Carolyn G. Hart’s Bailey Ruth Raeburn Books in Order

By the author of the Death on Demand series.

Who is Bailey Ruth Raeburn?

Written by American mystery author Carolyn G. Hart, the Bailey Ruth Raeburn series is a cozy mystery series with a supernatural twist.

For Bailey Ruth Raeburn, dying was not the end. In fact, she will continue her sleuthing for eternity, joining the ranks of Heaven’s Department of Good Intentions.

As a ghost, she uses her unique advantages to help those in need, solving mysteries.

How to read the Bailey Ruth Books in Order: A Guide

Every book in the Bailey Ruth series works as a standalone story, but the lives of the different characters evolve from one novel to the other.

1. Ghost at Work – Bailey Ruth Raeburn has always been great at solving mysteries. Why should a little thing like her death change anything? In fact, being dead gives her more of an opportunity to be on top of events. Bailey Ruth is delighted that her unique position as a ghost makes it possible for her to lend a helping hand, sometimes seen and sometimes not. And if anybody needs a little help, it’s Kathleen, the pastor’s wife. There’s a dead man on her porch, and once the body is discovered, the pastor is sure to become a suspect.
2. Merry, Merry Ghost – Christmas is a time for family and giving, and a wealthy woman in Adelaide, Oklahoma, is about to embrace both. Discovering that she has a young grandson, the dowager decides to change her will to leave the bulk of her fortune to the young boy-an alteration that stuns the rest of her family. But a scrooge of a determined heir makes sure she never signs the new document. When she is found dead, it’s up to that irrepressible spirit Bailey Ruth to protect a little boy, foil a murderer, and save Christmas.
3. Ghost In Trouble – Bailey Ruth Raeburn returns to earth to protect Kay Clark, a former Adelaide, Okla., acquaintance, from danger. After the fatal fall of Kay’s old boyfriend, Jack Hume, at the Hume estate, the Castle, Kay pays her respects to his family at the Castle, where an enormous vase nearly flattens her. In delightful Topperesque fashion, Bailey appears to Kay in an ever-changing array of fashions as Kay’s “assistant,” Francie de Sales, and together they investigate Kay’s brush with the vase. When they discover Jack may have been murdered, suspects range from Hume family members to two of Jack’s former lovers.

4. Ghost Gone Wild – The Heaven-sent Rescue Express drops Bailey Ruth Raeburn off at a frame house on the outskirts of her old hometown, Adelaide, Oklahoma, where a young man is playing the drums. What kind of rescuing does he need-drum lessons? But when a window cracks and a rifle barrel is thrust inside, only Bailey Ruth’s hasty intervention saves Nick Magruder from taking a bullet. When she materializes to reassure him, she finds she can’t go back to vanishing. What gives?
5. Ghost Wanted – Bailey Ruth’s supervisor, Wiggins, is worried about a dear old friend. The ghost of elegant Lorraine Marlow haunts Adelaide’s college library. Known as the Lady of the Roses, she plays matchmaker, using the fragrant flowers to pair up students. But someone’s making mischief after hours, leaving roses strewn about the library, destroying a gargoyle, and stealing a valuable book. Concerned with Lorraine’s reputation among the living, Wiggins dispatches the irrepressible redhead Bailey Ruth to investigate.
6. Ghost to the Rescue – When you wish upon a star, you get…Bailey Ruth? You do if you’re a little girl whose mom needs help and you touch the soft heart of Supervisor Wiggins at Heaven’s Department of Good Intentions. Granted it’s not the usual task of an emissary, but then again Bailey Ruth is not your usual emissary. So Wiggins dispatches the spunky spirit to her old hometown of Adelaide, Oklahoma, to help a single mother and struggling writer find some creative solutions to her problems.

7. Ghost Times Two – Bailey Ruth Raeburn’s latest mission is to guide the happy-go-lucky spirit of a deceased young man named Jimmy to the next life. But Jimmy is determined to watch over his still-living girlfriend, Megan, whom he wants to be happy even without him-which is easier said than done.
8. Ghost on the Case – Bailey Ruth finds herself comforting a distraught sister when she’s sent to Adelaide, Oklahoma, on her latest mission. Susan Gilbert receives a $100,000 ransom demand for her younger sibling. When the caller wants Susan to pay a visit to her wealthy boss and take the cash from his safe, Bailey Ruth follows Susan to the home. But she finds herself in a quandary, knowing that robbery is hardly a Heavenly pursuit.
9. Ghost Ups Her Game – After a busy morning dispatching emissaries from Heaven’s Department of Good Intentions to those in need, Bailey Ruth Raeburn is feeling flush with success. So when an urgent call for help comes through from her old hometown, she can’t resist taking on the mission herself. After all, what could go wrong?

10. Ghost Blows a Kiss – The late Bailey Ruth Raeburn is delighted when she’s assigned a new mission by Heaven’s Department of Good Intentions, even if she is no good at following the rules for Earthly Visitations. This time she’s determined to be the perfect unseen emissary, no matter what it takes. Arriving late in the evening in her old hometown of Adelaide, Oklahoma to find a woman drowning in a pond, Bailey Ruth carries out a daring rescue with textbook invisible effort. But Bailey Ruth soon realizes there’s more to Fran’s accident than a late-night walk gone wrong. The young widow was running away – but what from?

What should you read if you like Bailey Ruth Mysteries?

If you like reading Carolyn G. Hart’s Bailey Ruth books, you may want to take a look at Joanne Fluke’s books or the Sarah Booth Delaney series.