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Jan Burke

This page lists novels, short story collections and non-fiction by Jan Burke.

The cover images are, when available, the first US edition and a more recent paperback or digital edition.



This page is divided into four sections.

By Jan Burke:
- novels & story collections
- short e-story collections
- collaborative novel
- non-fiction

 

Jan Burke: Novels and short story collections

Goodnight, Irene

Jan Burke

Simon & Schuster

1993

An Irene Kelly novel.

"For thirty-five years the identity of the dismembered woman found under the Las Piernas pier has remained a mystery. What secret did she take to her grave? Southern California reporter Irene Kelly has uncovered a maze of forensic records and confidential files that suggest a motive far more sinister than anyone imagined. The discovery has brought her close to Detective Frank Harriman, and closer still to exposing a killer who will resort to anything to keep his secrets buried - and Irene silenced forever."
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Sweet Dreams, Irene

Jan Burke

Simon & Schuster

1994

An Irene Kelly novel.

"Irene Kelly is a reporter with a fierce integrity. Detective Frank Harriman is her lover and friend. Now they're both about to be plunged into political hellfire when a ruthless politician rocks a race for district attorney with a stunning allegation: his opponent's son is in the clutches of a satanic cult. The charge takes a fatal turn when a local woman is brutally murdered, and the grisly crime scene bears unholy implications. Tracking the clues takes Irene behind the closed doors of an isolated home for troubled youths, where obscuring the truth is only part of a stranger's diabolic game. To win it, Irene will have the devil to pay."
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Dear Irene

Jan Burke

Simon & Schuster

1995

An Irene Kelly novel.

"When a strange letter signed 'Thanatos' - the ancient Greek name for death - lands on Irene Kelly's desk, the intrepid reporter doesn't think much of it; she gets crazy mail all the time. A less cryptic message is sent when a body turns up the next morning. As more letters roll in, the death toll mounts...and Irene fears that her mysterious pen pal has cast her in his own private Greek tragedy as Cassandra, the seer whom others refused to believe. It's the killer's dream to challenge Irene to follow his ancient blueprint for murder. It's his ultimate desire to make her face the inevitable - that she is the next to die."
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Remember Me, Irene

Jan Burke

Simon & Schuster

1996

An Irene Kelly novel.

"'I'm not who I used to be....' The remark, whispered by a stranger on the street to Irene Kelly, becomes all the more unnerving when the newswoman realizes she knows the man. He's Lucas Monroe, her former college instructor who had looked forward to a brilliant future. Now he's a derelict in hiding, an unlikely suspect in blackmail and murder. What happened to Monroe's life strikes Irene as bizarre. But it's what happens to him in death that fills her with dread. Her long-lost mentor is found murdered, and whatever the picturesque town of Las Piernas is hiding has made some people very rich, very guilty, and very dangerous."
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Hocus

Jan Burke

Simon & Schuster

1997

An Irene Kelly novel.

"For reporter Irene Kelly it's a terrifying investigation - because it's so personal. Her husband, Detective Frank Harriman, has been kidnapped by terrorists who call themselves Hocus - deadly manipulators who give Irene three days to meet their demands before killing their hostage. But Irene's biggest shock is yet to come - as she uncovers her husband's history, and learns of a horrific crime committed a decade earlier. As seconds slip away, Irene willingly steps into a trap set by two madmen with a score to settle. And when she does, someone is going to pay for the sins of the past."
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Liar

Jan Burke

Simon and Schuster

1998

An Irene Kelly novel.

"Investigative reporting has its hazards, but trouble hits home for Irene Kelly when her estranged aunt is murdered - and Irene becomes the leading suspect. With the police hot on her trail, Irene sets out to find cousin Travis, her dead aunt's son, convinced he's the next target. But when Irene finds Travis, a camper-driving children's storyteller with suspiciously deep pockets, things blow up - literally. It takes several brushes with death, staying one step ahead of the law, and a few not-so-sweet reunions for Irene to untangle a complex web of family secrets and long-held grudges, and discover just who is killing off the Kelly clan - and why."
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Bones

Jan Burke

Simon and Schuster

2000

An Irene Kelly novel.

"Only one person knows where Julia Sayre is: her killer. Four years ago, the young mother of two disappeared, a story that soon became a personal mission for Irene Kelly. But the search for Julia proved fruitless. Now on death row for unimaginable acts of torture and murder, inmate Nick Parrish is plea-bargaining for a life sentence, promising to lead investigators - and Irene - into the dark isolation of the Sierra Nevadas, where they will discover what really happened to Julia Sayre. But Parrish has other terrifying secrets and plans, and now his deadly focus is on a new potential victim - Irene Kelly."
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Flight

Jan Burke

Simon and Schuster

2001

An Irene Kelly novel.

