Where to Start with Blair Howard: The Ideal Reading Path
Blair Howard has crafted an expansive literary universe, particularly centered around the city of Chattanooga, Tennessee. For readers looking to dive in, your entry point depends on whether you prefer to follow the character's life chronologically or experience the stories in the order they were published.
Option A: The Chronological Order (Author Recommended)
If you want to understand Harry Starke's development from his early days on the Chattanooga police force to his career as a hard-boiled private investigator, starting with the prequel series is highly recommended. In fact, Blair Howard himself has suggested that readers begin with the Genesis series. Under this path, you would read:
- Harry Starke Genesis (Books 1-8): Begins with Genesis (2019) and follows Harry's early police investigations, his partnership with Kate Gazzara, and the cases that defined his early career.
- Harry Starke Main Series (Books 1-24): Continues with the self-titled Harry Starke (2015), where Harry has left the force to operate as a private eye.
Option B: The Publication Order
If you prefer to experience the mysteries exactly as Blair Howard's original readers did, start directly with the main series. This allows you to experience the grit and maturity of the established private investigator first, before going back to fill in his backstory. Under this path, you would start with Harry Starke (2015) and read straight through to the latest release, picking up the Genesis books as a flashback sequence later.
The Chattanooga Mystery Universe
The core of Blair Howard's work is his interconnected Chattanooga mystery universe, which is split into three main series.
The Flagship: Harry Starke Books
Spanning 24 novels, this series follows Harry Starke, an ex-cop turned private investigator. The series starts with the suicide of Tabitha Willard in Harry Starke (2015) and expands into massive conspiracy thrillers like Apocalypse (2018), involving nuclear threats. The books are fast-paced, gritty, and heavily atmospheric, making Chattanooga feel like a character of its own.
The Backstory: Harry Starke Genesis Books
This 8-book prequel series details Harry Starke's early career before he left the police department. It provides critical context regarding his relationships, particularly with his father and his colleagues, and explains the events that led to his resignation from the police force.
The Spin-Off: Lt. Kate Gazzara Books
Kate Gazzara was Harry Starke's former partner on the Chattanooga Police Department. Her spin-off series, consisting of 20 novels, runs parallel to the main Harry Starke books. Each novel is named after a woman's name (beginning with Jasmine in 2017, followed by Saffron, Sapphire, and others). It is a police procedural series that focuses more on active department investigations and police bureaucracy than the private eye perspective of Harry Starke.
Blair Howard's Civil War Historical Fiction
Before achieving major success with crime thrillers, Blair Howard wrote historical fiction detailing the American Civil War. Due to the intense research required, Howard eventually shifted his focus to mysteries, but these works remain highly regarded for their historical accuracy.
Chickamauga Books
This duology (consisting of Chickamauga and Three Days in Hell) brings to life the bloody battle of Chickamauga with meticulous detail, following the soldiers who fought on the front lines.
O'Sullivan Chronicles
This trilogy (The Mule Soldiers, The Chase, and Comanche) is another Civil War-era series focusing on cavalry operations, military tactics, and personal survival during the conflict.
Venturing into Sci-Fi and Spy Thrillers
Howard has never been afraid to experiment with new genres. For readers looking for something outside of Chattanooga, he offers two distinct adventures:
Sovereign Stars Books
Writing as Blair C. Howard, the author launched this military science fiction space opera starting with Avenger (2022). The series follows fleet actions, interstellar politics, and high-tech space warfare across a multi-book arc.
The Peacemaker Books
A high-stakes international spy thriller trilogy focusing on counter-terrorism and global espionage, starting with The Peacemaker (2020).
Randall & Carver Mysteries
Beginning with Never Say Dead (2023), this series marks a return to mystery but with a new setting. It follows former FBI agent Tucker Randall and Mallory Carver as they investigate disappearances in the dense forests of the Cherokee National Forest.
What to Know Before You Start
While the Harry Starke and Kate Gazzara novels are serialized, Blair Howard designed almost all of them to function as standalone mysteries. Each book introduces a self-contained case that is resolved by the final page. However, the overarching character relationships, romance arcs, and personal struggles carry over from book to book, meaning you will get the most enjoyment by reading them in order.