writers, Blood Moon, Writes of Passage, Edgar Allan Cozy, and Noir at the Salad Bar: Culinary Tales with a Bite. These are multi-author collections, not Sheila Connolly novels.
How to Read Sheila Connolly’s Books Without Missing Anything
If you want the simplest plan, choose one series and finish it in order before moving to another. There is no need to read all six series chronologically against one another, because their main character arcs are separate.
For a full bibliography, use this checklist:
- Read the 12 Orchard Mysteries and add Called Home as a companion story.
- Read the three Glassblowing Mysteries under Sarah Atwell.
- Read the eight Museum Mysteries, with Dead Letters as a shorter companion.
- Read the eight County Cork novels and add Tied Up With a Bow.
- Read the six Relatively Dead Mysteries.
- Read the three Victorian Village Mysteries.
- Finish with Once She Knew, Reunion with Death, and the standalone short fiction.
That approach covers the six main series, the pen-name books, and the better-known separate works without mixing short stories into the numbered novel lists.
About Sheila Connolly
Sheila Connolly was an American mystery novelist with a varied professional background that included art history, financial advising, nonprofit fundraising, and genealogy. Those interests show up in her fiction through settings and characters connected to museums, historic preservation, local communities, and investigations.
She wrote the Orchard Mysteries for Berkley, the County Cork Mysteries for Crooked Lane Books, and several other series for different publishers. She also wrote the Glassblowing Mysteries under the name Sarah Atwell. Connolly died in 2020, leaving behind a broad collection of cozy mysteries and short fiction for readers to explore.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many books did Sheila Connolly write?
Her bibliography includes six major mystery series, along with standalone novels, short stories, novellas, and anthology contributions. The total depends on whether a count includes shorter fiction and shared collections, so a single number can be misleading.
What is the first Sheila Connolly book?
Through a Glass, Deadly (2008), written as Sarah Atwell, was her debut novel. Her first novel published under the name Sheila Connolly was One Bad Apple (2008), which launched the Orchard Mysteries.
Is Sarah Atwell the same author as Sheila Connolly?
Yes. Sarah Atwell was Sheila Connolly’s pen name for the three Glassblowing Mysteries: Through a Glass, Deadly, Pane of Death, and Snake in the Glass.
Which Sheila Connolly series has the most books?
The Orchard Mysteries are her longest main series, with 12 novels. The Museum Mysteries have eight novels, and the County Cork Mysteries also have eight main novels, plus the novella Tied Up With a Bow.
Should I read Sheila Connolly’s books in publication order?
Read each individual series in publication order for the clearest character development and continuity. You can choose the order in which you explore the different series because they are not one single connected sequence.
What is the correct order of the County Cork Mysteries?
Begin with Buried in a Bog (2013), then read Scandal in Skibbereen, An Early Wake, A Turn for the Bad, Cruel Winter, Many a Twist, The Lost Traveller, and Fatal Roots. Add the 2018 novella Tied Up With a Bow between the middle and later novels for a fuller reading experience.
What was Sheila Connolly’s last book?
Fatal Roots (2020) is the final novel in the County Cork Mysteries and one of the latest full-length novels in her bibliography. Short stories and anthology appearances have separate publication histories, so the answer can vary depending on what counts as a book.
Final Note
Sheila Connolly’s books are best explored as separate mystery series rather than one long reading list. Start with the setting that appeals to you, follow that series from its first book, and then use the other lists to discover a different side of her writing. And if you are trying to collect everything she published, remember to look under both Sheila Connolly and Sarah Atwell.
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