Order of Howard Owen Books

Howard Owen is an American author of literary fiction, mystery, and thriller novels. He writes the Willie Black series. For his novel Oregon Hill, Owen was awarded the Hammett Prize in 2012. He is also a recipient of the Theresa Pollak Prize from Richmond Magazine. Howard was educated at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and at Virginia Commonwealth University, where he earned a master’s degree in English.

Howard Owen made his debut as a novelist in 1992 with Littlejohn. Below is a list of Howard Owen’s books in order of when they were originally published:

Publication Order of Willie Black Books

Publication Order of Littlejohn Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Akashic Noir Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

If You Like Howard Owen Books, You’ll Love…

• Barbara Kingsolver
• John Sandford
• Georges Simenon

Howard Owen Synopses: Annie’s Bones is a standalone novel by Howard Owen. In the fall of 1967, Grayson Melvin fell hard for Annie Lineberger—a girl so far out of his league that he could hardly believe she loved him back. She was beautiful, smart, and experienced in ways he wasn’t. He would have died for her. Instead, she vanished.

That same night, she broke his heart. Then she was gone, without a trace. Everyone believed Grayson killed her, but with no body, no proof, he was never charged. Still, suspicion shadowed his life, costing him college, a career, and any chance at peace. Decades later, in 2016, Annie finally resurfaces—at least, her bones do.

Now a community college professor nearing retirement, Grayson is thrown back into the spotlight, forced to confront the past he’s tried to outrun. When a stranger finds his old high school ring—last seen on Annie’s finger—he realizes this may be his last chance to clear his name. But chasing the truth means chasing a ghost, and the real story of what happened that night may be even darker than he imagined.

The Rail by Howard Owen is a standalone novel. Before his life fell apart, James “Neil” Beauchamp was special. Born into privilege in Penns Castle, he seemed destined for greatness—until his mother took him away, leaving him to a life of obscurity. Then baseball saved him. With an uncanny ability to hit, the lean and swift Virginia Rail rose to stardom, winning batting titles and a place in the Hall of Fame.

But even before his talent faded, he was failing those who mattered most—his wife, his son, and himself. When his career ended before forty, his world collapsed completely. A car crash with his troubled half-sister, Blanchard, landed him in prison, sealing his downfall.

Now paroled, Neil returns to the castle he was banished from as a child, greeted by the last person he expected—his son, David. As he struggles to make amends, he and David uncover long-buried truths, both about Neil’s past and the wreckage they still might salvage.

In The Reckoning by Howard Owen, George James and Freeman Hawk were an unlikely pair—George, the quiet heir to old-money Richmond, and Freeman, a firebrand from a hard-edged, impoverished background. Fate threw them together as college roommates in the late ’60s, a time of upheaval and change. Freeman pulled George into his revolution, urging him to abandon the privileged path laid out for him. Canada beckoned as an escape from war-torn America, but at the moment of truth, standing on the Vermont border, George hesitated—and everything changed.

Decades later, in a post-9/11 world, George is trying to hold his fractured life together, negotiating the sale of his family business while struggling to reach his troubled son, Jake. But their fragile normalcy is upended when Freeman Hawk resurfaces, a man on the run—though from what, neither George nor Jake can yet understand.