"A family is found murdered. In a cruel twist, one of the Las Piernas Police Department's own, Philip Lefebvre, is suspected of killing the only witness. When that detective disappears, a crime boss goes free. And the LPPD is forever changed. Called in to investigate the wreckage of the missing detective's plane, Frank Harriman is given a set of cold cases that have suddenly become white hot. Detective Harriman's conviction that the LPPD tagged the wrong murder suspect is wildly unpopular. Alone, his instincts and integrity questioned at every turn, Harriman must stop the killer before hundreds of lives, including Harriman's own, are lost."
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Nine

Jan Burke

Simon & Schuster

2002

"Los Angeles County Homicide Detective Alex Brandon lives to bring killers to justice - but when unknown assailants begin systematically killing off the FBI's Most Wanted suspects, Alex sees no cause for celebration. The vigilante slayings eerily echo the work of a serial killer from a decade ago, and convince Alex that 'the Exterminators,' as a grateful public has dubbed them, are more ruthless and sadistic than their victims. As the attacks mount, it is the ninth target that pulls Alex into a case that is quickly spiraling into deadly territory - where justice is no longer enough."
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18

Jan Burke

A.S.A.P. Publishers / Pocket Books

2003

A of short story collection.

The first edition was a limited edition hardback in a slipcase with the title 18 rather than Eighteen.

"Eighteen works of short fiction sure to satisfy longtime fans and newcomers alike. This positively addictive anthology is full of surprises - a patchwork of settings and characters not soon forgotten, and mysterious twists and revelations not quickly shaken!"
The contents are:
  • The Loveseat
  • Why Tonight?
  • The Mouse
  • Revised Endings
  • Ghost Of A Chance
  • Unharmed
  • The Muse
  • White Trash
  • Mea Culpa
  • A Fine Set Of Teeth
  • Two Bits
  • A Man Of My Stature
  • Miscalculation
  • An Unsuspected Condition Of The Heart
  • The Man In The Civil Suit
  • The Haunting Of Carrick Hollow
  • The Abbey Ghosts
  • Devotion
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Bloodlines

Jan Burke

Simon & Schuster

2005

An Irene Kelly novel.

"Sweeping across decades, Burke masterfully unearths a cold case that is far from closed while introducing an intrepid novice reporter, Irene Kelly, learning the ropes from her mentor, Conn O'Connor. From the late fifties, when a bloodstained car is buried on a farm and a wealthy family disappears at sea . . . to the seventies, when Irene makes shocking connections and brashly tracks a killer from the past . . . to today, when new threats and deadly surprises are closing in on the veteran journalist and her husband, Frank Harriman, Bloodlines follows a fascinating labyrinth of lives, loves, sins, and secrets - with the irrepressible Irene Kelly at its core."
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Kidnapped

Jan Burke

Simon & Schuster

2006

An Irene Kelly novel.

"Not long after the Las Piernas Express publishes Irene Kelly's articles profiling missing children cases, bones turn up at a California estate - and a notorious murder-kidnapping is churned up once more. When artist Richard Fletcher was found bludgeoned in his studio years ago, his stepson was quickly apprehended with the murder weapon and ultimately convicted. But Richard's young daughter, Jenny, who went missing at the time of the murder, was never found. Now Irene has joined Richard's son Caleb, a graduate student of forensic anthropology, in the fight to prove his stepbrother's innocence and solve Jenny's disappearance. But digging up the tragedies of the sprawling and powerful Fletcher family isabout to set off a murderous chain reaction - and put Irene's own life in peril."
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The Messenger

Jan Burke

Simon & Schuster

2009

"Beneath the Caribbean sea, a salvage diver hears a voice calling to him from the wreckage of a nineteenth-century ship. He becomes enslaved to the voice, which promises him wealth and urges him to hunt for a man named Tyler Hawthorne. But who is this mysterious man? From where does this spine-tingling voice emerge, and should it be trusted? Packed with nail-biting action and suspense, The Messenger is sure to delight readers with its artful approach to capturing what captivates them about the supernatural."
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Disturbance

Jan Burke

Simon & Schuster

2011

An Irene Kelly novel.

"Investigative reporter Irene Kelly risked everything in a near-fatal encounter with serial killer Nick Parrish--and broke a chain of deadly violence in Southern California when Parrish landed in maximum security. Now, life has almost returned to normal, both at the struggling Las Piernas News Express and, with the help of a good therapist, for Irene and her husband, Frank. But the terror is far from over. . . . Rumors among the Moths, Nick Parrish's online fan club, suggest the killer has recovered physically, escaped with someone's help, and he's targeting the person responsible for his imprisonment: Irene Kelly. It starts with an unnerving prank, a clear message that someone wants her to be afraid. And when a young woman's body turns up--naked, frozen, and decorated in elaborately painted moths--Irene must confront the twisted hunter whom she knows all too well . . . or does she?"
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Jan Burke: short e-story collections

Caught Red-Handed

Jan Burke

Pocket Star

2014

An e-short story collection.

