The Greer Hogan Mysteries

“…if I had the chance to haunt something, Raven Hill Manor would be at the top of my list.”

—Greer Hogan

April 2021 | Crooked Lane Books | 9781643859774

The Unkindness of Ravens

Book One

Greer Hogan is a librarian and an avid reader of murder mysteries. She also has a habit of stumbling upon murdered bodies. The first was her husband’s, and the tragic loss led Greer to leave New York behind for a new start in the Village of Raven Hill. But her new home becomes less idyllic when she discovers her best friend sprawled dead on the floor of the library.

Was her friend’s demise related to two other deaths that the police deemed accidental? Do the residents of this insular village hold dark secrets about another murder, decades ago?

As the body count rises, Greer’s anxious musings take a darker turn when she uncovers unexpected and distressing information about her own husband’s death…and the man who went to prison for his murder. She is racked with guilt at the possibility that her testimony may have helped to convict an innocent man.

Though Greer admires the masters of deduction she reads about in books, she never expected to have to solve a mystery herself. Fortunately, she possesses a quick wit and a librarian’s natural resourcefulness. But will that be enough to protect her from a brilliant, diabolical murderer?

“[A] first-rate debut and series launch.”
Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Hilliard’s crime fiction debut is a smash…Thrilling, fast-paced, quick-witted, and full of nostalgic references to Greer’s beloved literary detectives.”
Booklist, starred review
“Atmospheric…Readers who remember those classic girl detective mysteries…will appreciate this book.”
Library Journal
“I’m a reference librarian. I have a particular set of skills.”

—Greer Hogan

April 2022 | Crooked Lane Books | 9781639103379

Shadow in the Glass

Book Two

Librarian Greer Hogan is on hand to celebrate her old friend Sarah Whitaker’s nuptials at the Whitaker summer home on beautiful Mirror Lake, just outside the upstate New York village of Lake Placid. But Greer has an ulterior motive—to gather information that could reopen the investigation into her husband’s murder, a crime for which she believes an innocent man went to prison. Her plans come to a shuddering halt when a wedding guest goes missing and turns up dead in the lake. The guest, Brittany Miles, was an employee of the Whitaker family whom Sarah had long suspected was up to no good at work.

The police have no leads, but Greer—an avid reader of crime fiction who possesses an uncanny knack for deduction—begins her own investigation. She learns that the victim was seen with a mystery man right before she disappeared. Then the autopsy reveals that she didn’t drown in the lake after all, but in the reflecting pool in the Whitaker garden.

The suspect list is as long as the guest list itself, with no apparent motive. Now, Greer must rely on the wisdom of her favorite fictional detectives to tease out truth from lies—and keep herself out of the killer’s sights.

“Easy to like and very smart.”
Seattle Book Review
“A full on ‘whodunnit’ mystery laced with suspense, memorable characters… a compulsive page turning and fun read.”
Library Journal
“For cozy aficionados, this read is sure to please.”
New York Journal of Books
“I’d always been a sucker for a creepy old house, with or without a creepy old housekeeper.”

—Greer Hogan

February 2023 | Crooked Lane Books | 9781639102365

Three Can Keep a Secret

Book Three

Greer Hogan is a librarian turned sleuth, an avid reader of crime fiction who possesses an uncanny knack for deduction—and now, she’s drawn into another murder case as late autumn slowly turns to winter in the idyllic village of Raven Hill. When Anita Hunzeker, chair of the library board of trustees, is run off the road and killed, no one seems all that sorry. Anita was widely disliked, and the townsfolk would just as soon be rid of her. But when a local professor turns up dead as well, his connection to Anita and to other local residents leaves the suspect pool covering the entire county.

Greer starts poking around, and the more she digs, the more it seems like everyone she knows is trying to hide something. When she unearths a clue in the old manor cemetery, she finally discovers the shocking truth—a cache of dark secrets stretching back decades that could rock the town to its core. Everyone who’s come close to the truth has ended up dead—and if Greer doesn’t tread lightly, she could be the next librarian to get archived for good.

“Enjoyable… Fans of Elly Griffith’s Ruth Galloway series will want to have a look.”
Publishers Weekly
“Hilliard has also done a bang-up job in creating a chilling gothic atmosphere . . . [And] a well-constructed plot.”
Midwest Book review
“Entertaining… A worthy addition to the series.”
Booklist
“Some people were satisfied with snooping through other people’s medicine cabinets. I preferred the run of the house, unsupervised. If I wasn’t actually supposed to be there, it added to the illicit thrill.”

—Greer Hogan

June 2024 | Crooked Lane Books | 9781639106196

Smoke and Mirrors

Book Four

Having spent months quietly investigating in the village of Raven Hill, Greer Hogan returns to New York City determined to find her husband’s murderer. She secures a temporary gig at a private library inventorying the personal collection of a deceased magician. In her free time, Greer sleuths, leaving no stone unturned–even the ones which could be hiding deadly secrets.

Four years earlier, Greer had discovered her husband Dan dead in their apartment. He’d tried to tell her about something strange going on at his office, but she hadn’t had time to listen until it was too late. Worse still, she has always suspected that the wrong man was convicted of the crime. Now, Greer has solved other murders and has a few tricks up her sleeve. She combs through belongings she packed away soon after Dan’s death and interviews his former colleagues and people who were near the scene when he died. Soon, Greer is followed and attacked, so she knows she’s struck a nerve—but whose?

When two more people are killed and Greer realizes she can’t escape the smoke and mirrors surrounding her suspects, she confides in one of her new colleagues, a magician named Grim with whom she’s bonded over similar traumas. Though she knows he’s got secrets of his own, the tricky Grim may be exactly the assistant Greer needs to pull a rabbit out of a hat and shine a spotlight on a killer before the curtains come down on her for good.

“Hilliard’s … fourth book in the Greer Hogan series is the most exciting and intense installment yet.”
Booklist
“… the resolution and the clues it rested on were pretty clever. This is a very pleasant and intelligent read.”
—Robin Agnew, AuntAgathas.com
“Fans of TV’s Only Murders in the Building might appreciate this series.”
Library Journal