"This e-short story collection from New York Times bestselling suspense author Jan Burke features a new Irene Kelly short story, Privileges, plus three unforgettable stories from the print anthology Eighteen."
The contents are:
  • Privileges
  • The Loveseat
  • Ghost of a Chance
  • White Trash
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Apprehended

Jan Burke

Pocket Star

2014

An e-short story collection.

"Apprehended is a mini-anthology containing a brand new short story from Jan Burke: The Unacknowledged, which features the fan-favorite investigative reporter Irene Kelly, back in her journalism school days. Also included are three short stories from the previously published Eighteen."
The contents are:
  • The Unacknowledged
  • Why Tonight
  • A Fine Set of Teeth
  • A Man of My Stature
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Tried

Jan Burke

Pocket Star

2014

An e-short story collection.

"With a brand-new short story featuring Tyler Hawthorne from The Messenger, plus three stories from Eighteen, this is the third of six e-short story collections from New York Times bestselling suspense author Jan Burke."
The contents are:
  • Little Birds
  • Unharmed
  • (two other stories)
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Convicted

Jan Burke

Pocket Star

2014

An e-short story collection.

"In The Anchorwoman, Irene Kelly is a journalism student who hears a comically strange story from someone she knew in high school - a story that Irene comes to believe is no laughing matter. The collection also includes three stories originally published in Eighteen."
The contents are:
  • The Anchorwoman
  • Revised Endings
  • The Muse
  • Devotion
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Justice Done

Jan Burke

Pocket Star

2014

An e-short story collection.

"Justice Done is a mini-anthology containing a brand-new short story featuring Bunny Slye, the master sleuth last seen in The Imitator, with an added bonus of three stories from Eighteen."
The contents are:
  • The Quarry
  • Miscalculation
  • Two Bits
  • An Unsuspected Condition of the Heart
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Case Closed

Jan Burke

Pocket Star

2014

An e-short story collection.

"Case Closed is a mini-anthology containing a brand-new short story The Last Place You Look, featuring Frank Harriman in his younger days as a rookie cop—with an added bonus of three stories from the highly acclaimed print anthology Eighteen."
The contents are:
  • The Last Place You Look
  • The Haunting of Carrick Hollow
  • Mea Culpa
  • The Man in the Civil Suit
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Jan Burke: Chapters in collaborative novels

The Sunken Sailor

Editor: Elizabeth Foxwell

Authors: Simon Brett, Jan Burke, Dorothy Cannell, Margaret Coel, Deborah Crombie, Eileen Dreyer, Carolyn Hart, Edward Marston, Francine Mathews, Sharan Newman, Alexandra Ripley, Walter Satterthwait, Sarah Smith, Carolyn Wheat

Introduction: Anne Perry

Berkley Prime Crime

2004

A collaborative novel.

"Fourteen masters of the mystery and suspense genre each contribute an individual chapter to a round robin mystery about a weekend house party in a small English village that is turned upside down by the discovery of a body tied to a submerged statue of Neptune at the bottom of a pond."
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Jan Burke: Non-fiction

Writing Mysteries: A Handbook by the Mystery Writers of America

Editor: Sue Grafton with Jan Burke and Barry Zeman

Writer's Digest Books

Second edition

2002

Jo Burke was an associate editor for this writer's guide and also contributed a chapter: "Revision".

" In this extraordinary compilation, more than three dozen members of the Mystery Writers of America share insights and advice that can help make your writing dreams a reality. You'll learn how to: develop unique ideas; construct an airtight plot packed with intrigue and suspense; create compelling characters and atmospheric settings; develop a writing style all your own; write convincing dialogue; choose the appropriate point of view; work with an agent; conduct accurate research; and much, much more!"
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In the Shadow of the Master

Classic Tales by Edgar Allan Poe

Editor: Michael Connelly

William Morrow

2009

Includes a chapter by Jan Burke called Under The Covers With Fortunato And Montresor.

"In the Shadow of the Master is an exceptional collection of classic stories from the lord of literary darkness himself—the inimitable Edgar Allan Poe—accompanied by enthralling essays from twenty of his bestselling acolytes and admirers. With appreciations by Michael Connelly, Stephen King, Lisa Scottoline, Tess Gerritsen, Laura Lippman, Nelson DeMille, Lawrence Block, and thirteen others, In the Shadow of the Master is a must-have for thriller and mystery fans of all ages."
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Last updated January 2019